DC Entertainment made huge headlines when they became the first of the Big Two to give a heroine a solo feature film by announcing that ‘Wonder Woman’ is in development. After the Amazonian warrior princess makes her debut in ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’, she’ll spinoff into her own franchise in 2017. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Warner Bros. was meeting with a number of directors to helm the film starring Gal Gadot. The list included ‘Homeland’ co-executive producer Lesli Linka Glatter and ‘The Babadook’ director Jennifer Kent, but the studio’s first choice was Michelle MacLaren, who is best known for her work on fan favorite television shows such as ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘The Walking Dead’, and ‘Breaking Bad’. Well, based on the latest reports, it looks like WB and DC has gotten their wish.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, MacLaren has signed on to develop and direct the big screen adaptation of one of the most iconic superheroes in history. Listed as a favorite for the position since August, talks had slowed down after both sides had a few meetings and the studio was forced to widen their search in the fall. But in the end, a deal was finally struck and the director is set to work closely with the project’s currently unnamed writers on the script in preparation for the June 23, 2017 release date.

With the exception of Lexi Alexander directing ‘Punisher: War Zone’, there have been no female directors in the superhero movie genre. At one point, Patty Jenkins had signed on to direct ‘Thor: The Dark World’, but Alan Taylor replaced her after she left the production over creative differences. Now, with Wonder Woman being so strongly connected to female empowerment, it was extremely imperative that a female director was brought in to develop this particular project. Luckily the studio was listening this time and managed to bring in one of the most talented directors in the business right now that has a good bit of experience with genre properties, action, and strong female characters.

Are you excited to see what Michelle MacLaren does with ‘Wonder Woman’? Do you think that this will finally open the door for more female directors to be considered for superhero projects in the future? And who do you think will Marvel Studios bring on for ‘Captain Marvel’ in response to this monumental move? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.