Emerald Fennell Is Writing a DC Superhero Movie

All roads lead to superhero movies, it turns out. At least, that's the message we're getting based on the announcement that British writer-director Emerald Fennell – who was last week nominated for a Best Director Oscar for her film Promising Young Woman – has signed on to bring the DC comic book character Zatanna Zatara to the big screen (though the film will just be called Zatara: it's cleaner).

Anyone worried that Fennell is taking up her precious schedule with a comic book flick need not panic, though – she's writing the script, not directing the inevitably CG-laden final product. For those unfamiliar, Zatanna is a superhero operating within the DC universe who doubles as both a stage magician and an actual magician (read as: she has actual magic superpowers, which seems a bit like cheating)?

Given the recent success of Disney's Wandavision, which also hinges on a female character with magical abilities, it's no surprise that DC have gone down this route – though bagging Fennell is pretty impressive, considering she's probably in the position to make whatever passion project she wants right now. Of course, this news us got us wondering who could play Zatanna herself. Could this provide another team-up for Fennell and her Promising Young Woman lead Carey Mulligan? We can picture that.

Fennell is not the first Oscar-nominated filmmaker to find themselves unexpectedly tasked with  CG-heavy filmmaking duties of late, of course. Back in December, Barry Jenkins – he of Moonlight – signed on to direct a surprise sequel to The Lion King for Disney, which for the most part prompted mass outcries of, “Why, Barry, why?” Is Fennell wasting her time on the ever divisive DC cinematic universe, or will she be able to use her talent and clout to bring something entirely new to the table? Only time will tell!