Among the overlooked virtues of The Lego Batman Movie was that it finally found a place in the onscreen DC universe for Batgirl, and even promoted her from being Comissioner Gordon’s daughter to taking his place at the head of Gotham city’s police force. Now there’s news that the live-action DC universe may be following suit, with Joss Whedon nearing a deal to write, direct, and produce a Batgirl movie, according to a report in Variety.
As the deal is still in the works, other details are thin, except that the movie would “feature other characters from the world of Gotham.” That leaves way open whether the Batgirl movie would be a formal part of the DC Extended Universe, and how it might overlap with the forthcoming Justice League et al. But as the world is in the throes of Buffy reunion fever, it’s encouraging to see Whedon, who proclaimed himself burned out after the ordeal of making Avengers: Age of Ultron, getting back on the horse—even if it’s a little peculiar that, after suffering the demands of adapating one comic-book property for a corporate conglomerate, he’s now joining forces with another. At least it’s some solace for Whedon fans still pining for his scrapped early-’00s Wonder Woman movie, if not those champing at the bit for him to take another crack at adapting Shakespeare.
