Should Batgirl be a movie?

[RedQueen]

To not seem reductive but in regards to Babs origin, she's already got in built credibility to launch herself due to Jim Gordon being an absolute fan favorite. You don't need to establish a whole new world. People are aware of Batgirl but they are definitely aware of Jim Gordon. That's not even taking in to account for her actual character. I don't mean people would watch Batgirl for Jim, but that Babs can naturally fit into the world because her dad is already there in the DCEU.

Take into account for the character herself and she can naturally fit as part of the DC female trinity. Babs also has connections to bring in Black canary and a whole wide range of heroes she's on equal to. I think Babs has one of the better origin stories because she became hero because she could and wanted to help people, and I think back to Wonder Woman in the No Man's Land scene in the movie and I love that scene because she just wanted to help.

[Rac7d*]

To not seem reductive but in regards to Babs origin, she's already got in built credibility to launch herself due to Jim Gordon being an absolute fan favorite. You don't need to establish a whole new world. People are aware of Batgirl but they are definitely aware of Jim Gordon. That's not even taking in to account for her actual character. I don't mean people would watch Batgirl for Jim, but that Babs can naturally fit into the world because her dad is already there in the DCEU.

Take into account for the character herself and she can naturally fit as part of the DC female trinity. Babs also has connections to bring in Black canary and a whole wide range of heroes she's on equal to. I think Babs has one of the better origin stories because she became hero because she could and wanted to help people, and I think back to Wonder Woman in the No Man's Land scene in the movie and I love that scene because she just wanted to help.

Bab is a better way to introduce new her spoiler then her as robin tim drakes gf and later make passing down the mantle to her have more impact

[kjn]

Heck yeah.

I'm not really invested in which Batgirl to use, though I'm only somewhat familiar with Barbara. I do think that the director should be a woman, and that a Batgirl movie should have a priority over a Batman movie.

Right now, DC/WB has done a lot of damage to both Batman and Superman as movie brands, and rather than trying to switch direction at once, doing Batgirl allows them to create and introduce a new movie Batman with less pressure. That's part of why I think they need a woman director: it will help to keep Batman in a supporting role and let the spotlight stay in Batgirl.

If they go with Barbara, they also need to decide on how to tackle The Killing Joke. I think there is a lot of potential in tackling it head-on and showing the rise of the Oracle, but I believe it'd require three films to do well.

[Rac7d*]

https://www.cbr.com/batgirl-movie-hi...ampaign=CBR-TW

[MajorHoy]

If there is a Batgirl movie it will be a Barbara Gordon movie and only a Barbara Gordon. No one outside of their minuscule fan-base cares about the other imposters.
The people in movie division probably don't even know they exist.

Well, there is one other possibility movie audiences may be aware of:

Alfred's niece Barbara Wilson.

John Q, Moviegoer has no idea about any controversy over who the leader character should be and doesn't care about that.

My question is, are people who have no background or interest in any of that stuff apt to go see a Batgirl movie?

People will be aware of a "Batgirl" character, even if it's just because of live-action or animated TV show appearances as well as from the fact that there are so many Halloween costumes with a "Batgirl".
And depending on how the movie is made/marketed, it can be aimed at older girls/women or to younger girls as being on the "empowering" side. Besides, with the success of the Wonder Woman movie, why wouldn't people consider seeing a Batgirl movie?

. . . If they go with Barbara, they also need to decide on how to tackle The Killing Joke. I think there is a lot of potential in tackling it head-on . . .

No. They definitely don't.
The Killing Joke wasn't intended to result in Babs becoming Oracle. It just sidelined the character that nobody at DC seemed to truly care about.
It was in the following year that John Ostrander and Kim Yale established Barbara as Oracle in Suicide Squad.

[RedQueen]

Yeah Batgirl is definitely ago. With Babs also confirmed for BoP/harley movie in that HR article, it would probably organically allow for TKJ to be addressed thanks to Harley's inclusion and no doubt addressing their past history with the Joker. Margot's talked about separating Harley from the Joker relationship and if she has to team up in the BoP movie I can see the common enemy being Joker for Batgirl and Harley and for it to warrant a team up. That will probably allow the Batgirl movie to stand on it's on two feet without the TKJ cloud hanging over her as a character down the track for the solo.

