Warner Bros. Bolsters Female Lineup, Moves Forward With 'Batgirl,' 'Birds of Prey' Films With One Writer
Warner Bros. Pictures appears to be putting the spotlight on the female DC Comics characters for their next films.
According to The Wrap, the studio has already found someone to take over for Joss Whedon in the "Batgirl" movie, and that person is no other than, Christina Hodson, who wrote the "Transformers" spinoff "Bumblebee."
Hodson will reportedly pen a new script for "Batgirl," and the focus will still be on the most popular and established version of the character, which is no other than Barbra Gordon.
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Introduced in the 1960s, Barbra is the daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. She instantly became popular, all the more when she took the Batgirl mantle.
In "The Killing Joke," Barbra was paralyzed and ended up in a wheelchair after she was shot by The Joker. She started operating as Oracle, helping Batman using her tech skills. This was eventually retconned, allowing the character to become Batgirl again.
Whedon left the project back in February, saying that he is unable to come up with a story for Barbra's highly-anticipated outing. This comes as a disappointment to those who were excited to see what he can do with the character knowing the brilliant work he's done in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
"Batgirl is such an exciting project, and Warners/DC such collaborative and supportive partners, that it took me months to realize I really didn't have a story," Whedon said in a statement.
"I'm grateful to [DC president Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. Picture Group president Toby Emmerich] and everyone who was so welcoming when I arrived, and so understanding when I...uh, is there a sexier word for 'failed'?" he added.
Hodson might just be the perfect person to replace him, though. She wrote a female-centric science fiction script "The Eden Project" that was sold to Sony and Material Pictures; and more importantly, she penned the script for the "Birds of Prey" movie, which is set to feature Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).
The team-up movie will, of course, feature Batgirl, so it would not be the first time Hodson will be writing about the character. This makes her transition to the solo movie a lot easier.
Even better, LRM Online believes that if Warner Bros. brought her on for "Batgirl," it has to mean that she did a good job with the script for "Birds of Prey," which they are actively on the lookout for directors for.
This indicates that they are happy with the script and the direction Hodson is taking the character, enough to put the fate of a whole crop of female superheroes and supervillains on her hands.
The abovementioned site believes that with a hunt for a director already in progress, it is looking more and more like "Birds of Prey" will be the next DC Comics film Warner Bros. gives the green light to.
In the comics, Batgirl is joined by Black Canary and Huntress to become the Birds of Prey, although, over the years, the roster has been rotating to include characters like Poison Ivy, Katana, Hawkgirl, Power Girl, and Catwoman, among many others.
