The hunt for a big screen Batgirl is officially on

The rumored Batgirl feature film is becoming more and more of a reality, according to Deadline. WB will apparently be testing for the role of Barbara Gordon this week! Can you believe it?

According to their sources, the studio will soon begin testing actresses for the film, and the rumored names include Isabella Merced, Zoey Deutch and Leslie Grace. They also believe Haley Lu Richardson was in the running but may have stepped away from the role. There are currently no other details surrounding the project.

As some of you may remember, the Batgirl film has been a long time coming. News of a live-action film starring one of the few women of the Bat family solidified back in March of 2017 when Joss Whedon signed on to write and direct. In the months that followed, allegations of misconduct on the set of The Avengers and his other projects were coming to light rapidly. The geeky director left the project almost a year later in February 2018.

After Whedon’s departure, news about the film went silent and the project seemed as though it had been completely binned. However, it now appears that all is not lost. This has been one of the biggest update since then and we’re honestly so excited. The women of DC are fantastic characters and deserve to be in the spotlight just as much.

It’s currently unclear if the Batgirl film will connect to any of the films currently in the DC film universe. Could Barbara Gordon be in Harley Quinn’s world with the Birds of Prey? Maybe even the upcoming The Batman starring Robert Pattinson? Either way, it’ll be just too awesome to have her working with the other female characters coming to the big screen.

This will actually be the third time the character has made her way on the silver screen. Her most recent appearance was in the infamous Batman & Robin film, where she was played by Alicia Silverstone. (We’re still entirely grateful that she didn’t get bat nipples like her co-stars). It will be best to see her in her own film a quarter of a century later.

One other thing that would be really wonderful about this film is if we are able to see her transition from Batgirl into Oracle. Why? It’ll be a great opportunity to show even more diversity in the superhero genre. It could honestly be argued that Barbara is at her most powerful when she’s in her wheelchair, off the streets rather than on them. But that may be extending her story too far in the future for her first film, though.

The untitled Batgirl film will be directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah with a script by Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey, Bumblebee). Kristin Burr is producing.

What do you think of the casting news so far? Who would you like to see in the role of Batgirl? Let us know in the comments below!