Joss Whedon has stepped down as director of Warner Bros. and DC Films’ upcoming “Batgirl,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
“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. 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’?”
Batgirl made her debut in the Batman mythos 50 years ago as Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. Since then she has become one of the most popular superheroines in the world. When Barbara Gordon was paralyzed by a gunshot from the Joker in the classic graphic novel “The Killing Joke,” other crimefighters, like The Huntress and Orphan, took up the Batgirl name while Barbara became Oracle, a tech-savvy aide to Batman. Barbara later returned to the Batgirl role, while her assault in “The Killing Joke” was retconned.
Whedon has served as a core creative force behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe as director of “The Avengers” and its 2015 sequel, “Age of Ultron.” He also had a hand in Marvel’s expansion to television by co-creating the ABC series “Agents of SHIELD” in 2013.