Comic book movie fans were excited when it was announced that Joss Whedon was directing Batgirl a few months ago. The writer/director had previously worked closely with Marvel and helmed two Avengers movies for them, so it was a big deal for him to hop over to DC (though it came with Kevin Feige’s blessing). More recently, it was announced that Whedon would be taking over the reigns on Justice League as well, after Zack Snyder had to pull out due to a family tragedy.
It seems that Whedon has quickly become very cosy with Warner Bros. and DC, then, and when Variety spoke to head honchos Jon Berg and Geoff Johns in a recent interview, the talk quickly turned to Whedon’s increasing role in the DC Extended Universe. Not surprisingly, Berg seems to be very pleased with the director’s work so far and confirmed that Whedon’s already become a “big part” of the DCEU behind the scenes.
“He’s a big part already. We love him. He’s a great partner, collaborator; we want him to be ensconced. We bring people by, have general meetings and talk about comics and their favorite superhero movies. With Joss, he saw the master board, and he saw a Batgirl title and he said, ‘You guys seriously want to do Batgirl?’ And we said, ‘Absolutely.’ He said, ‘That’s my jam.’”
It’s not a surprise that Joss Whedon came in and instantly wanted to direct a Batgirl movie. The man has always been known for his strong, powerful female characters, going all the way back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In fact, there were rumours that he was interested in doing a Black Widow solo film for Marvel at one point, but it seems that ship has sailed and the director’s now moved on.
Whedon’s Justice League reshoots are currently underway, with set photos revealing some intriguing hints about what he’s bringing to the table. We’ll likely get an even better idea of what’s going on though next month at Comic-Con, when WB debuts the next trailer for the film.