This past August, we passed the three-year anniversary of Warner Bros. Discovery cancelling Batgirl as a tax write-off. Since then, there’s been no motion on reviving the film, but its directors and stars haven’t lost hope luck will come their way.
While doing press for his latest film Maintenance Required, actor Jacob Scipio—who was to play Gotham mob boss Antony Bressi—told The Direct he thought the chances of Batgirl’s return have slightly gone up in the wake of Coyote vs. Acme’s similar cancellation and big screen revival for August 2026. “I got the chance to watch it, and it was a phenomenal film,” he said. “It was great that they saved [Coyote]…there’s always hope. Hollywood’s a funny place, and I think if enough people want it, it can happen.”
At the time, Batgirl’s cancellation garnered a lot of bad press for WB from fans, press, and even led to several United States lawmakers contacting the Department of Justice asking it to reconsider its approval of the WBD merger. There’ve been plenty of high-profile cancellations since then, which further tarnished the studio’s reputation with audiences and filmmakers up until fairly recently with hits like Sinners and Weapons.
Could Batgirl make a comeback, despite being apparently so “unreleasable” it would’ve damaged the DC brand? That’s…a little tricky; the biggest roadblock is Batman: Michael Keaton would’ve played an older version of the character, similar to what he did for 2023’s The Flash, which WB seriously bet the farm on back then. Between the new DC Films universe and Matt Reeves’ own cinematic world, he’s a big question mark other adjacent movies are currently working around, which may not be possible here. Even so, it deserves a chance: like Scipio said, Coyote’s getting a fair shake, so why not this?
Sideshow Collectibles ended its annual 12 Days of Sideshow showcase in the form of a brand new, premium format Batgirl figure.
After beginning last week, Sideshow’s 12 Days of Sideshow ran through January 5, 2024, and saw a variety of new products revealed. The final product is an impressively detailed figure of Batgirl.
More information on the figure coming in the future
While not too much was revealed about the figure, the product itself was shown off in full. The figure is of Batgirl standing atop what looks to be a beaten-up version of Clayface, with batarangs and other objects stuck in the iconic villain. Batgirl can be seen standing on top of the villain, crowbar in hand, and wiping away something from her mouth.
Other products announced during the 12 Days of Sideshow event include a Batman vs. The Joker figure, a new Mystique figure, a Star Wars figure based on Captain Rex, a Dazzler figure, a John Constantine figure, a Bettie Page figure, a new Spider-Man figure, two Pulp Vixens figures, a Colossus and Wolverine figure, an Obi-Wan Kenobi figure, and a “Weapon X” Wolverine figure.
The second day of 12 Days of Sideshow brought with it a mysterious tease of an iconic X-Men character in the form of Mystique. Similar to the Batman vs. The Joker figure, this will also be a premium format figure, although no official image was revealed outside of a brief teaser (below).
DC’sBatgirl was an important part of how the old model of DC films before James Gunn was going to work. Like The Flash, it included Micheal Keaton returning as Batman, and it was expected to continue the old DC movie universe.
Unfortunately, the film is never going to see the light of day. Despite being almost completely finished, the higher-ups over at Warner Bros. decided they’d be better off scrapping the whole project than releasing it, as originally intended, on the Max streaming service. This reportedly allowed them to claim $90 million dollars as a tax write-off. The reasons cited were that it was a cost-cutting measure and part of their shift back towards theatrical releases. By the time it was finished, it also sounded like maybe they didn’t have faith that it could make back its budget.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah recently sat down with Insider to talk about how they’re feeling now that they’ve had a little bit of time to reflect on the decision.
“It’s the biggest disappointment of our careers,” said El Arbi, while Fallah added “There’s still a feeling of unfinished business.”
“We didn’t get the chance to show Batgirl to the world and let the audience judge for themselves,” El Arbi opined. “Because the audience really is our ultimate boss and should be the deciders of if something is good or bad, or if something should be seen or not.”
