Though Warner Bros. has ostensibly pumped the brakes on its live-action Batgirl movie following the sudden departure of Joss Whedon, comic book artist Rachael Stott has kept hope alive with a wonderful new piece of fan art that imagines Janelle Monáe (Moonlight, Hidden Figures) as DC’s new Barbara Gordon.
Embedded below, this stunning portrait is more of a carefully constructed sketch of Monáe in the title role – as opposed to, say, BossLogic’s renderings, which tend to dabble in the realm of photorealism. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful tease of what could be, given Janelle Monáe was reportedly one of the actresses in contention for the coveted role – where she joined an exclusive list of candidates that at one point included Elle Fanning, Naomi Scott…and Lindsay Lohan!?
Be that as it may, Batgirl has been placed on ice for the time being, where it’ll likely remain for a long, long time – or at least until Warner Bros. launches Aquaman, Shazam! and Wonder Woman 2.
For Whedon, he’ll now be seeking out pastures anew, after throwing his hands up and admitting that he simply didn’t have a story for Barbara Gordon’s standalone adventure. And that’s despite earmarking Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino’s “The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!” as inspiration, which first introduced Babs to the world back in 1967.
Then there’s also the very real concern that Joss Whedon’s involvement in Batgirl was merely a smokescreen to cover his tracks on Justice League, where he took over from Zack Snyder mid-way through production. File that in the rumor cabinet for now, though, as Warner Bros. is yet to comment on the finer details of Whedon’s departure.
Next up for the DC Extended Universe is the launch of Aquaman in December, when Arthur Curry will be busy battling off Alita: Battle Angel and Bumblebee: The Movie for the box office crown.