Joss Whedon writing/directing a 'Batgirl' movie?

According to Variety, anyway. Nothing up on his twitter feed yet.

Guess DC figured that, with Sugergirl having a TV series, a movie was a better shot for Batgirl. Won't deny I'm disappointed that, instead of helming a TV series, he's back to making a single movie with characters he didn't create (again! after two Marvel movies and a Shakespeare adaptation), but I guess that's where we are now.

Anyone wanna start guessing who'll be cast in the lead? Seems like Chloe Grace Moritz is the obvious choice but it's possible he'll find someone new. Could they sell this to the public without a famous face attached? I doubt we'll get a Melissa Benoist or a Christian Bale cameo. Possibly Gary Oldman? Maybe a Lego Will Arnett?

I'll be honest here - I haven't read any of the recent Batgirl comics so I'm pretty much out to sea as to whether he can use what's currently going on or if he'll have to come up with something completely original. My understanding (assumption?) is that the current book (much like the current 'Supergirl' TV series) is pretty heavily aimed at the underage crowd.

 

Can we stop making super hero movies for like 5 years? Just take a little break.

 

Although he'd never follow Josh Trank and speak up about the levels of micromanagement that take place behind the scenes at the infinitely cheerier-looking Marvel Studios, I can't imagine for a second that Joss Whedon will prove to be compatible with the current vision for DC's own Extended Universe. On the other hand, I'd love to see him take over from Zack Snyder as someone watching over the entire cinematic franchise, though I suspect WB isn't quite ready to hit the necessary reset button. Also, wouldn't fans just use him "playing both sides" as a further excuse to continue their complaining? As for the possibility of a standalone Batgirl movie, there's no chance this will see the return of anyone from Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. If this does turn out to make it beyond the conception stage, we'll probably get something closer in tone to a live action version of the first third of the recent animated adaptation of The Killing Joke, which really needed expanding into its own R-rated adventure rather than serving to pad out a beloved story that just didn't work once it finally arrived in this format. Whatever happens, let's hope for an improvement over Catwoman... (I realise that "hope" is something DC and WB desperately want to instill in viewers of their ongoing film series without apparently having enough faith in their characters to give them anything remotely inspiring or uplifting!)

 

Joss Whedon making a film about a female super hero sounds like something that will have a hard time failing to entertain me. It's what he does best. Though I would really have loved to see another "Firefly" movie. Or indeed a new original series by him. "Dollhouse" had a lot of potential imo.

 

You don't have to watch them you know!

 

I think this, potentially, could be brilliant. He's great with strong female characters and this will be a welcome change from the somewhat dark DC cinema universe. Really quite excited for this.

 

This is the greatest news of all time.

 

I fear that WB is going to have so many mandates for this to keep it in line with their already established dark cinematic universe - if you want the lighter, more optimistic and genuinely optimistic side of DC's characters, that's what the "Arrowverse" is for!

 

I think DC has already moved away from the darker stuff as they realise it is a mistake and the upcoming WW and JL films will be lighter in tone and have more 'fun' moments. The trailers alone point to this. The fact they have chosen Whedon demonstrates that they want to go a lighter route. There would be no point picking him and then telling him to abandon his usual style, would there?

 

Isn't that exactly what happened with his 'Wonder Woman' script?

 

Someone over at the BluRay forum floated the idea of Jane Levy. I gotta say - I think that's inspired. Much better choice than Chloe. She would be perfect for the part.

 

At this point in the DC Extended Universe, it would be far too jarring if there was a major shift in tone. The humour in Suicide Squad (which mostly came from pickup shots, or so I read) felt incredibly forced to me, and I don't buy into the initial Justice League trailer. How do you go from suicide bomber plots, using a jar of urine as a plot device, Batman killing, Jimmy Olsen being introduced to show his death and Superman even getting temporarily killed off himself - after only two films - to anything else without hitting the reset button or at least committing some heavy duty retcon work first? I don't think even Joss Whedon can pull of this particular miracle... Can't we just have a reboot that includes a more optimistic Superman who isn't quickly thrown under a bus and Green Lantern not being seemingly brushed under the carpet for some reason?

 

He's exited Batgirl now.

 

Yep. He didn't have a story.

‘Batgirl’: Why Joss Whedon Was the Wrong Choice, and Why His Exit Means Real Change is Here

 

Reports are that WB is looking to replace Whedon with a female director.

Warner Bros. Wants a Female Director for DC's Batgirl Movie

 

I have never rooted against a movie before. Now that has changed and I hope this bombs.

 

Joss is stuck in pattern and has been for awhile...

 

That's good. Cabin in the Woods and Dr Horrible are both so much better than the Avengers, simply because they were his idea. Or his idea and his brother's idea in the case of Dr Horrible. Maybe with some more time off he'll write something completely unexpected - a drama for example. Maybe a novel. Or maybe just kick up his heels for a couple years - maybe remaster the Buffy episodes that Fox botched while he was busy with life.

 

I suppose this news ties in to why Dark Horse announced that Joss will be writing another season of the Buffy comic - after being away from it for several years. So, more good news, imo!

 

It seemed like Josh bombed as he didn't have a story.

 

What Buffy episodes are you referring to?

 

A couple years ago, Fox scanned all the Buffy footage into HD for the purpose of rebuilding every episode in HD. But something went wrong during the remastering process, which was not Fox's fault - the low-bid company they hired turned out to have little to no familiarity with composition/framing or with color correction. Or even with the comcept of shooting day-for-night - a rather important technique for a show featuring vampires! So what Fox got was something barely acceptable for syndication, but so ineptly done that rumor is Joss stepped in to prevent it from being released on BluRay for Buffy's 20th anniversary. Various directors or directors of photography on some episodes have spoken out against what was done to their episodes. So the hope is that Joss may at last have time to supervise a properly done remaster.

Whenever I talk about this I like to point out that Illuminate Hollywood was not the compamy involved in the failed Bufy HD remaster. (They did the excellent HD rebuilds of The X-Files and '24', which turned out great! Hopefully Fox will use them for the second try).

 

Exactly. Joss couldn't come up with a story, and Joss walked away. It's not as if he was fired.

 

This is a cover story, the real reasons he's no longer involved are obvious considering the current situation in Hollywood. Fallout from the recent statements made by his ex-wife. And also the relative failure of Justice League.

 

Why does Joss need to make up a story that he failed? Makes no sense. He was very open about about what happened and it doesn't look like he is spinning anything. Any faults in Justice League cannot be blamed on him. As for his wife......with all the VERY hot girls he has had in his employ there has not been a word said against him.