After Joss Whedon dropped out of directing Batgirl, there was a call to add a female voice to the film. So Warner Bros. has given us just that.

In light of Whedon’s exit, Christina Hodson, the writer of the upcoming Bumblebee Transformers spinoff and Birds of Prey, will now be penning the script for the latest DCEU title. Now let’s just hope it doesn’t become another title that stays in production hell. More on the story below.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hodson’s hiring comes two months after Whedon stepped away from Batgirl. He said he was unable to crack the story. While it’s always exciting news to see a female writer take on a superhero tentpole, it remains to be seen if the film will actually go into production. Recently, WB has made a habit of announcing titles with writers and directors attached, but nothing has come of it. Flash has been reworked twice before the studio finally settled on John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. And there have been little to no updates to other titles like Birds of Prey, Gotham City Sirens, Suicide Squad 2, Man of Steel 2, The Batman, Deathstroke, Nightwing, Cyborg, and more.

Hodson may not be a household name as of yet, but she is getting up there. The screenwriter has already been tasked with penning the script for Bumblebee and the 2017 Warner Bros. thriller Unforgettable, which starred Rosario Dawson and Katherine Heigl.

THR’s report says that Hodson has already written the Batgirl character having worked on the Birds of Prey film. It’s still not clear if these two projects are related or if the Batgirl she is working on is similar to the Joker spinoff that is currently in pre-production. But that wouldn’t be the first all-female group based on DC characters that are in the works. Suicide Squad director David Ayer is also working on Gotham City Sirens. However, it does sound like Batgirl and Birds of Prey may take place in the same cinematic universe.

As for Batgirl, she is probably best known as Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Jim Gordon. Though she started out as inexperienced, she made up for it with her athleticism and hacking skills. She was one of the more central figures in The Killing Joke, where the Joker found out about her true identity and paralyzed her. Though confined to a wheelchair, Barbara would still assist the Batfamily running operations and giving them computer assistance via the Batcave.

No word yet on who WB is eyeing to direct, though Hodson is a possibility. We’ll keep you up to date should any new developments come in.

[Source: THR]