Leslie Grace is very purple in her new Batgirl costume
The pop singer and In The Heights star showed off the first look at her Barbara Gordon in the upcoming HBO Max movie
Aux News Batgirl
We’ve known for a while now that Leslie Grace—who made the transition from pop star to actor with a notable performance in last year’s In The Heights—would be playing Batgirl in a new movie for HBO Max. And now we’ve finally got visual confirmation, as Grace posted a photo of herself in her new costume for the direct-to-streaming film on Instagram this weekend. It’s very purple!
To be fair, Batgirl’s costume has typically operated in those brighter hues—she’s the rare hero to rock the shade, which is usually associated with villains like Lex Luthor, The Joker, or Thanos’ big, weird-chinned face. But in an era where superhero costume design has typically skewed more drab (give or take your Shazams or Spideys here and there), it’s nice to see some bolder tones get their day in the Gotham City moonlight.
Grace accompanied the post with a quote from 2003's Batgirl: Year One, written by Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon, with art from Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez. The series recounts Barbara Gordon’s transition from computer-friendly commissioner’s kid to increasingly seasoned crime fighter; the quote presumably suggests what sort of direction the Batgirl film, currently aimed at a loose “2022" release date, will be going for.
Grace will star in the film opposite J.K. Simmons, who had very little to do as Commissioner Jim Gordon in Justice League; that project, like this one, bore many of the fingerprints of dethroned nerd king Joss Whedon, who was originally set to write and direct Batgirl as part of his career-long obsession with small women capable of beating seven kinds of shit out of a variety of opponents.
Whedon got moved off the project, though, as part of Hollywood’s great and ongoing de-Whedoning; it’s now being directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, working from a screenplay by Bird Of Prey screenwriter Christina Hodson. Michael Keaton is reportedly set to reprise his old Batman role for the film (similar, presumably, to what he’s doing in The Flash), while Doom Patrol’s Brendan Fraser is set to play the villainous Firefly.
110 Comments
See William hasn’t quite got to grips with the concept of embedding photos, yes?BTW, in case anyone’s thinking “Wow, that set design is impressive” – it’s real. Very, all too real. I’m looking forward to seeing this when it comes out so I can spot all the wee locations in my wee city where the Americans have caused havoc for the past few weeks with road closures, LOL.
Also, having difficulty with the concept of blue:
I love you haha. Yeah. It’s blue.
So she just blue herself?
She needed the money.
You know what you do? You buy yourself a tape recorder and you record yourself for a whole day…
Ooh, chocolate! Lick?
Cool! I guess I’ll find out what it actually looks like by searching elsewhere because you need an Instagram login to use the link in the article. If only there was some way to, I dunno, link the image directly to a post that’s entirely about said image?
Oh look I just copy/pasted the tweet she did about and and made a comment that’s more useful than this article, weird!
What sorcery is this, this “cut and paste” of which you speak? It’s magic! Meaning you are a witch, and must be burned.
It’s not that purple.
It’s…blue.
none…more blue…
Really? Looked white and gold to me…
💯
Now THAT is Batgirl, and no one will ever come close to her.
No, it’s yanny.
well yanny-yanny-yanny and yeener-yeener!
I loved the absurdity of that debate…because nobody is named Yanny. It’s not a name!
Even Yanni’s name…is not Yanny.
Yeah. But you gotta give it up for that pic
he’s at one with the yanniverse
my car: nobody can agree whether it is purple or blue
Thank you for your service, sir.
I was able to view the image without logging in.
Apparently legal departments are advising web sites to not even embed social media posts if there are potential copyright issues. I don’t know if someone scored a big judgment because of a copyrighted video or image in a shared post, or if it’s lawyers just being pansies, but it seems to be more common now for sites to just offer a hyperlink.
I mean, sure, but maybe find a link that works instead of a link that doesn’t in that case.
i hate that shit, sites do it all the time now. I click on an article, and i have to go to ANOTHER site?
Could we embed the Instagram pics instead of just providing a link? I click it, and it wants me to log into Instagram. I would not create an Instagram account under threat of a burning poker to my eyes, much less to see a single pic.
There is actually a ton of great comic book art on instagram, tons of huge established artists, plus newcomers that are amazing. Thats why im on it. Its not just kardashian type bimbo influencers, and you could totally ignore that.
I’m really surprised they went with that costume. It wasn’t exactly a beloved run/costume, though I get it screams “the young hip Babs”…which, okay, I’m glad they aren’t going for quirky, geek girl like they saddled poor Kara with in season one of Supergirl. But that costume…I hated in comic form and while I think it actually translate better on screen, I still don’t love it.
Yeah, that comic design kind of blows. Sorry to see it rendered so faithfully here. While many aren’t fans of the overly thick, body-armor versions of Batman, this looks to offer as much protection as a light raincoat.
I like this costume and I think worrying about the practicality of a bat costume is silly.
“practicality” doesn’t enter into it. It doesn’t seem plausible as someone one would wear if they wanted to stay alive.
I mean…it doesn’t seam plausible for Batman to wear his kind of costume while fighting enemies that are able to throw him 10+ meters far against concrete walls – that crack by the force of impact!
