It’s not hard to see just how Jon Fuge of MovieWeb and many others feel about Batman and Robin from 1997, but thinking that Batfleck was an improvement in a big way is the lapse in judgment that would make Alicia Silverstone returning to the role of Batgirl sound like a good idea. I’ll agree with Jon that Batman and Robin, taken on by George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell, was a walking dumpster fire and that the whole thing made about as much sense as putting shorts on a chicken, but having Silverstone come back for the role of Batgirl would be a huge mistake it feels like no matter how much she might want the role. There would be a couple of things wrong with that right off the bat, no pun intended, since the changes that have gone on throughout the course of Batman’s history in cinema since her time have been numerous. For one, bringing her back now, there’s now way to really pretend that she would be fitting for a Bat ‘girl’ since she’s in her 40s at this point and can’t really pull of the whole college-girl act any longer. It would likely take a great deal of de-aging and something even more effective to really make it possible. Plus, if she did come back into the Batman story at this point we now have a POC as Commissioner Gordon, so either she’d be adopted, have a white mother, or be related to someone else yet again since she was related to Alfred in Batman and Robin. That point however is pretty minor compared to others that fans would bring up.
Bringing Silverstone back to the screen for Batgirl just isn’t a big possibility at this point, or at least a lot of people are hoping so since again, the age issue and the fact that things have changed so much might work against her too much. There might be a role she could take in the Batman universe, but as of yet there’s really no idea of how a sequel might be planned out at this point since Robert Pattinson’s turn has been delayed and might continue to be delayed for the foreseeable future. But bringing her back, without having her put the mask and suit on again, is definitely a no-go for a lot of people, even those that would want to see Batgirl in her own movie. Perri Nemiroff of Collider has another opinion on this matter. It might not sound fair since Alicia didn’t get the best chance to display her skills in the 90s or even get to really showcase her inner-Batgirl all that much apart from a fight scene with Uma Thurman, but it might be best to see Batgirl in a very different movie apart from Batman at this point, as otherwise she tends to get overlooked in favor of the hero she’s emulated for so long.
So in other words, letting Alicia back into the role is a divisive issue at best at this point since some folks would like to see her don the suit again while others might want her to simply stay away since the memories of Batman and Robin didn’t really settle well and stirring them up might leave a bad taste in peoples’ mouths. The Batman story didn’t really take a healthy turn after Tim Burton’s departure to say the least since after Batman Returns things kind of went off the rails as Batman Forever and Batman and Robin really took the story in a crazy direction that appeared to deviate in a number of ways from what people were expecting of the dark knight and his fellow heroes. In the comics Batman has been through a few Robins, a Batgirl, a Batwoman, and has watched as other figures such as Nightwing and Red Hood arose and added to the mix. In the movies the pace has been slow, not really methodical, and has been ripped up and redone more than once now as villains have been added to the mix and then taken away in favor of promoting others. People do realize we’ve seen 3 Jokers, 2 Two-Faces, 2 Catwoman characters (3 technically with Halle Berry), and will soon have seen 2 Riddlers and 2 Penguins. And that’s not even to mention the villains that have been seen in Suicide Squad and the Gotham series. If there’s ever been a more ripped up and rehashed story than Batman it’s hard to imagine it since the dark knight and those that roll with him have been done and redone a bunch of times and somehow they’re still around and still just as loved as ever. Anna Chan of Today has something to say about this.
But Batgirl? She’s a solid character and someone that should be included, but Alicia Silverstone is no longer the right woman for the role. Much like any other hero role Batgirl needs someone a little younger that can stick around for a bit.
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