The pair also noted they watched The Flash — the movie that was supposed to lead into Batgirl — and were “sad … We love director Andy Muschietti and his sister Barbara, who produced the movie. But when we watched it, we felt we could have been part of the whole thing.”
Despite the whole mess, the directors aid they “could never say no to another project” in the DC world if something came up.
The Biggest DC Movie Bombs
These movies may have featured some of the biggest superheroes in history, but they were also big flops.
From big events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars to big stars from Nicole Kidman to Jack Harlow, there were plenty of moments worthy of the meme treatment this year. Here, we look back at some of our faves.
Back on Feb. 13 at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Eminem, 50 Cent treated the crowd to his 2003 hit “In Da Club” and recreated the video’s opening by hanging upside down. Cue the kick-off for many a meme:
Lot of people asking why 50 Cent was upside down during the Super Bowl half-time show. Thought I’d explain: His breakout track was In Da Club it was a great song that made him popular. And since that day he’s been looking for someone to do the upside down Spider-Man kiss with. pic.twitter.com/wz1XqWj6Ve
The hip-hop mogul also got in on the game with a few memes of his own:
In a now-deleted Instagram post from November, Vin Diesel called for WNBA athlete Brittney Griner’s release from Russian prison, writing “I need Brittney Griner home before Christmas,” alongside a photo of himself at a basketball match. Following Griner’s release in a prisoner exchange for arms dealer on Dec. 8, social media users jokingly thanked the actor for his part.
Thank you, Vin Diesel. The most important thing in life will always be family. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/RUZES5MwDT
Spider-Man was hot meme fodder beyond the triple-point pose, too:
The Acade-meme Awards
The Oscars is a perennial feast of memes, and this year was no different. While reliable meme star Nicole Kidman pulled her weight, there was obviously a new source of inspiration for meme-makers at the 2022 ceremony.
This reaction shot was initially thought to be in response to The Slap, but it was later revealed that it was shot before the show got underway. It makes you wonder what her slap reaction looked like.
Cameras caught a catty chat between Caitlyn Jenner and Lady Gaga outside the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 30th annual Academy Awards Viewing Party.
Jenner: “Are you spending time around Malibu anymore?” Gaga: “Yes.” Jenner: “I haven’t seen you at the Starbucks in a while.” Gaga: “I’ve switched baristas.” Gaga abruptly exits stage right.
After the nearly-finished, $90-million “Batgirl” movie was suddenly cancelled, fans used the meme medium and the hashtag #HBOMaxJustCanceled to theorize what else might be on the chopping block:
— Penguin Pete 🐧| writer elite 📰🎙️🎥🎨 (@Penguin_Pete) August 12, 2022
Martha Stewart, 81, maintains that Davidson is like a son to her, but that didn’t stop creators from speculating about her relationship with the BDE originator.
On the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Julia Fox was asked if she was then-boyfriend Kanye “Ye” West’s muse.
She replied, “Yeah. A little. I mean, I was Josh Safdie’s muse when he wrote ‘Uncut Gems’, you know?” But her elaborate pronunciation of “Uncut Gems” was catnip to TikTok users, who garnered millions of views with their imitations of “Unka Jhaaaams.”
Here’s hoping that 2023 brings an equally mind-blowing meme harvest. That’s our one Christmas wish. It’s the toast we’ll be making on New Year’s Eve. It’s our biggest hope for the holidays. Feel free to meme it.
Gotham Knights came out a week ago and I’ve found it exceedingly difficult to find anything to love about the open-world loot brawler. Red Hood’s snickerdoodle recipe, maybe? The latest Batman game borrows from a ton of other, mostly better rivals, and struggles to craft a clear identity in the process. Kotaku’s Levi Winslow also spent the last week trying to save Gotham city from feuding gangs and supervillains, and the two of us sat down to try and hash out what the game does well, what it does poorly, and all the ways it left us confused.
