DC fans may be seeing new live-action Batgirl and Zatanna movies or TV shows.
At the annual AT&T investors meeting, a showcase of DC-related projects indicated that either a movie or TV show on the two popular heroines are in the works with scores of other properties.
Who is Batgirl?
The original Batgirl was Betty Kane, a teenager who took up the costume to work with her aunt, Kathy, the original Batwoman.
In 1967, the Batman TV show introduced a new Batgirl who became a regular figure in the comics. Barbara Gordon, the daughter of police commissioner Jim Gordon, was inspired by Batman to take up her own costume to fight crime.
In 1988, Barabra was paralyzed after being shot by the Joker. She remade herself into the genius computer hacker Oracle and formed the Birds of Prey team.
Former teen assassin Cassandra Cain took the Batgirl mantle with Barabra’s blessing. Stephanie Brown later held it in between stints as the crimefighter Spoiler.
When DC rebooted their “New 52” in 2011, Barbara regained the use of her legs to take back the Batgirl costume.
Development on a Batgirl movie has been underway for years, with Joss Whedon briefly attached in 2017. A script was written by Baraba Hodson, who wrote the Birds of Prey film and the forthcoming Flash spin-off movie.
Who is Zatanna?
Zatanna Zatarra is the daughter of a famed magician who inherited his powers. Notable is that she needs to speak backward to make her magic work.
The heroine remains highly popular with her charm, humor, and going into battle dressed in a classic stage magician outfit of a tuxedo, top hat, and fishnet stockings.
While she has worked with the Justice League, Zatanna prefers to be a stage performer with the audience not realizing she’s using real magic.
The character appeared on Smallville, played by Serinda Swan and numerous DC animated series.
Zatanna also works with Justice League Dark, who will have their own HBO Max series created by JJ Abrams. Abrams is also producing a new series based on the magician Constantine. It appears this project will be separate from the Dark series.
DC’s future slate
Not many details were released on either project, although the presentation’s image collects various DC projects from the forthcoming Suicide Squad movie to the CW Arrowverse shows.
Also shown is GCPD, set in a Gotham City handling Batman’s presence in the continuity of the coming Batman movie; DMZ, which tells of a New York City torn apart in a civil war; and the announced Blue Beetle movie.
While these are preliminary announcements, the fact that Batgirl and Zatanna are being mentioned so prominently indicates Warner Bros is serious about bringing these two popular heroines into some live-action form.