What comic was The Batgirl film supposedly based on? Details explored amid cancellation announcement

In what was a bleak day for DC fans, earlier this month, Batgirl was announced as canceled by Warner Bros., who cited tax deduction reasons and more behind their decision.

Another reason for the canning of the Leslie Grace DC movie was because the studio, under its new regime, thought that it did not fit under its blockbuster narrative.

Even though Batgirl was in its final stages of production, it was sadly passed along for the chopping block. This is especially disheartening for fans, given that the film was set to chronicle the origin story of Barbara Gordon and would be loosely based off of Batgirl: Year One.

With the movie now being cancelled, let's take a look at what the inspiration for it was going to be and how it was expected to adapt the comic book.

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Exploring Batgirl: Year One, the inspiration behind the canceled film

Batgirl: Year One comic cover (Image via DC Comics)

Written by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beaty, Batgirl: Year One was the main inspiration for the upcoming film. Released in 2003, the comic book brought about a new story detailing the origins of Barbara Gordon turning into the superhero we all know and love.

The comic sees Barbara Gordon trying to convince her father James Gordon to let her work in law enforcement. Upon his refusal, she is forced to work in the Gotham City Library. She eventually hacks into the computers of the Justice Society of America and asks to be trained under Black Canary, but is dismissed by Wildcat. As a result, she is frustrated by everyone's lack of faith in her.

Upon learning that her father has been invited to a Masquerade ball, she creates a female version of the Batman costume and turns up for the event. However, before she can reveal her identity to Gordon, the ball is attacked by Killer Moth and his gang, who are all in pursuit of Bruce Wayne. When Barbara fights them off and is given the name "Batgirl," Wayne takes notice of her. Thus begins our hero's story.

The comic details Barbara Gordon's first meeting with Batman and Robin, and how the Dark Knight tests her to see if she is good at fighting crime. Very much a coming-of-age story, the comic also delves into the romance blooming between her and Robin. By the end, it sees Barbara teaming up with her favorite hero Black Canary.

The comic is very much a retelling of Barbara's origins, and according to leaks, the film was supposed to follow this storyline as well. Leaks from ViewerAnon talked about Barbara getting dressed as Batman to enter a Halloween party and meet him. Black Canary was also expected to make an appearance on screen.

Photos from the set further suggested that there would be hints about Robin as well, but it looks like viewers won't be seeing it anymore.

Filming for Batgirl wrapped up a while back, and everything was coming along smoothly. With Brendan Fraser cast as Firefly and Michael Keaton reprising his role as Batman, the success of the film was pretty much sealed, until the unfortunate announcement.

Leslie Grace, who was supposed to play the titular role, took to Twitter following the cancellation announcement. She posted a thread talking about how thankful she was for having starred in this film.

However, given the effort invested into the movie, fans are hopeful that it might still somehow find its way to the big screen sometime in future.

At the time of writing this article, no official sources had addressed the same.