Reports say that writer and director of The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Joss Whedon will be writing, directing, and producing a Batgirl film for Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe.
The recent development has been happening over the last four weeks. A deal is close to having Whedon onboard to bring Barbara Gordon to the silver screen.
Batgirl was previously portrayed by Alicia Silverstone in Batman & Robin (1997) where her secret identity was Barbara Wilson, Alfred’s niece. In this adaptation, she was an orphan after her parents died in a car crash. In case this fact is hard to swallow, keep in mind Commissioner Gordan did not play a major role in the Batman films of the 90’s the way Gary Oldman did in Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, or how fans can assume J.K. Simmons will in Justice League (2017). It’s understandable why the decision was made to change Barbara’s background in order to introduce her into the film with a close relationship with an existing main character.
This film will be the second DC Extended Universe movie to feature a female lead, following Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman (2017)’s release June 2.
DC fanboys should not only see Joss Whedon’s role as a triumph over Marvel because he’s “changed teams,” but what he brings to the table creatively. Before he was known for bringing together Marvel’s Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, he was known for “Buffy the Vampire” and “Firefly.”
On “Buffy the Vampire,” he became known for portraying strong, admirable women. Whether or not Batgirl will be Barbara Gordon, Barbara Wilson, Cassandra Cain, or Helena Wayne, Joss Whedon will do the character justice and present fans with well-crafted story onscreen.