Before Gal Gadot cemented herself in the role of Wonder Woman, WB was reportedly open to several different interpretations of the character.
Drive and Neon Demon helmer Nicolas Winding Refn was one of the many to openly discuss his ideas for the character, and would later admit that he met with WB about directing the project after his earlier comments about wanting to see Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks in the role. However, he ended talks after the studio informed him that they would never allow Hendricks to be cast.
These days, Refn is currently promoting Too Old to Die Young, his stylish Amazon Prime miniseries starring Miles Teller. While promoting the project in an interview with Collider, Refn revealed that it's another DC heroine that has his attention these days.
"Regarding everything else, no I mean, projects that have come to me or been approached about, I’ve always decided not to do them in the end.
I love Hollywood. I love glamour and glitz. I love camp. I love vanity, I love egos, I indulge in all that, but the bigger kind of approaches or the offers that have come my way or the interest, in the end, I’ve always just felt that I wasn’t the right person in the end for it. Doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. I mean I would love to do one of those comic book (movies), I mean, me and Batgirl it’s like… we coexist.
It’s just like a lot of people are obsessed with the idea of this is it or this is it. If it comes and it’s the right… and I can do my version of it or I can be part of a contribution to that, great. But if it’s not I’ll just go make something else."
And similar to Wonder Woman, Refn teased that if he does get the chance to direct Batgirl, he already has an actress in mind. However, it seems time has casued Refn to play his cards closer to the chest as he refrained from actually revealing his choice this time around.
Bumblebee writer Christina Hodson is currently working on a new script for a Batgirl film after Joss Whedon dropped out of the project in 2017. Over the years, Refn has been attached to Logan's Run, Barbarella, James Bond and Button Man before departing those projects.