One of the few real bright spots of the DC Extended Universe franchise was the original Wonder Woman film. Releasing on the heels of three divisive installments, Wonder Woman was the first DCEU installment to earn widespread critical praise, parlaying the enthusiastic reception into a strong box office run ($823.9 million worldwide). At the heart of the film’s success was director’s Patty Jenkins, who found a sincere and earnest approach to tell a compelling story about Diana Prince that balanced emotion and action. Though Jenkins was unable to replicate this success with sequel Wonder Woman 1984, some fans are curious to see if she’d be up to return in the newly established DC Universe.
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Speaking with Marvel Cinematic Universe News, Jenkins was asked about making a DC comeback, with the outlet calling attention to the DCU’s Wonder Woman movie and the TV series Paradise Lost. “You never say never because I love Wonder Woman,” Jenkins said. “But at the moment, I’m so excited with what I’m doing, and it’s always good to do something new. I loved making superhero movies … you never know, but I’m having a good time.”
Wonder Woman Needs a Fresh Start After Wonder Woman 1984
While some actors, characters, and storylines from the old DCEU have been carried over into the DCU (see: Peacemaker Season 2), the franchise was conceived as a full reboot that would largely wipe the slate clean with a fresh continuity. With that in mind, it isn’t surprising to hear DC Studios plans on taking Wonder Woman in a new direction; Gal Gadot, who portrayed the character in the DCEU, is not expected to return for the next film. At one point, Wonder Woman 3 was in development, but that project is no longer happening. Since there will be a new actress taking on the role, it stands reason to believe there will be a fresh filmmaking voice behind the camera.
That would arguably be for the best. Wonder Woman 1984 received mixed reviews (57% on Rotten Tomatoes, receiving criticism for certain creative choices (including one infamous story beat involving Steve Trevor), character arcs, and the tone. Rather than continuing the forward momentum established by the first Wonder Woman, the sequel became yet another disappointing DCEU installment. While it would have been interesting to see what Jenkins had in mind for her third film (perhaps redeeming the series in the process), it’s time for a new filmmaker to take the baton and bring some different ideas to the table. After the lackluster reception to Wonder Woman 1984, the character is in need of a fresh start on the big screen to build excitement for her again.
Whenever the DCU’s Wonder Woman movie comes out, it will be a vitally important project for the franchise. As the superhero genre adjusts to a changing box office landscape, Gunn has hinted that the characters audiences are most familiar with will be headlining feature films (making them easier sells to general viewers at the box office). As a member of DC’s Trinity, Wonder Woman is one of the premier superheroes under DC’s umbrella, so it’s important to get this film right. In all likelihood, Wonder Woman isn’t being conceived as a one-off. The hope will be that it can launch a series, similar to how Superman is getting a follow-up in the form of Man of Tomorrow.
Jenkins clearly has a lot of passion for Wonder Woman, but she also has a mixed track record bringing the character to life on the big screen, so it makes sense for DC Studios to turn the page and bring in a new creative team. It’s also understandable why Jenkins isn’t necessarily chomping at the bit to jump back into this realm; she’s already told her Wonder Woman story, so there’s probably little appeal for her as a creative to lend her talents to a reboot. Her mindset might be different if she had an opportunity to continue the original Gadot series, but since that won’t happen, she’d rather focus her energy on other projects while DC works on a new iteration of Wonder Woman.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
