Behind the Panel: Cecil Castellucci on Batgirl

Over the last 15 years, Cecil Castellucci has worn a lot of hats, from alt-rocker to acclaimed novelist. Earlier this year, Castellucci became the writer of DC's ongoing Batgirl series. As part of that assignment, Castellucci joined the series during DC's "Year of the Villain" event. And she's adding a new adversary to Batgirl's rogues' gallery: Oracle!

In this special Behind the Panel one-shot, Castellucci dives into the reason she envisioned Oracle as Batgirl's latest rival while incorporating the comic book history in which Batgirl was once Oracle herself!

"The best parts of ourselves are also, sometimes, the worst parts of ourselves," said Castellucci. "I'm trying to approach it in that manner, and be very respectful of the original Oracle character. The O.G. Oracle."

However, it's Barbara Gordon herself who made the series such a draw to Castellucci. She went on to share her admiration for Barbara's resilience in all of her incarnations.

"Barbara Gordon is so resilient, and she's a fierce feminist," recalled Castellucci. "When you look back at the Bronze Age, and you look at what she accomplished during that time ... she became a congresswoman. [She] is very versatile. She never thinks, 'Oh, I can’t.' She always thinks, 'How can I?'"

Additionally, Castellucci touched upon one of the more difficult aspects of writing a character in a shared universe. And that's the shared universe itself, which means that she doesn't have the full authority to dictate where the story will go. Regardless, she's very excited to be writing Batgirl for the foreseeable future!

For more Batgirl details from Castellucci, check out the full video!