Michael Keaton Doesn’t Care Batgirl Was Shelved: ‘Big, Fun, Nice Check’

Michael Keaton doesn’t care that Batgirl was shelved.

In August 2022, it was announced that DC Films and Warner Bros. Discovery had decided they would not release Batgirl, despite the movie being already filmed and in post-production. Keaton reprises his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the film, while Leslie Grace plays Barbara Gordon/Batgirl.

What did Michael Keaton say about Batgirl?

Speaking with GQ Magazine , via Variety , Keaton says that he’s indifferent over Batgirl being shelved.

“No, I didn’t care one way or another,” he said. “Big, fun, nice check.”

He added about the film’s directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, “I like those boys. They’re nice guys. 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.”

Keaton played the Dark Knight in 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Returns, both of which were directed by Tim Burton. He then reprised the role in 2023’s The Flash, which was directed by Andy Muschietti.

Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in March 2024, Keaton says that, while he doesn’t “think about it much,” he wasn’t completely ruling out playing Batman again someday in the future. “Never say never, I don’t think. Everything depends upon something else.”

Along with Keaton and Grace, the cast of Batgirl included J.K. Simmons as James Gordon, Brendan Fraser as Ted Carson/Firefly, Jacob Scipio as Anthony Bressi, and Ivory Aquino as Alysia Yeoh.

Keaton is now working with Burton again on the upcoming sequel to Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which will be released in United States theaters on September 6, 2024. Keaton said of working with Burton, “Tim 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.”