By Variety reports that Joss Whedon will direct a standalone Batgirl movie for Warner Bros. and the DCEU. Whedon will also write the film and serve as producer. Variety notes that comics writer and producer Geoff Johns will be one of the people who oversees the project.
This is pretty huge for a variety of reasons.
First of all, Whedon has jumped from Marvel Studios to DC, having helmed the first Avengers movie and its sequel. Whedon seemed burned out physically and creatively by Avengers: Age of Ultron, which may explain why the Russo brothers are handling the next two Avengers entries. (Ironically, Whedon had struggled for years to make a Wonder Woman film before The Avengers fell into place.)
On top of this, this project came together quickly in the last month. In the meantime, the standalone Batman movie from Matt Reeves and Ben Affleck seems to be hitting a snag. It’s unclear if this Batgirl movie will beat The Batman film to release.
This also makes me wonder if this will feature a Dick Grayson/Nightwing appearance to set up the Nightwing movie that was announced a month ago.
Is this the start of the DCEU Bat Family sub-universe, aka the DCEUBFSU?
Whedon makes sense for Batgirl. The creator and driving force behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a solid choice to steer a Batgirl story in a reliable direction. I wonder what iteration of Batgirl it will be, though. Will it be the new hipster Batgirl of Burnside (the Brooklyn of Gotham City) who sports the bossest new costume around, or will this be a more classic iteration of Barbara Gordon?
We’ll report more details as they arise. What do you think of this news? Is the DCEU doing something right? Will this wind up delayed by the summer? Let us know in the comments.
[via Variety]