Update: EW is reporting that the movie will be based on the New 52 version of Batgirl, which is Barbara Gordon after having undergone experimental surgery to recover from being shot in the spine by The Joker in The Killing Joke.

Some pretty huge news coming out of Warner Brothers this week as they have reportedly landed a big name director to take on a new movie in the DC Universe. That’s right… after writing and directing both The Avengers and The Avengers: Age of Ultron for Marvel (and arguably helping to establish the entire tone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe), it looks like Joss Whedon will be jumping ship to join the competition. He is said to be in the process of setting up a standalone Batgirl film and although details are still fairly slim, this feels like one of the first truly smart moves that Warner Brothers has made with regards to their slate of upcoming comic book movies. Hit the jump to find out what we know.

According to Variety, Joss Whedon is “nearing a deal” to write, direct, and produce an untitled Batgirl movie for Warner Brothers. The project supposedly originated just within the last month or so, perhaps in response to some of the setbacks they have had with the next highly anticipated Batman solo movie. WB president Toby Emmerich is overseeing the project along with Jon Berg and Geoff Johns.

It’s easy to see why Joss Whedon might be interested in this movie. He has been pushing for more female-led superhero movies for some time now and he was reportedly attached to direct a Wonder Woman movie once upon a time. Either way, this could be just what the DC Universe needs right now, and if they have to steal a page from Marvel’s playbook then so be it. Are you excited to see a Joss Whedon Batgirl movie?