Joss Whedon to Make a "Batgirl" Movie

Variety reported yesterday:

Batgirl is flying solo. The superheroine is getting her own standalone movie from filmmaker Joss Whedon.

Whedon is nearing a deal to write, direct, and produce an untitled Batgirl pic for Warner Bros. as part of its DC Extended Universe.

No other producers are currently attached. Toby Emmerich, president and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, is overseeing with Jon Berg and Geoff Johns. The new project originated in the past month following a meeting between Whedon, Berg and Johns.

First, any movie that Joss Whedon makes instantly has my attention. He is arguably one of the greatest living directors:

Whedon would be making a big move from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to its DC counterpart, having written and directed “The Avengers” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” for Disney-Marvel. He also created the television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Firefly,” “Dollhouse,” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” 

But let's be honest: The feminist controversy surrounding Whedon's treatment of Black Widow in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" has clearly stuck in his craw. Whedon is no misogynist, as his long history of strong female characters has shown. In "Ultron", giving a more human side to arguably his strongest female character was unacceptable to the feminazis out there, and the PC police hit him hard. There is no such thing as "goodwill" with the social justice warriors.

This makes this Whedon's penance movie. While I feel bad that he is doing this out of some form of obligation, I am still looking forward to this movie. Batgirl has always been an intriguing character to me, aside from the whole "cute girl in tight costume" aspect.

My personal favorite of the three Batgirls in the comics was Stephanie Brown. She overcame many personal issues, including a criminal father and a teenage pregnancy, to eventually become Batgirl. And while she suffered from "Peter Parker's bad luck" syndrome, she also kept a very positive attitude, which I find endearing in my superheroes.

My least favorite of the three Batgirls was Cassandra Cain, who was too personally negative for my tastes.

But the Batgirl for Whedon's movie will be Barbara Gordon. She isn't quite as impressive as Stephanie Brown, but she was the first, and she will do.

But who to play her?

The Twitter favorite seemed to be Emma Stone. While I cannot argue with the quality of that choice, as she is certainly one of the finest actresses around, Stone might be a touch old for the role at 28. For a first Batgirl movie, this should have a young actress, around 20, give or take 5 years.

I don't have a recommendation, although I would personally go for a new or unknown actress for this role.

That said, I would get a strong veteran actor to play her father, Commissioner James Gordon. My choice would be Kiefer Sutherland. He is 50, so he is the perfect age to have a daughter around 20ish. But he also comes with plenty of "action hero street cred" as Jack Bauer from "24".

There is no release date on this project yet, but having Joss Whedon attached to it makes it a must-see film out of the gate.