Thats a highspeed car crash…just that there is no car but only his meatbag body flying against it.That must be a harder hit then falling from a friggin skyscraper if the concrete gets cracked. So yeah, he is dead.Pretty much every bone must have been shattered in that kind of impact and even if he survives somehow miraculously, he would never ever walk again or even eat his soup by his own power.I think we should leave “logic” out of the discussion if we talk about comics. Her armor works perfectly fine as his does…how? Who knows. Comic-Magic.
If we would go by realism his armor should always under every circumstance at least be some Iron Man kind of thing.
Like full body armor, strength enhancer, plates all over the body to help against impacts…hell even then he would be just an oozing splatter of flesh in the inside of his armor if someone like Darkseid punched him.
You know…the guy who knocked out friggin superman with one punch.
This kinda of random concern suddenly springing up now reminds me of how it’s only ever when women are cast as superheroes that we’re concerned about “looking the part” in terms of muscle.
Please don’t make me use the Ben Afflek gif.
Maybe she should talk to her friend, the flying space alien with laser eyes, about how implausible her outfit is.
“That outfit would totally never work in REAL life”- Sincerely, the Martian Manhunter
Glad that there are so many people here who have literally no clue how suspension of disbelief works.
I dunno, it looks exactly like the kinda material Ollie used for most of the run of Arrow. Except it has sleeves. I think it’s a refreshing change of pace from the molded plastic or skin-tight spandex suits. It actually seems like the most practical of any Bat-related suit we’ve seen.
I think the outfit shouts: low stakes!like the Netflix shows deflating Jessica Jones’ powers (or the original X-Men movies where not everybody could fly because $$$) it looks like she’s mostly fighting thugs with knives. Meanwhile in THE Batman he is wearing armor so thick machine gun bullets bounce right off it…and nobody thinks to shoot him in his chin.
In The Batman trailer he’s wearing armor that disperses the impact of rifle rounds so effectively that he doesn’t even get knocked back, which is either standard comic book nonsense (in which case the whole “gritty realism” thing becomes stupider) or will be explained away using comic book magic-science (which is even worse because there will be a bunch of morons discussing how realistic it is).
I think it would be impossible to hit a moving target in the chin.
Yes, this representation of Batgirl certainly strains plausibility in a way that other representations of Batgirl do not.
Glad that there are so many people here who have literally no clue how suspension of disbelief works.
I would say it’s the opposite – many of us feel comfortable suspending our disbelief in the entire premise of a person in a costume with a long cape kick-punching against crime, which is what makes your nitpicking about the material of the costume so silly.
Batgirl’s whole career is implausible. A young girl fighting a dozen hardened criminals that are grown men, and winning? They should have at least done an issue where she goes away for a year to train with ninjas, or some shit. Unless Batman trained her, which i’ve never seen.
this looks to offer as much protection as a light raincoat.
Meh. DC/Marvel heroes have been wearing this type of outfit throughout the current superhero revival.Cap, Thor, Widow, Hawkeye, Black Lightning, White Canary, etc etc etc.You’ve gotta strike a balance between a costume that looks “believable” and something the actors/stuntmen can actually move around in.
Perfect for when she goes up against infamous Batman rogue, the Drizzler.
Both the run and the costume were controversial, but that’s because lots of people loved them and lots of people hated them. This very website wrote several very positive reviews of that run.
I mean, it beats some of her more iconic costumes. Like her one from Batman: TAS. At the very least, it looks like she could have a protective vest under it along with some joint padding. I’d have reworked the mask at the very least to be something more like an advanced bat-themed biker helmet.
Really? I think this design is brilliant!
a lot of dudes mad about it lmao. anyway can’t wait to see her kick ass.
I don’t hate the design of the costume, but the materials sort of look like Affleck -Daredevil/X-men 2000
Their main objection seems to be its a functional suit, and not a porn star outfit.
Hey, a picture would be nice!
Okay, your majesty!
Looks snazzy.
Leslie now needs to play a criminally insane Orion.
And Sam Malone’s once-a-year fuck buddy.
I think that was Barbara Feldon, Agent 99 on Get Smart.
Damn. I fucked up so bad I should apply for a job here.
Barbara Feldon was hot. I just needed to say that.
Can we agree on Daniel Craig for Garth?
Party on , Cranston!
Why does Batgirl always get the shaft when it comes to masks? I don’t just mean live-action adaptations, I mean the comics and cartoons as well. I think The Batman cartoon was the only one to give her a decent mask,
B:TAS did damn near everything right, that’s why.
Wrong one. Talking about this one:
Underrated Batman right there and Kevin Richardson’s Joker was great because he didn’t try to copy Hamill
Nothing wrong with that either. But I stand by my opinion about BTAS.
Underrated cartoon.
It made me think of Batman ‘66 but I guess that’s just my age showing.
I’m a 90s kid and I watched the reruns. Hokey as they were, they were also fun. 60s Batgirl was the first thing I thought of too.
