What Does Batgirl's Cancellation Mean For DC's Black Canary Movie?

The live-action DC multiverse was hit with a shocking piece of news on Tuesday, when reports confirmed that Warner Bros will be shelving its Batgirl movie, despite the film having already wrapped production. This decision was reportedly made due to changes to DC's larger film slate, with the studio hoping to make larger-scale blockbuster films for theaters, instead of releases on the HBO Max streaming service (which Batgirl was previously planned to debut on). Batgirl's surprise cancellation has now led some to wonder about the future of other reported or confirmed DC projects — including another planned HBO Max-exclusive film set in Batgirl's corner of the DC universe, Black Canary.

First announced to be in development in August of last year, Black Canary would spin out of the events of 2020's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), with Jurnee Smollett reprising her role as the superhero and Misha Green writing the script. While Smollett had never been confirmed to be appearing in Batgirl, rumors from late last year had indicated that the film would help set up the narrative of Black Canary, seemingly playing off of the close friendship that the two characters have as founding members of the Birds of Prey in the comics. Photos from Batgirl's set earlier this year also revealed visual references to Black Canary, namely in the form of multiple in-universe posters for her musical performances. 

It would certainly be possible for Black Canary's narrative to unfold without those references in Batgirl, especially after Smollett's Dinah Lance is already known to audiences from her appearance in Birds of Prey. But the larger shift Warner Bros. Discovery is seemingly making with its DC slate begs the question of whether or not Black Canary could eventually get the axe as well, unless the film is able to be executed as a larger-scale blockbuster from the jump. The studio's Blue Beetle film did ultimately get that treatment, moving from a HBO Max-exclusive release to a theatrical release before its production even began earlier this year, and seemingly allowing for it to have a higher budget. It isn't out of the question that Black Canary could get the same fate, especially when rumors surrounding its supporting cast include other significant DC characters like Green Arrow to the League of Assassins, but it remains to be seen if that would ultimately be the case, or if the movie would get cancelled before it could even begin.

Another hypothetical possibility — although one that definitely is not guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination — could be for the narrative of Black Canary to be retooled as a television show. DC has already spun off the characters of its movies into their own series, including John Cena's Peacemaker getting his own hit show after The Suicide Squad, and Colin Farrell's The Penguin set to get one after The Batman. Black Canary fans had already campaigned for an HBO or HBO Max-exclusive series for the character before the movie was first reported, so it certainly wouldn't be unprecedented to eventually release the project in that format — but again, it would all depend on whether or not DC wants to tell that story going forward.

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