Brendan Fraser Reveals The Best Part Of Cancelled Batgirl Movie
Brendan Fraser says that the canceled Batgirl film featured Glasgow as the best rendition of Gotham City.
We’ve seen Gotham City in many films and shows over the years, but apparently, we missed out on the best one yet. According to Brendan Fraser, the canceled Batgirl film had the perfect version of Gotham. STV News reported on Fraser’s appearance on the Howard Stern podcast, where he said, “Gotham never looked better cast as decaying Glasgow.”
Brendan Fraser was set to play the villain Firefly in the shelved Batgirl film, and he certainly paints a picture of what could have been. Glasgow does seem like a perfect match for Gotham, with historic and beautiful architecture, along with the presumably overcast weather. It would have been interesting to see the version of Gotham Brendan Fraser described, but unfortunately, we probably never will.
Warner Bros Discovery decided to ax Brendan Fraser’s Batgirl movie despite already sinking millions of dollars into production. Reportedly the movie was close to finished, and roughly $90 million had already been spent. The reported reason for the cancellation was for tax purposes, along with poor reception to initial screenings.
Brendan Fraser also revealed on the Howard Stern podcast that he felt those test screenings for Batgirl didn’t show the movie in “the best light.” Fraser said the film wasn’t finished at that point, so it didn’t really get a fair shake. He added that it was a “first cut” at that point.
Brendan Fraser’s Firefly would have been facing off against Leslie Grace, who played the titular character in Batgirl. The film would have also reintroduced us to Michael Keaton’s Batman ahead of his appearance in the upcoming The Flash movie. JK Simmons would have also reprised his role as Commissioner Gordon.
While it would have been great to see Brendan Fraser in a superhero blockbuster as the villain, the DCU is now fully moving on, with Batgirl in the rearview mirror. James Gunn and Peter Safran recently revealed extensive plans for the comic book film universe, and people are hopeful that it will be a marked improvement. Along with keeping movies like The Flash and Blue Beetle in the lineup, the DCU will also have a new Superman movie, a new Batman and Robin movie, a Supergirl movie, and much more.
Maybe James Gunn’s bold new DCU will have a place for Brendan Fraser and Leslie Grace’s Batgirl in the future. For now, Fraser has plenty going for him outside of Batgirl. The actor recently received a Best Actor nomination for his role in The Whale.
However, on the DCU side of things, Brendan Fraser can’t seem to catch a break. Not only did the Batgirl movie get canceled, but his HBO Max series Doom Patrol was also canceled after the recently released fourth season. The consolation is that we did get the final season of Doom Patrol, so there’s at least some closure to that project.
Brendan Fraser did express that he would be potentially willing to return to DC in the future for a role outside of his one for Batgirl. So, despite the Batgirl and Doom Patrol cancellations, there is some hope that we’ll see Fraser pop up in a comic book role again in the future. Until then, you can check out his recent performance in The Whale, see Season 4 of Doom Patrol on HBO Max, and look forward to his appearance in the upcoming Martin Scorcese film Killers of the Flower Moon.
