Following the announcement that Warner Bros. was shelving the already-completed Batgirl, fans of Zack Snyder took to social media to make this decision all about the director’s defunct vision for future DC films, known as the Snyderverse.
The New York Post first reported on August 2 that Batgirl, starring Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, J.K. Simmons, and Brendan Fraser, had been canceled. Variety later reported that the decision came as a result of new studio goals following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Batgirl had originally been envisioned as an HBO Max release when it was greenlit in 2021, but new leadership, including Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, preferred to focus on making blockbusters for theatrical release. A sequel to Scoob!, titled Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, was also shelved. Of the announced cancelations, a Warner Bros. spokesperson said, “The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max.”
Any change this big to a film franchise like the DCEU naturally results in further speculation about what’s coming next. For fans of Snyder, the shelving of Batgirl opened the possibility that Warner Bros. was “restoring” the Snyderverse. This belief was only made stronger by the announcement that Ben Affleck would be returning as Batman in Aquaman 2. Snyderverse devotees took to social media to share their thoughts about what the cancelation could mean. (Note that Rolling Stone reported that the movement behind the “Snyder Cut” was fueled in part by fake accounts.)
However, there’s little to no chance of the Snyderverse coming back. For starters, Snyder is currently working on films like Rebel Moon for Netflix, making his return to a studio he has a contentious relationship with unlikely.
The DCEU has also clearly moved on from the Snyderverse. While future DCEU films such as Aquaman 2 feature characters from Justice League, the studio has also focused on new iterations of characters like Robert Pattinson in The Batman, soft franchise resets like The Suicide Squad, and standalone movies like Joker. Upcoming projects like Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods also appear to have no links to the Snyderverse. Warner Bros. has yet to announce any modifications to The Flash in light of star Ezra Miller’s personal controversies.
So no, Batgirl‘s cancelation does not mean a magical restoration of the Snyderverse. If anything, it speaks more to the turmoil of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, and to the continued struggle of the DCEU to figure out how to handle its intellectual property.
