If given the opportunity, Alicia Silverstone would be game to reprise the role of Batgirl from Batman & Robin. Leslie Grace is about to become the latest cinematic version of Barbara Gordon as she will star in the upcoming HBO Max movie that will bring Batgirl into the DCEU. With the film set to release later this year, this will be the first time in 25 years where Batgirl stars in a major DC movie. In 1997, Silverstone took on the role of the DC heroine in Batman & Robin, directed by Joel Schumacher after he helmed Batman Forever.
Unlike the comics, Silverstone's iteration was reimagined as Alfred Pennyworth's niece, Barbara Wilson, rather than following the mythology where she's Commissioner Gordon's daughter. Batman & Robin ultimately flopped critically and at the box office, thus killing the Batman franchise. It took almost a decade before Batman returned to the big-screen when director Christopher Nolan rebooted the series with Batman Begins in 2005. Silverstone has over the years been vocal about the challenges that came with her Batgirl experience, including body-shaming. While Batman & Robin depicted Batgirl in a weird light, the film ultimately had bigger issues than that.
In a new interview with Comic Book Movie, Silverstone chatted a bit about Batgirl while promoting Last Survivors. When asked if she would ever be open to reprising her version of Batgirl in a DC project, Silverstone was more than open to it. While not sure if it would ever happen, the actress definitely wouldn't mind revisiting the DC character, saying the following:
"I don’t know. I’m open to whatever the world brings me, right? I’ll see what happens and flow."
In the current age of superhero films and TV shows exploring the Multiverse, there are definitely ways for Silverstone's Batgirl to come back. Spider-Man: No Way Home was the latest example where the film brought not one, but three Spider-Men together on screen. The Flash movie is set to include both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton's respective versions of Batman. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a good example where characters from DC TV shows or films that didn't have the best legacy still got to come back, including Brandon Routh's Superman and the short-lived Birds of Prey TV show. So if the right DC project was done, there is no reason why they couldn't involve the Schumacher franchise.
It would genuinely be intriguing to see where Silverstone's Batgirl is today in the Schumacher universe. Whether it would be as part of a Batgirl Multiverse story or something else, it could serve as a way to put her character in a better light. For Silverstone, it would likely also be a bit redeeming to get to re-explore the character, especially after the negative experience she had to go through the first time around. Perhaps after HBO Max's Batgirl happens, Warner Bros. could find a fun way to bring Grace and Silverstone's characters together in a cool crossover.
Source: Comic Book Movie