Levi Winslow: Ok. So, like, I feel Gotham Knights is a bifurcated game, something that has two separate identities living within itself. First, there’s the narrative action-adventure stuff where you’re solving crimes, meeting the villains, beating up goons before getting a cutscene taking you back to The Belfry. That is a solid gameplay loop. Then you hit the open world. I don’t dislike it, There’s some enjoyment in grapple-hook-jumping from one rooftop to another, but the RNG RPG-ness of it, the Diablo-like nature to the unnecessary loot grind, makes for some of the most tedious parts of the whole game. What do you think? How do you feel about the linear narrative juxtaposed with the open-world grind?
Ethan Gach: I’m incredibly underwhelmed by both so far. Everything just fits together so awkwardly, and I mean everything. The individual scripted cutscenes? Great. Love ’em. Completely fine. But everything else, going room-to-room in a story mission, crime-to-crime in the open world, and even enemy-to-enemy during the big brawls, all just feels rough and uneven and not good. Like you could describe the back-of-the-box bullet points of this game, and I’d go, sure, that sounds fine. It’s not the new Arkham I want, but I love the Batman comics, I love the universe, lets go jump off some rooftops and solve some mysteries. And yet almost nothing in this game feels actually good to do in my opinion.
Screenshot: Warner Bros. Games / Kotaku
G/O Media may get a commission
A gift for literally everybody. Gifts under $20, $10, and even $5. It’s Wish, the catch-all shop for all of the above.
Levi: Can’t argue with you there. The gameplay is especially clunky and imprecise. I don’t mind the combat. It isn’t as smooth as Marvel’s Spider-Man or as impactful as the Arkham games, but it definitely carries more weight and feels way better than Marvel’s Avengers, which is the closest comparison I could give. Like you said, something about it all just feels off and awkward. I really can’t stand the stealth and how sticky and slippery the characters are. You wanna open this chest after busting some skulls, but you gotta stand in this exact spot to trigger the contextual button input. Deviate from it just a little bit, like barely even a centimeter, and the prompt will disappear. Or you’re perched on this ledge to scope the area, looking for some stealth takedowns but, whoops, you accidentally flicked the left stick forward and now your vigilante has just jumped off and lands in front of the enemies you were trying to stealth. It’s frustrating.
Ethan: Yeah I basically haven’t even bothered with stealth for that reason, especially because the rest of the incentives feel like they are pushing me toward just complete chaos. Who have you been playing as? I’ve rotated every mission, but so far I think Red Hood is my favorite, mostly because he feels the most substantial and least slippery. Batgirl is a close second.
Levi: Lol, I’m just a perfectionist who wants to complete all the challenges. So when it’s like “Perfect whatever number stealth takedowns,” I’m like, “Bet.” But yeah I started with Nightwing, then switched to Batgirl, who’s been my main ever since. She’s just so OP, it’s insane. I’ve heard Red Hood is pretty good so I’m gonna have to give him a try. What do you think of Robin? Considering how frustrating stealth is, I couldn’t imagine playing him because of how stealth-focused he is. His bo staff’s looks cool.
Screenshot: Warner Bros. Games / Kotaku
Ethan: There are too many big enemies and dudes that will come at you from off-screen, to the point that I just didn’t want to bother with Robin after the first time I tried him. I also really don’t like Gotham Knights’ version of the character. I’m a huge fan of The Animated Series’ take on Tim Drake, and this feels more like a weird cross between Spider-Man’s Peter Parker and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s Cal Kestis, if that makes any sense.
I also don’t really feel any compulsion to grind, which is weird, but I think mostly stems from just how diffuse everything is. There are not nearly enough villains in this world to beat up to sustain an entire upgrade and crafting loop.
