There are plenty of talented female directors the DCEU could tap to direct Batgirl. Here are five that we think would do a fantastic job bringing one of the most iconic female superheroes to the big screen.
Michelle MacLaren
Known for: Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead
Why she’d be great for Batgirl: It only seems right that MacLaren — who was the one initially tapped to direct Wonder Woman before Patty Jenkins came on — would be at the top of this list. Though her leaving Wonder Woman due to creative differences turned out to be best decision given the fantastic movie that Patty Jenkins gave us, you have to think that WB would love to see her return to helm another beloved female superhero. MacLaren is mostly known for her fantastic television work on a bunch of hugely iconic shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, but given what we’ve seen her do with those vastly successful stories, I’d love to see her work on the big screen.
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Known for: Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees, and Beyond the Lights.
Why she’d be great for Batgirl: Gina Prince-Bythewood is well-known for directing strong female-driven movies with captivating and emotional stories — which is basically exactly what we’d want and need for a Batgirl movie. She also has experience in the superhero genre, having been the one to direct Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger pilot, which is set to premiere sometime this year on Freeform. She’d actually long been a frontrunner in my mind — even prior to the official announcement — of a director I’d want to replace Joss Whedon, but I thought was unlikely to do so given her attachment to Sony’s Silver & Black. However, that movie is now rumored to be indefinitely delayed, which is unfortunate for those of us — myself included — who were looking forward to seeing it on screen. However, the sting of losing that film would be substantially less if WB/DC tapped her to direct Batgirl instead. Get on it, WB!
Lexi Alexander
Known for: Punisher: War Zone, Arrow, Supergirl
Why she’d be great for Batgirl: While nowhere near my favorite adaptation of The Punisher (that obviously goes to Marvel’s Netflix version, played to perfection by Jon Bernthal), Punisher: War Zone is a damn good and often under-appreciated comic book action movie. With it, Alexander proves that she can film a great action movie, which is definitely something the Batgirl director would need to be able to do. Since that first outing with Marvel, Alexander has come over to the DCTV side and has directed episodes of Arrow and Supergirl. Out of all the potential directors, she has the most superhero experience and I’d love to see her work for DC on the big screen.
Reed Morano
Known for: Beyonce’s Lemonade, The Handmaid’s Tale
Why she’d be great for Batgirl: Morano actually worked on Lemonade as a cinematographer rather than a director, but there’s a well-worn path of cinematographers turned directors. Also, let’s be real here — whoever is good enough for Beyonce is basically good enough for me, for anything, ever. Morano actually also did go on to direct three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, another story that centered around strong female characters. With her strong eye and character-centered focus, I’d love to see her work on a big budget, superhero film.
Karyn Kusama
Known for: Girlfight, Aeon Flux, Jennifer’s Body
Why she’d be great for Batgirl: To be quite honest with you, the majority of the reason I’d love to see this go to Karyn Kasuma is because I think that Jennifer’s Body is a seriously, criminally underrated horror movie and I want to see Kasuma get the big name recognition that she deserves. But also, on a less biased note, Kasuma’s big screen outings have all been female-fronted character stories, with both Aeon Flux and Girlfight focused on the physicality of women. Those are both things that we’d need to deliver a truly great Batgirl film and I absolutely think Kasuma could do it.