Writer/director Joss Whedon's Batgirl should be the next DC female superhero movie to hit theaters following director Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman, according to a key architect of the larger DC Extended Universe. This information was brought to light over the course of the red carpet premiere event for Jenkins' DCEU tentpole in Shanghai, ahead of the movie's debut in Chinese theaters on June 2nd (e.g. the same day that it bows in North America).
Reports of Whedon working on a DCEU solo film for the Batgirl/Barbara Gordon character only emerged back in March of this year, though there had been reports about the character joining the DCEU via a Birds of Prey ensemble movie, prior to the announcement concerning Whedon's project. The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron filmmaker isn't wasting any time moving forward with his next comic book film adaptation either, based on the latest comments from DCEU producer Deborah Snyder.
As confirmed by multiple sources at the Wonder Woman Chinese red carpet event on Twitter (including, this second source), Deborah Snyder said Whedon's Batgirl should reach theaters before the potential Wonder Woman sequel. While a 2018 theatrical release date sounds like a stretch at this stage, this suggests that 2019 is a real possibility for when Batgirl could hit theaters. Currently, the only DCEU movie officially scheduled to arrive that year is Shazam.
According to previous reports, Whedon's Batgirl script draws inspiration from Gail Simone's New 52 DC Comics relaunch of the character from 2011 (a reboot that includes elements of Alan Moore's infamous comic book story, The Killing Joke). Back in April, Whedon said that he hasn't begun the casting search for Barbara Gordon/Batgirl yet, indicating that his script is very much in an early development stage right now. However, that could easily change by the end of this year and judging by Deborah Snyder's comments, the current expectation is that Whedon will have either found his Batgirl or be actively on the hunt before 2017 draws to a close.
The update concerning Batgirl should come as welcome news, given that there are several DCEU movies in active development right now without clearly-defined release date targets. Warner Bros. Pictures and DC have three DCEU installments (Shazam, Cyborg and Green Lantern Corps) with firm release dates in place after James Wan's now in-production Aquaman hits theaters. However, over these past six months in particular, such DCEU female character-driven films as the Suicide Squad spinoff Gotham City Sirens and Batgirl appear to have been fast-tracked ahead of their peers. If that remains the case hereon out and Wonder Woman is a big-enough hit to get a sequel quickly green-lit, then it seems that women may indeed be the future of the DCEU.
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Source: Deborah Snyder [via Twitter]
