Joss Whedon’s commitment to Warner Brothers’ DC Comics Extended Universe film franchise is becoming bigger. In addition to overseeing reshoots for Zack Snyder’s Justice League and writing and directing an upcoming Batgirl film, a new report suggests that Whedon will be a “major part” of the creative team steering the franchise going forward.
Mashable is reporting that Whedon will be working with DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Jones on charting out the creative vision for the superhero franchise moving into the future. The move makes the Avengers director the first major creative to play in both major comic book companies’ individual sandboxes since Bryan Singer temporarily left the X-Men film franchise which he launched to do 2006’s Superman Returns.
Whedon will be stepping into the space vacated by director Zack Snyder. Snyder launched the franchise with Man Of Steel and followed it up with Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and had done the principle photography for Justice League. But Snyder’s style and visual imprint on the films – as well as David Ayer’s franchise entry Suicide Squad – has been controversial. Critics never really took much to Snyder’s vision, while fans have been divided on the films’ merits or lack thereof. With Whedon and Johns calling the shots, it is expected that upcoming films will expand their color pallet and lighten their tone somewhat.
Snyder and his producer wife Deborah Snyder stepped away from their work on the post-production of Justice League in May, following the suicide of their 20-year-old daughter earlier. Whedon, who was already working with the studio on his Batgirl project at the time, was picked by Snyder to oversee the reshoots for Justice League. The couple will still retain producer credits on some of the upcoming films in the franchise, their actual involvement will be minimal.
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that stated that the reshoots for Justice League are more extensive, and expensive, than previously thought. Mashable’s report confirms that and states that while Snyder’s action sequences are being deemed usable, much of the film’s dialogue and character scenes are being rescripted and reshot.
Personally, the bringing Whedon in to help oversee the franchise in general is a great move on Warners’ part. He has a proven track record over at Marvel Studios, having given input on their first to two cycles of films while writing and directing both the original Avengers and its sequel Avengers: Age Of Ultron. He also has strong cred with fans, which should help the beleaguered franchise earn some much needed goodwill.