[Darkseid Is]

If they did a Cass thing Barbara would have to be Oracle in the movie and I don't think they'll do that. It'll be a Barbara movie which it should be. I mean, I love Ted Kord as much as any super hero apart from Bats and Green Lantern but I wasn't pissing and moaning that he isn't in Justice League. That would be absurd.

[kjn]

Re The Killing Joke

No. They definitely don't.
The Killing Joke wasn't intended to result in Babs becoming Oracle. It just sidelined the character that nobody at DC seemed to truly care about.
It was in the following year that John Ostrander and Kim Yale established Barbara as Oracle in Suicide Squad.

I was probably a bit unclar. I was not so much thinking about the book The Killing Joke, but in handling the events therein, and make it Barbara's story. So first a Batgirl movie (or two), then an Oracle movie. Think say a combo of Straczynski's "Ladies Night" and "Oracle: Year One" by Ostrander and Yale.

[millernumber1]

Re The Killing Joke


I was probably a bit unclar. I was not so much thinking about the book The Killing Joke, but in handling the events therein, and make it Barbara's story. So first a Batgirl movie (or two), then an Oracle movie. Think say a combo of Straczynski's "Ladies Night" and "Oracle: Year One" by Ostrander and Yale.

I would be pretty chuffed to see a Batgirl Year One, then an Oracle Year one movie.

[MajorHoy]

. . . Think say a combo of Straczynski's "Ladies Night" and "Oracle: Year One" by Ostrander and Yale.

Oh, please, not that piece of crap Hallmark greeting card-moment!

What a stupid story that turned out to be!

It read lovely at first, but the more you thought about it, the dumber and more asinine it became! Seriously, powerful women like Wonder Woman and Zatanna couldn't figure out a way to change what, for them, would have been the future? They didn't even think to warn Barbara that something bad might happen to her?!?
What the hell?!? This was so out of character for them, to just give up and go party for an evening so at least Barbara would have a fun night before disaster struck!

[kjn]

What a stupid story that turned out to be!

It read lovely at first, but the more you thought about it, the dumber and more asinine it became! Seriously, powerful women like Wonder Woman and Zatanna couldn't figure out a way to change what, for them, would have been the future? They didn't even think to warn Barbara that something bad might happen to her?!?

What the hell?!? This was so out of character for them, to just give up and go party for an evening so at least Barbara would have a fun night before disaster struck!

Personally, I really liked the "Ladies' Night" story, but you have to accept the premise that The Killing Joke is canon (which it is, even if it was not intended so at first) and that Zatanna can get prophetic dreams (which I have no trouble accepting).

Now, I imagine there are storytelling and pacing issues with including it in a movie series, and I'm not focused on the exact details of the story in any way. But the really strong point of the story was that it focused on the relations between Diana, Zatanna, and Barbara as friends. It is that focus on Barbara that I think should be done, if The Killing Joke is to be approached again in the future.

[Tarantino]

I want Tina Fey to write and direct a Batgirl film but I want a Man of Steel 2 and Green Lantern Corps movie before Batgirl.

[sorboares]

Barbara Gordon as Batgirl Movie needs to happen ASAP. We have never had a live action movie on the big screen with Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. You cant include Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson because she was NOT Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.
She was an imposter!
We need a Batgirl movie that is mature, powerful, strong and serious.
We need a movie like Wonder Woman, it needs to show us a heroine.
I want there to be sequels and I want her starring in other movies like Justice League sequels and or Batfamily films.
I don't want her becoming Oracle because it's time for Batgirl to star!

[Jackalope89]

Barbara Gordon as Batgirl Movie needs to happen ASAP. We have never had a live action movie on the big screen with Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. You cant include Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson because she was NOT Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.
She was an imposter!
We need a Batgirl movie that is mature, powerful, strong and serious.
We need a movie like Wonder Woman, it needs to show us a heroine.
I want there to be sequels and I want her starring in other movies like Justice League sequels and or Batfamily films.
I don't want her becoming Oracle because it's time for Batgirl to star!

It wouldn't hurt to have some fun with it. She's one of the few heroes not defined by tragedy, after all.

[MajorHoy]

It wouldn't hurt to have some fun with it. She's one of the few heroes not defined by tragedy, after all.

Pre-TKJ, that is.
(Also, her post-CoIE origin revision, which had her as the niece of Jim who came to live with Jim and his wife Barbara after her parents died, was a bit of "tragedy", and then that got amped up when it was later implied that Jim was actually Babs' birth-father who had an affair with his sister-in-law/brother's wife! )