Joss Whedon In Talks To Write & Direct A Batgirl Movie (OMG!!, *FANGIRL SQUEAL!*)
According to an article in Variety today, Geekdom lord and master, Joss Whedon is close to a deal with Warner Bros. to write, produce and direct a standalone Batgirl movie!… *OMG!! checks date… not April 1st yet… stay calm… breath… breath…*
*ahem* It would be fair to say, I’m rather excited by this prospect. :D
Really, I can’t imagine a better match up. Joss is well known for his writing of strong female teen leads, and his love of comic books. This isn’t his first brush with DC, as he was in talks at one point about bringing Wonder Woman to the big screen, but that all fell through. I really REALLY hope this doesn’t go the same way.
For those of you needing a bit of background, Batgirl first appeared in 1967 as Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Commissioner Jim Gordon (J.K. Simmons in the current DC movie world). The character was forced to stop being Batgirl after being shot through the spine by Joker in 1988’s Batman: The Killing Joke, but refocused herself as Oracle, using her brain and computer skills to help the rest of the Bat Family. Over the years there have been a number of other heroes who have picked up the Batgirl mantle – Cassandra Cain & Stephanie Brown being the most prominent. However, during DC’s New 52 relaunch, Babs took back her role as Batgirl after recovering from her spinal injury.
There’s no news on which Batgirl they will use for the movie, but you have to assume it’s going to be Barbara, as she’s by far the most well known, and easiest to fold into DC’s current movie continuity.
Joss Whedon is of course, best known for his creation of Buffy, Angel, Agents of SHIELD and the hallowed ground that is Firefly. Bringing Whedon on board would be a huge ‘get’ for DC, after his work with Marvel on the first 2 Avengers movies.
This adds another flick to Warner Bros’ ever growing upcoming slate of DC movies, which include The Batman, a Suicide Squad sequel, Gotham City Sirens, The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, Shazam and Black Adam films. Those are on top of the already shot Wonder Woman and Justice League movies.
We’ll let you know when we hear more, but I have all my fingers and toes crossed this comes off!
