Batgirl combines two of Joss Whedon’s greatest loves: caped superheroes and a plucky teen heroine. Well, Joss Whedon’s greatest love is probably idiosyncratic pop culture-saturated zingers, but let’s just assume that’ll come with the package here. If Whedon’s writing and directing a Batgirl movie, that Batgirl is going to be more Buffy than Bruce Wayne.
This will be Batgirl’s first live-action return to the big screen after the universally loathed Batman & Robin where she was played by Alicia Silverstone (the less said about her appearance in 2016’s animated The Killing Joke the better.) It also marks a surprising return to superhero movies for Whedon, who made no secret about his frustrations directing Avengers: Age of Ultron.
It’s a big coup for DC, who have done a largely terrible job with their attempts at a Marvel-style cinematic universe over the past few years. If anyone can set a course correction and inject a real sense of fun and wonder into this franchise in desperate need of some, it’s Whedon.
