Joss Whedon Will Direct BATGIRL

Joss Whedon is in the final stages to write, direct and produce a standalone Batgirl film for the DCEU.

There's a lot of news in that sentence! 1) There's definitely going to be a standalone Batgirl film. 2) Joss Whedon is making it. 3) Whedon's taking a pretty significant jump from creative consultant and director at Marvel to making movies (or at least a movie) for Warner Bros.

A Batgirl film is great news. She's a hugely popular superhero who's never had her own movie, much like DC's Wonder Woman, which lands June 2. And while, sure, it would be nice to see a woman directing a Batgirl film, like Patty Jenkins has done for Wonder Woman, it's hard to be mad at the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer taking on a new female superhero. 

This is such a smart move for the DCEU, who have suffered pretty brutal reviews on their first three films out of the gate. Justice League and a potential standalone Batman film have already faced early criticism and unfavorable gossip, but Wonder Woman is garnering much better press. And Whedon did great things for Marvel, with his Avengers films (especially 2012's The Avengers) turning into enormous successes for the MCU. Basically, Whedon's got cultural cachet in spades, and DC needs it after Zack Snyder. 

This is cool! Let's hope it happens.