If I’m not mistaken, the character was invented for the 1966 tv show, right? Literally. Because of the gay panic factor? Although I’ve always LOVED that her costume is not only purple, it’s SPARKLY!!
If anything’s gonna neutralize gay camp, it’s a sparkly purple costume.
It was a simpler time, when people assumed Liberace and Rock Hudson were real ladies’ men.
I think she was.
THAT’S purple. I tried to post a pic AND a link to that costume, but who the hell knows what showed up.
It’s not – I think it was always meant to be a more functional translation of the 60s TV costume.
no, its not your age, its definitely very similar, just 60s batgirl’s outfit is tighter.
I prefer Yvonne Craig’s costume!
Do we know how old she is supposed to be in the movie? I wonder if it will be her in college like the Batgirl of Burnside was. While I do enjoy her armored up costume more I really like the Burnside one. It looks really good in the photo which is surprising because I have always felt superhero costumes look really dumb in press photos and don’t look good until the post processing is done and actually on film.
Hate it. Looks like a jumpsuit from Zara.
So JK Simmons is the same Commissioner Gordon from Justice League, but Michael Keaton is now his Batman? I guess Pat Hingle has been dead for quite a while, and they plan on shifting ‘89 Batman into the DCEU, but I can’t see how they’re getting through this movie without more than one joke about how Batman has gotten 8 inches shorter and 20 years older.
As a fervent MCU fan and rabid anti-DC fan, I’m more than a little bitter that Simmons is playing both sides. HE’S OURS.
Clearly it’s so the MCU can nab Henry Cavill as Captain Britain.
While we’re at it lets just go for them all.
Get Momoa for Kraven Gadot for Phyla-Vell.The Shazam! guy as Ben Reilly.Then I guess Dwayne Johnson as Ares?
John Cena as Hyperion?
Margot Robbie as Dazzler
Val Kilmer as Molecule Man?George Clooney as Mephisto?
Cillian Murphy as ThaneRussel Crowe as UlikkLiam Neeson as Beta Ray BillMichael Shannon as BlackheartGary Oldman as Mr. Sinister
Antje Traue as SingularityAmy Adams as AngelaCara Delevigne as Black CatWill Smith as Nick Fury Jr.
Daniela Melchior as White Tiger
Katie Holmes and Maggie Gylenhaal as the same SkrullAaron Eckhart as NovaBen Affleck as HammerheadViola Davis as director of SWORDArnold Schwarzeneggar as a random Mandroid?Uma Thurman as a reworked SinJoel Kinnamon as… I dunno, Darkhawk?Marion Cotillard as Morgan Le Fay
Amber Heard as Moonstone
And somehow get Iko Uwais as Daken whenever they figure out what they’ll do with Wolverine.
And Denzel Washington as Blue Marvel?
Tom Hopper is Captain Britain and I will not be taking questions.
He does good on TV but kinda ‘ehhhh’ in movies. Most recently, he was horribly miscast as Wesker in last year’s mess of a Resident Evil movie. Between that and his role in Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, I’d be uncertain.
Russell Crowe is playing Zeus in the next Thor movie, which also has Christian Bale as Gor, the God Butcher; Marvel’s already started poaching the DCEU talent.
I totally missed Crowe’s casting, knew about Bale.
Now does that mean he’s the Butcher of the Gods, or that he actually butchers Gods?
This will be like when Turner formed the WCW and poached all of WWF’s top personalities.
well with this multiverse shit, they really can just do whatever they want now and not worry about any kind of continuity at all.
I like it. Has a nice ‘66 vibe.dethroned nerd king Joss Whedon, who was originally set to write and direct Batgirl as part of his career-long obsession with small women capable of beating seven kinds of shit out of a variety of opponents.Oh how quickly we forget the days when huge swathes of fandom — including this very website — used to gush fawningly and practically treat him as God of Feminism thanks to that very same obsession.
Because until the truth came out, what looked like him attempting to promote strong women turned out to be him riding a fetish in to the mainstream.
That outfit is blue.
Leslie Grace is very purple, and presumably super gay, and presumably just what we all need right now.
But is she going to be bubbly and fun or another CW sourpuss?
Between “Batgirl” and “She-Hulk”, I’m hoping for 2022 to be the year of the purple-suited badass ladies.
I mentioned it below but thought I’d give it its own post: the character of Batgirl was invented for the 1966 tv show, right? I’m like 99.999% sure she was, so her costume has literally always been purple.I am glad to see they finally changed it to blue for this.
So how many millions of dollars just went poof! since Warner Bros didn’t cast the canon-correct White actress?After all, they sure as hell didn’t cast any Whites for Black Panther.
“Joss Whedon, who was originally set to write and direct Batgirl as part of his career-long obsession with small women capable of beating seven kinds of shit out of a variety of opponents.”Or his obsession with loading waifish women with as much physical/psychological trauma as possible while the camera stares at their feet. Six of one.
So we’re pretending he’s Tarantino now?
Not a fan of the Burnside design in the first place, but it’s the material that’s making it look worse. Looks like a raincoat.
… Are you sure you know what color “purple” is? I dare you to get a color chart and hold that image up to it, then come back here and repeat that claim 🙂