Kevin Smith Not Happy Batgirl Isn’t Going To Theaters

In the latest edition of his Fatman Beyond podcast (via Joblo), Kevin Smith voiced his displeasure that Batgirl was going to be a streaming-only release on HBO Max instead of a theatrical film. The project was announced earlier this month, with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys For Life) directing from a script by Christina Hodson.

Smith said: “I have to call the mayor of Hollywood… What are you nuts! How is this just a streaming series and not a f***ing… Like, they got Wonder Woman. But I’m like, take Wonder, throw in Bat, take Woman off, put Girl, make the same amount of money. Like they could be printing big f*cking dollars. It’s a billion-dollar franchise if handled correctly. And you cast it right, oh sh*t… Look, there are wonderful streaming series. I’ll fight anybody who says Hacks isn’t one of the greatest f***ing series of all-time, now airing on HBO—and I’m not even a paid f***ing advocate. I’m just a big fan. But I would not have thought they would take Batgirl in this direction. Maybe a spinoff animated series sure, but that smells like a movie to me.”

He later backtracked on his claim that it could be a ‘billion-dollar franchise’, but still thinks the idea of Batgirl debuting on streaming is bad movie, as she’s “one of the most iconic female superheroes from the DC universe.”