Michael Keaton reprised his role as Batman in the Warner Bros. Discovery film Batgirl, which was shelved back in 2022. But in a new interview with GQ, Keaton seemed unbothered by the decision.
When asked if he was disappointed by Batgirl’s premature fate, Keaton told the magazine, “No, I didn’t care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check.” The interviewer notes that Keaton then “rubb[ed] his fingers together in the universal gesture for ‘moolah’” — which is fitting, considering the film cost around $90 million to make.
He did, however, swiftly mention that he’s rooting for the film’s directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, and feels bad that the plug was pulled on their vision. “I like those boys. They’re nice guys,” Keaton said. “I pull for them. I want them to succeed, and I think they felt very badly, and that made me feel bad. Me? I’m good.”
Batgirl’s shelving arrived in the midst of several major film and television cancellations from Warner Bros. Discovery, including a $40 million Scooby Doo holiday film, John Cena’s Coyote vs. Acme film, a third installment of Wonder Woman, some Game of Thrones spinoff shows, the removal of over 200 Sesame Street episodes, and an animated Batman series (which was eventually picked up by Amazon). Nearly all these cancellations were permanently shelved in favor of tax write-offs.
Batgirl went into production from November 2021 to March 2022 and was set to star Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, and Brendan Fraser, who later condemned the shelving in a 2022 interview. “It’s disappointing. The fans really wanted to see this film made,” Fraser said. “The movie itself was shot and conceived for a smaller screen. In this age that we’ve come out of now between streaming service versus theatrical release, it wound up being the canary in the coal mine.” Keaton, on the other hand, would go on to reprise his role as Batman in DC’s The Flash, which arrived last year.
Keaton’s recent GQ interview, meanwhile, touches on his entire film career as well as the long-awaited sequel to Beetlejuice, which arrives in theaters in early September. He also praised his reunion with Beetlejuice and Batman helmer Tim Burton, saying he “deserves enormous credit. He changed everything. I can’t necessarily say this, but there’s a strong possibility there is no Marvel Universe, there is no DC Universe, without Tim Burton. He was doubted and questioned.”