By Travis Johnson
The Hollywood Reporter has dropped the rather explosive news that Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers, creator of Buffy, dropper of quips, dancer of joy, is being courted to helm a Batgirl movie for DC/Warner.
This would actually be the second time time that Whedon has been attached to a female DC superhero property – back in the day he was attached to write and direct a Wonder Woman movie, but the project fell apart. Of course, Wonder Woman will finally get her time to shine later this year, in the upcoming feature directed by Patty Jenkins.
This is a pretty good fit of creator and material. Whedon is an avowed comics nut and a big fan of female heroes -he loves him some Kitty Pryde (and made her the focus of his run on Astonishing X-Men), and there’s that whole Buffy thing, which seems to at the forefront of people’s minds of late for some reason. Of course, the argument has been made that a female director would be a better choice, and that’s not without merit; one Patty Jenkins does not balance the gender books, Batgirl is one of the most prominent female comics characters of all time, and Whedon, a self-described feminist, would show a lot of class by gracefully demurring. On the other hand, Whedon’s sassy dialogue and nose for sharp subtext and cultural observation is a natural fit for the “Batgirl of Burnside” iteration of the character.
Looking deeper, this could be taken as a sign that Warner, understandably shaken by the poor reception of their wider DCEU efforts (including the new Justice League trailer, which we rather liked) are going back to a proven formula – Batman movies, or at least Batman-adjacent movies. This project, coupled with the upcoming Nightwing movie to be directed by The LEGO Batman Movie‘s Chris McKay, might work as a kind of side door to the DCEU, where more direct attempts seem to be faltering (we are never getting a Cyborg movie).
Still: Joss Whedon and Batgirl. That sounds like a winner.
