In the wake ofJustice League’s box office disappointment and critically lukewarm reception, a rumor started circulating about the future of its filmmaker. No, notZack Snyder—the other one. Indeed, when Snyder left the project to tend to a personal tragedy,Joss Whedon—who was already involved scripting new pages for the reshoots—was tasked with directing said reshoots and overseeing post-production. Whedon didn’t seek a co-director credit and received a co-writer credit due to WGA rules, but regardless, he had a hand in crafting the finishedJustice Leaguewe see onscreen.
And so a rumor started making the rounds today that Whedon was no longer directingBatgirl, the film that first brought him into the DC/Warner Bros. fold in the first place. According toEWhowever, a much more valid and trustworthy source, Whedon is still currently attached to directBatgirland is hard at work on the script. Now this doesn’t mean Whedon 100% absolutely will be directing aBatgirlmovie—the film hasn’t even been greenlit yet, and in Hollywood the status of projects can shift incredibly quickly—but as of right now, Whedon is still toiling away on the film.
Indeed, while Whedon had a strong hand in craftingJustice League, the filmmaker is taking no ownership (at least publicly) of the film at all aside fromliking a tweet that took a dig at the terrible villain Steppenwolf. The film is not wholly his, and he came in and essentially did the best he could to shape what Snyder shot and what he wrote into something more in line with what Warner Bros. wanted. But this was notThe Avengers, where Whedon was heavily involved in the development and scripting process from Day One. This was more or less acting as a helping hand.
SoJustice League’s faults, if Warner Bros. sees it that way, are not necessarily Whedon’s to bear. Thus this rumor didn’t make much sense in the first place. Whedon wrote and directed two of the biggest superhero movies of the century, so whywouldn’tthe studio want him spearheading a project of his own for DC?
The larger question here is whether aBatgirlmovie is something Warner Bros. wants right now—or more accurately, three months from now. The studio is in something of a holding pattern at the moment withAquamanin the can andShazam!, which starts filming early next year, andWonder Woman 2as the only 100% greenlit movies in the pipeline. Development continues on films likeFlashpoint,Suicide Squad 2, a Joker/Harley Quinn spinoff,Nightwing, and yesBatgirl, and the studio hasn’t exactly decided yet which films will come next. They’re certainly waiting to see what the Week 2 box office will be onJustice Leagueand which adjustments need to be made to their impending slate.
So yeah, Joss Whedon still plans on directingBatgirlat the moment, but the movie is far from the sure thing. For more on upcoming DC movies,click here.
