Nearly a year after signing on with Warner Bros. to write and possibly direct DC’s Batgirl for the studio, Joss Whedon has thrown in the towel and walked away from the project.
Despite the many comic books at his disposal where he could have taken his inspiration, Whedon just couldn’t come up with a viable story for the female lead superhero. Maybe the pressure to emulate Patty Jenkins Wonder Women was a bit too much for him to live up to, the tepid reaction to Justice League, which he completed following Zack Snyder’s departure, may also have added to the decision.
Also in the news – LEGO Batman’s Chris MacKay in talks to direct Dungeons and Dragons
In a statement released via The Hollywood Reporter Whedon said “Batgirl is such an exciting project, and Warners/DC such collaborative and supportive partners, that it took me months to realize I really didn’t have a story,”
Referring to DC president Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. Picture Group president Toby Emmerich, he added, “I’m grateful to Geoff and Toby and everyone who was so welcoming when I arrived, and so understanding when I…uh, is there a sexier word for ‘failed’?”
Batgirl is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts to the superhero Batman. Although the character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in 1961 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff as Bat-Girl, she was replaced by Barbara Gordon in 1967, who later came to be identified as the iconic Batgirl. The character debuted in Detective Comics #359, titled “The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!” (January 1967) by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino, introduced as the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon.
With the huge success of Patty Jenkins 2017 Wonder Women, fans are calling for Warner Bros. to maybe hire a female writer and director to take on the task of bringing Batgirl to life.
