There was a moment, however brief, when Joss Whedon was seen as the superhero DC Films needed. Coming aboard to take over the post-production and reshoots of “Justice League” after Zack Snyder exited, it didn’t take long for word to circulate that he would be “be a major part” of DC Films’ future. But there were curious things that suggested perhaps all was not well between Whedon and DC. First, the director did zero press for “Justice League” — only the cast talked to press. Then there were the suggestions that DC essentially wanted him reshoot his opening to the film and make it more comedic. Well, whatever went down, Whedon is moving on from DC, as he’s exited the only project he was attached to — “Batgirl.”
THR reports that Whedon is leaving the movie, with the filmmaker himself owning up to the fact that he simply couldn’t deliver.
“ ‘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. “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’?”
Not only was Whedon unable to crack the story, there were optics issues too, with some concerns over a male writer/director taking bringing a female superhero to the big screen, particularly in the wake of the success of “Wonder Woman.” Incidentally, it was rumored three months ago that Whedon was off the project, but was denied at the time. This was shortly after “Justice League” opened to underwhelming numbers, and one wonders if DC was perhaps just trying to manage the fires they needed to put out in that moment.
As for what’s next with Whedon, there’s no word, but I’d guess he might want to step out of the blockbuster space for a moment, and work on one of his original ideas instead.