Levi: Very that, both on Robin’s timidity and the unsatisfying number of villains in the open world. Gotham here truly feels lifeless. Sure, there are citizens wandering the streets and GCPD patrolling their headquarters (or getting bullied by some dudes), but there’s no energy to the city. I know I compared Gotham Knights to Marvel’s Avengers—which I admittedly did like for a hot minute—but I can’t help but wanna play Marvel’s Spider-Man every time I’m protecting Gotham. There’s something about the bland color palette and the sameness of the districts that strips Gotham of its character.
Ethan: I think the city itself looks cool, and I like the way they tried to play off the four heroes’ iconic color palettes with the neon lights and how steam and fog hang on the skyline. But I also kept thinking of Spider-Man, mostly because I was always frustrated I couldn’t chain the grappling hook together like I was web slinging.
Screenshot: Warner Bros. Games / Kotaku
I think a large part of that is how much space you have to cover because of how scattered the actual things for you to do are. I would have preferred a much smaller but denser section of the city than having to hopscotch around all the dead space. Usually, open-world games thrive on constantly finding things on the way to your objective that distract, intrigue, and send you down an entirely separate rabbit hole. Here it really does feel like moonlighting as an Uber driver in the worst-paved metropolis in the world.
Levi: Yeah, like, there really isn’t a whole lot to do in this world. And what’s available to do is incredibly repetitive: Go here, beat up some guys, check out a clue, escape before GCPD shows up, rinse and repeat. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having fun dominating dudes as Batgirl. But the fun isn’t as satisfying as in other, better superhero action games that have come out recently.
Ethan: I also feel like the game is in a very weird place tonally. Batman’s family is left to figure out what their relationships are without him to orient them, but they are all pretty unfazed by the actual fact that he’s dead. And despite the dramatic premise, things get off to a very slow start. I will say I prefer aspects of Gotham Knights’ gameplay to Marvel’s Avengers’—whose combat felt indistinct and very much in the licensed game bucket—but the way the latter was shot felt like a much better approximation of the feel of the MCU than Gotham Knights is for the DCU.
Screenshot: Warner Bros. Games / Kotaku
As a Destiny guy who loves a mindless gameloop I can sink into at the end of the day, I thought I was primed to see the glass half full in Gotham Knights, but that’s just not what’s happened.
Levi: Same. I really wanted a mindless loop that offered solid gameplay with an intriguing story, and Gotham Knights misses the landing. There are good elements here, don’t get it twisted. The combat is fine, serviceable actually. And the sometimes tender, sometimes tense moments between characters during cutscenes is captivating. But the actual meat and potatoes of the game, the core gameplay loop, just isn’t as satisfying as I was hoping. I’ll finish it, though. I’ve completed Nightwing’s Knighthood challenges to get his Mechanical Glider, so I gotta do the same for Batgirl. And I wanna play some co-op to see just how untethered the experience is, but I can’t imagine thinking too much about Gotham once I finished the story. It isn’t sticking in the same way Marvel’s Spider-Man did.
Maybe that’s an unfair comparison, but truly, in my head canon, Gotham Knights is somewhere between Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Avengers. It’s fine, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good spot to be in.
Screenshot: Warner Bros. Games / Kotaku
Ethan: I’m still only about halfway through the game, but feeling much less generous. It’s an indecisive mix of a bunch of games without any one solid thing to hold onto. The co-op that I’ve tried so far is very decent overall, and I think certainly sets a kind of standard for games like Far Cry—which have traditionally struggled with multiplayer that feels consistent and rewarding—to aim for.
But man, every aspect of the Batman mythos recreated here feels like it’s done better elsewhere. Maybe when the four-player mode comes out it’ll be closer to the 3D brawler it should have been. At this point I almost wish it were a live-service game. At least then there might be a shot at a better 2.0 version a year from now.
Levi: Right? Gotham Knights certainly feels like it could’ve been a live-service game. I’m hoping that four-play co-op mode Hero Assault extends to the open-world stuff too. There are four heroes. This game should be chaotic as hell, kinda like that underground Harley Quinn mission with that punk rendition of “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” That, so far, has been the most memorable part of the whole game.
