Yesterday evening Warner Bros. announced that Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Serenity) is leaving Batgirl, after being signed on to the project nearly a year ago in March 2017. Whedon himself issued the following statement:
"Batgirl is such an exciting project, and Warners/DC such collaborative and supportive partners, that it took me months to realise I really didn't have a story. I'm grateful to Geoff (Johns) and Toby (Emmerich) and everyone who was so welcoming when I arrived, and so understanding when I... uh, is there a sexier word for 'Failed'?"
Whilst the exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter (find the link here) is saying that Joss Whedon left due to creative issues with the project, I think there's a little bit more to the story than that. So in this post, I'll be looking into the factors I believe caused Joss Whedon to leave Batgirl. And looking to the future of the project. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that these are definite factors, but with a story like this it is possible that they were taken into account.
Writers Block?
Okay, so Whedon is saying that he's leaving because he couldn't decide on what the Batgirl script should be like. I don't really buy that. Batgirl has had quite a few good stories in her history. First, there's her origin story, shown very well in Batgirl: Year One (2003, Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon), which is arguably the most obvous route to go for. There's also the fact that, in the comics, the Joker shot and paralysed her, which got her to re-invent herself as Oracle. A very inspiring story! And, if you're looking to more recent stories, there was the run Cameron Stewart and Brendan Fletcher had on the comic from 2014-2016. Where Batgirl was given a modern redesign as a college student. The run was a bit divisive with fans but I thought it was very good. Anyway! My point is that Batgirl does have a lot of good stories behind her so it's strange that Joss Whedon couldn't find a story for her, especially with all of the time he's had on the project.
Justice League Reception
This is probably the main unofficial reason that Joss Whedon had to leave Batgirl. After Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) had to leave Justice League (2017, Zack Snyder) during post-production due to an unfortunate family tragedy Joss Whedon was brought in to add reshoots to the film. Something that many considered to be the film's biggest problem. Many fans and critics pointed out how the reshoots stood out like a sore thumb and were very different in terms of tone and style. But what many fans didn't like about the reshoots was how sexualised Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) had become. Seen as more of an item than a person. Many fans referenced the scene where the Flash (Ezra Miller) lands on her cleavage. Pointing out how the same thing happened in Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015, Joss Whedon) to Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). The reception of this would have been noticed by both Warner Bros. and newly appointed Head of DC Walter Hamada and could have had some influence over whether Whedon should remain on Batgirl or not.
Leaked Wonder Woman Script
Segwaying from Whedon's treatment of Wonder Woman in Justice League, last year his script for the cancelled Wonder Woman solo film scheduled for 2007 was released online, and the reception of that was less than positive. Many branded the script sexist and misogynistic. Focusing more on male characters like Steve Trevor rather than the Amazon Warrior herself and focusing on the appearance of the female characters more than anything else about them. The reception of this script could also have influenced Warner Bros. and Hamada to get Joss Whedon to leave Batgirl because fans would have been in an uproar if he had done the same to her what he did to Wonder Woman in this script and what he did to her in Justice League.
Potential PR Nightmare
Another potential reason for why Whedon had to leave Batgirl was the allegations made against him by his ex-wife, Kai Cole, who has publicly talked about how Whedon used their marriage as a shield to preach feminist beliefs and had numerous affairs on the sets of tv shows and films that he had worked on. Even pushing her to be diagnosed with complex PTSD. With today's #MeToo movement, having Whedon direct a strong female character who is adored by many female comic book readers would have a huge backlash for both on DC and Warner Bros. So this could have factored into the decision to have Whedon leave Batgirl.
Female Director?
This is an interesting subject. Since Whedon's departure, some fans are hoping that Warner Bros. hires a female director to direct Batgirl. I understand why fans would want this. Patty Jenkins (Monster, Pearl) did a great job with Wonder Woman (2017). Making arguably DC's best movie since The Dark Knight (2008, Christopher Nolan). And there are some very successful female directors working Hollywood today. Katheryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) has made some very good, Oscar-Winning films. And Ava Duvernay (Selma, 13th) has created some brilliant films, and her new film Wrinkle In Time (2018) looks great! However, I don't think a director should be hired solely for their sex. To me, the director needs to care about the project that they're working on. Wonder Woman was successful because Patty Jenkins really cared about the character and that passion is what made the film so good. If a female director is hired for Batgirl then hopefully it's for the right reasons. Remember, Wonder Woman was originally going to be directed by Michelle Maclaren (Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead) but she had to leave because she wasn't a good fit.
And also, some of the best female characters in cinema have been directed by men. You have Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) from the Alien movies, who was directed by male directors Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) and James Cameron (Aliens, Avatar). There's also Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) from the Terminator films who was also directed by James Cameron. Even recently there was Atomic Blonde (2017, David Leitch) which is about a strong female spy, and very recently there's Black Panther (2018, Ryan Coogler) that featured many strong female characters. So, whilst a female director could do a very good job directing Batgirl, it wouldn't be right to say that a male director wouldn't also do a good job. It really depends on how invested they are in the project and how talented they are as a director.
Conclusion
Whilst it's not really official, I think there is a lot more to the story than what we've been told, as there are other factors that really could have been taken into account. But overall, DC have dodged a bullet here, as Joss Whedon could have opened the film to some serious criticism, mainly due to his more recent track record with female characters and his personal life.
So that's my situation analysis on Joss Whedon leaving Batgirl. What are your opinions? Do you agree or disagree with any of my points? And, do you believe that the new director should be female or not? Please write a comment down below. And, if you liked what you've read then please follow this blog for more content. Thank you for reading. :)
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