Joss Whedon Is OUT on “Batgirl” Movie: “I Just Didn’t Have Any Ideas”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, who helped make a muddled mess of last year’s Justice League movie (NEVER FORGET!), has exited an upcoming Batgirl project which he had been writing and slated to direct.

“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 told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. Referring to DC president Geoff Johns and Warners Picture Group president Toby Emmerich, Whedon added, “I’m grateful to Geoff and Toby and everyone who was so welcoming when I arrived, and so understanding when I… uh, is there a sexier word for ‘failed’?

This is probably for the best. After the phenomenal success of Wonder Woman, brilliantly directed by Patti Jenkins, do we really need a male-written-and-directed take on the feminist icon Batgirl? Doesn’t that seem slightly counterintuitive during the current women’s movement we’re experiencing?

Writes The Hollywood Reporter:

Industry sources add that even as Whedon faced story issues, in today’s cultural entertainment environment, a male filmmaker may have faced greater public scrutiny if he were to have tackled a movie with such feminist importance such as Batgirl or Wonder Woman, much like a white filmmaker would have seen backlash if they were to take on the Black Panther movie.

Plus… YOU JUST DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEAS? FOR BATGIRL? BATGIRL????!!!! ONE OF THE MOST KICK-ASS CHARACTERS IN ALL OF COMICDOM WITH LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF STORYLINES TO CHOOSE FROM? Yeah, I don’t think anyone wants you if you are that creatively bankrupt you can’t come up with a plot for freakin’ Batgirl. After A YEAR of working on it (and presumably getting paychecks from Warner Bros). What a tool.

But there’s good news. After the news broke yesterday that Whedon was out, best-selling author Roxanne Gay tweeted, “Hey @DCComics I can write your batgirl movie, no prob.”

To which Michele Wells, a Warner Bros. VP who works on DC projects, replied directly: “If you’re serious…contact me,” She then provided her company email address.

Gay’s response: “Yes I am serious. I will email you.”

Gay, if you’re not acquainted with her, is the best-selling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger, is a professor specializing in feminism, and most importantly, also has experience in the world of comic books.

Gay regularly contributes to major outlets with cultural criticism and TV recaps, wrote the Black Panther: World of Wakanda comics series, and co-wrote the screen adaptation of her novel An Untamed State. The prolific writer is editing the 2017 edition of Best American Short Stories, and is also compiling a new book of essays about rape culture, Not That Bad, which features dozens of contributors and will be released on May 1.

So, yes, she’s quite a “get” for this project. LET’S GO, BATGIRL! (via Entertainment Weekly)