Paradise Lost: Wonder Woman Prequel to Be Game of Thrones-Type Series

While Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is not present in the TV and film slate unveiled today by DC STudios, the island of Themyscira did make an appearance. Among the TV projects currently in develoment is a series called Paradise Lost. Based on Themyscira (colloquially called “Paradise Island”), the project is taking an approach to DC mythology that may sound familiar to fans of Syfy’s short-lived Krypton series: a high fantasy-inspired examination of the generations that came before Wonder Woman was born. Described as a Game of Thrones-style series, Paradise Lost will track the politics and adventures of the Amazons in the years before Wonder Woman came along and changed everything.

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn did not say what creatives might be involved with the production of the series, but this is one that has been rumored for a while. It’s also the third attempt to get a Wonder Woman prequel off the ground.

“This is a Game of Thrones-type story about the atmosphere of Paradise Island, home of the Amazons and the birthplace of Wonder Woman,” Gunn said during a presentation to reporters. “And this involves all the darkness and drama and political intrigue behind this society of only women. It’s an origin story of, how did this society women come about? What does it mean? What are their politics like? What are their rules? Who’s in charge? What are all the games that they play with each other to get to the top? I think it’s a really exciting thing.”

Not long after Arrow and The Flash launched on The CW, the network was developing Amazon. From author Allan Heinberg, who has written comic books, TV, and novels, the project would have been basically Smallville, but for Diana. It would have taken place before she ever got her iconic costume and mission statement, but would have centered on the princess herself and her journey toward one day being Wonder Woman.

That project fizzled, but around the time Wonder Woman was in theaters a few years later, rumors swirled that Zack Snyder and Patty Jenkins were interested in exploring Themyscira more in a prequel series that would have taken place before Diana was born. That one seemed to hang around for a while, but by the time Snyder was officially out at DC and Jenkins’s Wonder Woman 1984 had disappointed both critically and commercially, the idea of such a story seemed dead.

It is not clear whether Jenkins, whose Wonder Woman 3 is no longer moving forward under DC’s new management, will be involved with the show or not. It seems unlikely, given rumors that her split with Warner Bros. was under less than ideal circumstances.

Are you excited to see the world of Themyscira come to life? Sound off in the comments below or hit up @russburlingame on Twitter for all things DC.