Well, well, well. In some major breaking news, none other than Joss Whedon has been hired to direct a Batgirl movie!

As per Variety, Warner Brothers has moved to bring in uber-geek Whedon to helm a solo cinematic outing for Barbara Gordon. Whedon, of course, is a huge favourite of many a genre fan for the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and his influence in the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including directing Avengers Assemble and Avengers: Age of Ultron. For Batgirl, Whedon will serve as writer, producer and director.

For those wondering, yes this film will take place and exist in the greater DC Extended Universe, meaning this take on Batgirl will have earned her stripes under Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader. That also means that she joins a DCEU that has seen Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad so far and that has Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern Corps., Shazam!, Black Adam, Suicide Squad 2, Gotham City Sirens and, of course, The Batman all confirmed for future release. This additionally comes hot on the heels of last month’s news that The LEGO Movie’s Chris McKay is directing a Nightwing picture for The WB.

Previously, there was suggestion that Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle would actually be one of the main characters in David Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens, although we’ll have to wait and see what happens on that front. For that movie, the only confirmed cast member is the returning Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and she’ll be leading a film that’s full of some of DC’s most beloved female characters – with Babs amongst the likes of Black Canary and Catwoman as those tipped to appear alongside Harleen.

The standard Batgirl character was created way back in 1967 – although a Golden Age version was around in the early-60s – with Jim Gordon’s daughter Barbara under the cape and cowl. She’d soon join Batman and Robin in helping to fight the good fight and protect Gotham City. Over the decades, Barbara hit some major stumbling blocks, most notably being paralyzed by The Joker as part of his plan to “break” Jim Gordon during the fan favourite The Killing Joke story. But not even paralysis could stop Barbara from helping out Batman, for she then oversaw things from afar as Oracle. Babs would actually return to action as Batgirl in later years, although others such as Casandra Cain and Stephanie Brown have also taken on the Batgirl mantle at times.

In terms of live-action takes on Batgirl, Yvonne Craig played the role in the 1960s Batman TV show, with Alicia Silverstone then playing a version of the character (we’re still not happy that she was Alfred’s niece!) in 1997’s Batman & Robin.

Expect to hear a whole lot more on Batgirl as we get it.