When HBO Max’s Batgirl film premieres, there will be a very familiar face in the mix.
Michael Keaton is expected to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman, the character he originated in Tim Burton’s 1989 film. He joins In the Heights star Leslie Grace who will be inhabiting the lead role.
Plot details of the film are being kept closely under wraps but we do know that it centres on the heroine whose real identity is Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham police commissioner Jim Gordon.
As was previously announced, J.K. Simmons will return to portray Jim Gordon after first playing the character in Zack Snyder’s Justice League while Brendan Fraser will portray the villainous Firefly, a sociopath with a passion for pyrotechnics.
As of yet, Batgirl doesn’t have a confirmed release date but we know the movie will debut on HBO Max in the US sometime in 2022 — the same year that Keaton will be seen as the Caped Crusader in the upcoming The Flash. That film, also featuring Ben Affleck as Batman and starring Ezra Miller as the title hero, is slated to land in theatres on Nov. 4, 2022.
The Caped Crusader is having something of a renaissance at the moment with several projects revolving around the iconic character.
The Batman starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz will land in cinemas on March 4, 2022, and seems to show an even darker side of the superhero. The film, directed by Matt Reeves, also stars Jeffrey Wright as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson and Jayme Lawson as mayoral candidate Bella Reál.
Elsewhere, an audio drama extension of the Batman animated series from the 90s is currently in development, with Kevin Conroy (Batman) and John Glover (The Riddler) announcing the news at Comic-Con in Los Angeles back in November.
No cast members have been confirmed to return yet, but Conroy did tell fans that “Danny Elfman will write the theme”.
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