batgirl

The creator of ‘Buffy’ said he’d “failed” to find a story for his film about the popular Batman sidekick and hero.

One of the great things about Batman’s rogues’ gallery is how prominent the women of Gotham City’s underworld are among the other villains taking up the Dark Knight’s time. This was especially true of the animated adventures, with both Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures focusing on the femme fatales with regularity. Heck, BTAS even gave us one of the most popular characters in DC Comics’ history, with the emergence of Harley Quinn. It’s with that in mind that DC Collectibles paid tribute Gotham’s most wanted women in a special pack commemorating the all-female ensemble episode of New Batman Adventures, “Girl's Night Out.”

With Marvel, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros. each building out their respective superhero franchises over the past few years, we now expect every up-and-coming actor to eventually put on a pair of tights in a summer blockbuster. That’s led to plenty of arguments among fans and film critics about the superhero genre as a whole. Should we be worried that talented actors are locking themselves into a multi-movie contracts at the beginning of their careers? Are we losing out on original stories along the way? It’s an issue that everyone seems to have an opinion on, and certainly one that won’t go away anytime soon.

The heroes of Titans and Young Justice aren’t the only DC hitters getting an overhaul from Warner Bros.; the DC Super Hero Girls are headed to high school as well. Cartoon Network has commissioned a new 2018 series returning Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Batgirl from a series of online shorts.

It sounds like a wild Marvel/DC crossover of a fanboy’s crazy fever dreams. Joss Whedon? The guy who made Avengers and Age of Ultron switching teams to the Distinguished Competition to write and direct a Batgirl movie? That can’t be real, can it?

Just yesterday news broke that Joss Whedon is nearing a deal to write, direct and produce a solo Batgirl movie for Warner Bros. as part of the DC extended universe — great news for many reasons, and if it weren’t for Whedon’s proven track record, I’d be a lot crankier about WB choosing him instead of a woman. The biggest question, of course, is which version of Batgirl will Whedon choose to adapt? As it turns out, the obvious answer may very well be the correct one.

Hey Wonder Woman, you’ve got company — good company. Joss Whedon is coming to save the DC movie universe from Zack Snyder’s severe aesthetic, which is like a high school boy’s trapper keeper covered in nu metal band stickers circa 2000. The former Marvel favorite and Avengers director is returning to the superhero genre to write, direct and produce a standalone Batgirl movie for Warner Bros., a much-needed blast of optimism for their dreary DC franchise.

We often take it for granted that our most idiosyncratic artists want no part of the commercial side of Hollywood, but every now and then, someone comes along and changes our minds. Sometimes a filmmaker grew up on the same commercial movies that we all used to love; sometimes they just want to try their hand at working with big casts and even bigger budgets. And sometimes, they just think it would be a blast.

The newest addition to the lineup of vocal talent to LEGO Batman is Rosario Dawson, lending her whip-smart speech to the film as Batgirl. She joins pre-existing cast members Zach Galifianakis as the Joker and Michael Cera as Robin (both sort of dementedly inspired choices, with Galifiankis’ volatility and Cera’s effete softness complementing the characters perfectly).

Back in 1967, flush with the success of his campy 'Batman' TV series, producer William Dozier decided to try his hand at bringing Wonder Woman to the screen. The results were...well, now you can get a look at it yourself.