It may be a little while before we get any concrete details on Joss Whedon's surprising Batgirl film, that he'll direct to be part of the expanding DCEU alongside Justice League, Wonder Woman, and more. But we are getting a look into Whedon's process of putting it together, and that may be very telling. For one thing, we learned that Whedon called his old Marvel boss, Marvel's Kevin Feige, to get his blessing to move on to Warner Bros. and DC, a conversation that went positively from Feige's account.
“He called. A couple months ago, which he didn’t have to do and was super cool of him and super nice of him. And we couldn’t be more supportive. We want to see a Joss Whedon Batgirl film be awesome.”
And now Variety has caught up with Whedon while he was attending the world premiere of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and he talked about possibly casting an unknown rather than a big star like Scarlett Johansson in the role of Barbara Gordon...
"I don’t have my eye on anybody. I’m creating this character, I’m in a dialogue with her and then we’ll see who joins that later on… I doubt it’ll be a name. I think this is somewhere where you go and find Batgirl and then you cast her...“I’m not against movie stars, they’re great, but you need somebody who’s going to be just right, and a situation like this the name carries a lot of weight, so it’s not as critical.”
He also joked it could be Vin Diesel, which I think all of us would be up for. I like the idea of a new face or an actress on the rise to play Batgirl. While there are box office benefits to casting someone more recognizable, the DCEU could use a dose of fresh blood. I think they made a smart move when they cast the relatively unknown Gal Gadot (Fast and the Furious fans knew her, but that's about it) as Wonder Woman, and that seems to have worked out.
I'm just curious to know what age Whedon envisions for the role. Does he want a hero in her early 20s or early teens? Does he want high school drama and teen angst to be part of the equation? Or more adult concerns? Whatever Whedon chooses, Warner Bros. is likely to have the final say.
Who should play #Batgirl in Joss Whedon's upcoming movie? We asked @Joss Whedon #GotGVol2Premiere pic.twitter.com/rmznGQeMSj— Variety (@Variety) April 20, 2017
