DC Entertainment has officially retracted the romantic subplot between Batman and Batgirl featured in the 2016 animated movie Batman: The Killing Joke. The publisher admitted that depicting Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon in a sexual relationship was a "creative mistake" that ignored established continuity.
The July 24 anniversary and the Instagram correction
The admission came as DC Entertainment shared Halloween costume concepts on Instagram, featuring characters such as Superman, Supergirl, and Hal Jordan. By including Batman and Batgirl in matching costumes, the publisher used a visual cue to signal a departure from the cotentious depiction found in the film directed by Sam Liu. according to the report, this social media activity coincided with the ten-year anniversary of the movie's July 24, 2016 premiere.
This move serves as a formal validation of the fan backlash that persisted for nearly a decade. While the film remained available for streaming on HBO Max, the romantic pairing remained a point of contention for audiences who felt the relationship did not align with the core identity of the characters.
How Brian Azzarello's script diverged from Alan Moore's 1988 graphic novel
The original 1988 graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons presents a starkly different narrative where Barbara Gordon is primarily a victim of the Joker's violence. In the source material, the Joker attacks the Gordon residence to shoot Barbara and kidnap Commissioner James Gordon, with no romantic or sexual involvement between Barbara and Bruce Wayne. As the report says, the animated adaptation significantly expanded Barbara's role in a way that contradicted the tone of the original book.
The film's prologue, written by Brian Azzarello, depicts a joint mission between Batman and Batgirl that ends in a heated argument over Batman's desire to remove her from the field. This conflict escalates into a scene of physical and verbal abuse that transitions into a sexual encounter... This specific narrative choice was the primary catalyst for the negative reviews and sustained criticism from the DC fanbase.
The legacy of Bruce Timm's DC Animated Universe and Batman Beyond
The confusion surrounding the Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon dynamic is partly rooted in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) created under the direction of Bruce Timm . In The New Batman Adventures, the two characters shared a close working relationship, and the later series Batman Beyond explicitly confirmed that the pair had dated after Dick Grayson moved to Bludhaven. Other projects, such as Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, further teased this romantic history.
However, these DCAU interpretations were far less explicit than the 2016 film. Even the non-canonical Batman Beyond 2.0 comic, which explored a past pregnancy and miscarriage, did not mirror the specific, jarring nature of the Killing Joke prologue. The 2016 film's failure was not in suggesting a romance, but in the execution and the deviation from the father-daughter mentor dynamic that defines the characters in most other media.
Who approved the shift from a father-daughter dynamic to a sexual relationship?
Despite the current admission, several questions remain regarding the production of the 77-minute film, which currently holds a 6.8 out of 10 rating. It remains unclear which executives at DC Entertainment approved Brian Azzarello's script changes or why the production team felt a sexual encounter was necessary to enhance Alan Moore's original plot. Furthermore, the source does not clarify if this admission will lead to any official "de-canonization" of the film within the broader DC multiverse or if it remains a standalone error .
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