Hollywood is usually better known for cutthroat competition between, rather than words of support from, those within the industry. However, Warner Bros. Discovery’s canceling of its Batgirl movie has brought out the latter for directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi.
The directing duo whose superhero movie was unceremoniously Thanos-snapped out of existence before it could reach streaming or theaters posted to their Instagram Stories that they’ve received encouragement from fellow filmmakers.
They showed a screen grab of a message sent from Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, with whom the pair worked to acclaim on Ms. Marvel.
The pair were in Morocco for El Arbi’s wedding when they learned Batgirl’s fate. Feige offered congratulations on El Arbi’s wedding, but also mentioned “the disappointing news.“
He added, “Very proud of you guys and all the amazing work you do and particularly ‘Ms. Marvel’ of course! Can’t wait to see what is next for you …”
The pair captioned the message, “Thanks brother Kevin.”
El Arbi also thanked followers for their support. “Shoutout directors Edgar Wright and James Gunn, your kind words and experience mean a lot and help us through this difficult period.”
Both Wright and Gunn have had their own static in the superhero game.
Wright parted ways with Marvel Studios as the director of Ant-Man over creative differences in 2014, and the film was eventually directed by Peyton Reed.
Gunn, for his part, had been fired by Disney in 2018 after offensive old tweets of his resurfaced. He pivoted to Warner Bros. and shot both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker for the studio.
Gunn apologized for the tweets and eventually was rehired by Marvel Studios’ parent company, for which he completed his upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
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