After some concern, the Batgirl movie is back on, and this time the writer of the Transformers spin-off, Bumblebee, taking control of Barbara’s story.
It’s been approximately two months since Joss Whedon bowed out of writing Batgirl when, as he admitted, he couldn’t figure out a good story to tell about the character. While a lot of Barbara Gordon fans were glad to see him go, Whedon’s exit put the entire project in jeopardy as Warner Brothers claimed to struggle to find a suitable replacement.
Related: Batgirl: 5 female directors DC should hire to replace Joss Whedon
Fans of Batgirl were incredibly frustrated, as there are so many amazing writers out there who could create an amazing Batgirl script. However, Warner Brothers putting the project on hold “indefinitely” made it seem like they were only interested in the film thanks to Whedon’s involvement. It started to seem unlikely that we’d ever see Barbara Gordon grace the big screen.
However, we were (happily) wrong. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that they’ve finally found a replacement for Whedon. Christina Hodson, the writer for the Bumblebee standalone movie and the reported writer for Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey, will be taking over the screenwriting duties.
While Hodson doesn’t have a huge roster of major motion pictures on her resume–her other two films were the thrillers Shut In and Unforgettable–we’re excited that Warner Brothers chose to hire a woman to write the script. We’re hopeful that she can bring the funny, smart, resourceful Barbara Gordon that we all fell in love with in the comics to life, but we’ll have to see as time goes on how Hodson will bring Babs to the big screen. Either way, we’re thrilled to see that the movie is happening again.