The backstage drama related to the DCEU is way more intriguing than the films themselves. Did Zack Snyder quit, or was he pushed? How much did Warner Bros. executives meddle with Justice League? Why do they keep announcing movies that never seem to actually head into production? So many questions, so few answers.
The latest mystery is Joss Whedon’s surprise departure from Batgirl, which he was announced to be writing and directing in a blaze of publicity this time last year. The director has given the laughably rubbish excuse that he simply couldn’t think up a story for a movie, despite a sassy teenage girl Batman being pretty much the ideal Joss Whedon project.
His reason was so crap, in fact, that fans immediately (and I’m guessing rightly) assumed that there’s something else going on. Now, former Justice League director Zack Snyder has added fuel to the gossip mill by ‘liking’ a post on social media about Whedon’s departure.
ComicBook.com reports that the post was made on Vero by Fiona Zheng (responsible for the impressive For Snyder Cut website), who shared a news story about Whedon’s departure and added “For today, the only bad news is these media/press still think Whedon out was bad to DCEU!” Now, I don’t exactly know what this means, but whatever the case, Snyder and DCEU photographer Clay Enos both liked it
Admitted, Snyder is still publicly claiming to be on good terms with Warner Bros., but you can’t imagine that he’s particularly pleased about their apparent loss of faith in his vision for Justice League and their ham-handedly clumsy attempts to fix it. Is he cheering on another person for escaping from the rapidly sinking DCEU ship, then, or commiserating with yet another creative who’s fallen foul of executive interference?
Whatever the case may be, we’re a long way away from the days when the DCEU was intended to be a director-led response to the MCU’s streamlined producer-led style. I just hope that once the dust has settled we get some insider tell-alls of what’s really been going on behind the capes on the Warner Bros. lot.
