TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Joss Whedon closing in on 'Batgirl' movie deal
Change Size
Joss Whedon arrives at the "Much Ado About Nothing" LA Premiere at the Oscars Outdoors at Academy Hollywood on June 5, 2013, in Los Angeles, California. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he DC Extended (read: cinematic) Universe, or DCEU, looks set to recruit director Joss Whedon, whose 2012 Avengers movie sent the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the stratosphere, to helm a solo Batgirl movie.
With Wonder Woman coming out in June and Gotham City Sirens (the one with all the bad girls) at scripting stage, this would put DC several movies up on Marvel, whose Cinematic Universe (MCU) has yet to feature a standalone superheroine film. Captain Marvel, with Brie Larson, is only scheduled for 2019.
According to entertainment trade publication Variety, Whedon and Warner Bros are nearing a deal for the Buffy, The Vampire Slayer creator to write, produce and direct a live-action Batgirl film.
Batgirl is one of the comic-book world’s most popular superheroines, appearing on the 1966 Batman TV series (she was played by Yvonne Craig) and going on to prominence in the Batman family of comics. In the movies, she was played by Alicia Silverstone in the widely reviled Batman & Robin, and was most recently voiced by Rosario Dawson in The LEGO Batman Movie.
There have been several Batgirls in the comics, but the most enduring one is Barbara Gordon, the daughter of long-time Batman ally Commissioner James Gordon.
Read also: Matt Reeves steps in to direct 'The Batman'
If Whedon’s Batgirl-to-be is indeed the Barbara Gordon version, it’s quite likely J.K. Simmons will also appear in the movie as he is the DCEU’s version of James Gordon.
Whedon also created other cult-favorite TV shows like Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse, and co-created Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. He had previously said he was done with the MCU after a gruelling experience making 2015’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron.
Although the DCEU’s films so far – Man Of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Suicide Squad – have had a mixed reception, it seems at least bold enough to bank on its superheroines, which is something Marvel-Disney has been curiously reluctant to do. What with, you know, all those Disney (and Star Wars) princesses.
And for Batgirl, Warner Bros could do a lot worse than Whedon, who is known for shows with strong female leads.
