Nicolas Winding Refn, director of the recently released The Neon Demon, has expressed an eagerness to direct a Batgirl movie.
Refn’s The Neon Demon, which has encountered some very mixed reviews, is his first movie with a female lead. This isn’t for a lack of trying though – Refn also expressed interest in directing a Wonder Woman movie. Obviously, this didn’t pan out (Warner Bros. and DC’s Wonder Woman due out next year has Patty Jenkins directing) – but now Refn has brought up another DC superheroine.
Refn told Business Insider in a recent interview;
“God, I would love to make one [a superhero movie], it would probably be great fun, I just don’t know when it’s going to happen. I very much enjoy my freedom creatively, but I also would love to make one of those big Hollywood films that costs a lot of money and has a lot of people running around with cell phones and all that insanity.”
When asked what hero he’d like to work with, he thought for a moment (“What ones are left?”) before continuing on “You know the one I want to do? I want to make Batgirl. Let’s get Warner working on it.”
Refn has shown with The Neon Demon that he can make a dark, beautifully visual movie with an interesting lead protagonist – it’s the story of a young girl (Elle Fanning – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Super 8, Malificent) as she succumbs to her career in the fashion world of Los Angeles. It’s described as a gory thriller show – so perhaps not something Warner Bros. would be interested in to keep it’s PG-13 rating with it’s movies. But, at the very least, it would be visually interesting.
Perhaps one day we’ll see Batgirl hit the big screen – she’s already rumoured to be part of the Harley Quinn standalone project, slated to star and be produced by Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street, . Robbie would be reprising the role as the anti-heroine after her debut in Suicide Squad, due for release this summer.
But whether Barbara Gordon, or any of the Batgirls will ever have a stand-alone, or if Refn would be crowned director, is something we’ll just have to wait and see about.