Well, that’s a kicker. Yes, as the headline suggests, Joss Whedon is no longer a part of Warner Brothers’ upcoming Batgirl movie.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, with Whedon having been developing the picture since last year. In addition to writing the film, he was also going to be directing.

In a statement, Whedon explained, “Batgirl is such an exciting project, and Warners/DC such collaborative and supportive partners, that it took me months to realise I really didn’t have a story. 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’?

The Geoff and Toby he’s talking about are producers Geoff Johns and Toby Emmerich.

For Batgirl, the movie is set to be part of Warners’ DC Extended Universe and is just one of a whole host of films all planned for the shared DCEU.

In addition to James Wan’s Aquaman swimming to the silver screen this December, there’s David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! set for April 2019, Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 2 booked for November 2019, the Ray Fisher-headlined Cyborg for April 2020, a believed July 2020 date for Green Lantern Corps, and then plans for the Scarlet Speedster-centric Flashpoint, the Dwayne Johnson-starring Black Adam, Gavin O’Connor’s Suicide Squad 2, Chris McKay’s Nightwing, David Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens, a Harley Quinn picture for Margot Robbie, a joint outing for Harleen and the Joker, a Deathstroke movie, the long-gestating big-screen outing for the Justice League Dark team, a Birds of Prey-driven effort, a Deadshot picture, a Justice League follow-up, a Man of Steel sequel, a silver screen adventure for Lobo, and then, of course, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which may or may not see Ben Affleck back in the cape and cowl. Oh, and then there’s Todd Phillips and Martin Scorsese’s Joker origin movie that’s being developed separately to the DCEU and currently has Joaquin Phoenix as the favourite to nab the Clown Prince of Crime gig.

So yeah, there’s a lot still planned for the DCEU – including Batgirl – but the poor response to Justice League has yet again thrown a whole bunch of questions at this shared cinematic realm.

As ever, expect more on Batgirl and the greater DCEU as things continue to develop.

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