When joss whedon was signed to direct the new DC Comics adaptation of "batgirl," long-time fans knew that the right man was signed for the job. Whedon did a spectacular job at popularizing the female action hero thanks to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and now he has his eyes set on doing it again in a female-led superhero movie. In an interview with Variety, Whedon said that he plans to cast an unknown as Batgirl and feels that a fresh face will help make the project better.
Joss Whedon and female action stars
When Joss Whedon created the television show for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," he chose Sarah Michelle Gellar to play the lead role on the show.
Outside of soap operas and minor movies. Gellar was a relative unknown when "Buffy" started but soon became one of the biggest female action stars in the world and proved that she could kick as much butt - or more - than her male equivalents. Whedon then created the series "Dollhouse," with "Buffy" alumni Eliza Dushku in the lead. The most recent example of a tough female action hero was when Scarlet Johannson played Black Widow in "The Avengers" movies. While Whedon had no role in casting Johannson for Black Widow, he did more to make her an important character than Jon Favreau did in the "Iron Man" movies. Now, Whedon gets the same chance with Batgirl, a supporting character in the Batman universe that has never received a fair shot on the big screen in a movie.
Joss Whedon's Batgirl
The only other time that Batgirl appeared in a movie was in the horrible "Batman & Robin" film from the '90s, where Alicia Silverstone played the character. Instead of making her Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara, that movie made her Alfred Pennyworth's niece and Silverstone brought her ability to portray an airhead into the performance.
While Buffy was partially an airhead in the television show, Joss Whedon creates female characters that are much bigger than just a single one-dimensional character.
Joss Whedon said that when DC Comics and Warner Bros. hired him, he immediately started to have his own dialogue with the character of Batgirl. Whedon said that he will learn who his Batgirl is and then find an actress than can fit that role.
This is Joss' second chance to make a female-led movie, as he originally pitched a Wonder Woman movie to Warner Bros., but they rejected it. Now that he is getting this second chance, Whedon said that he is very excited to bring the character to the big screen.
