Last week, the shocking news came in that Wonder Woman 3 is no longer moving forward, as it “is considered dead in its current incarnation.” Shortly thereafter, it was reported that Patty Jenkins, the director behind the first two Wonder Woman movies and co-writer on Wonder Woman 1984, had walked away from the threequel due to creative differences. Now the filmmaker has not only responded to this claim, she’s also clarified her involvement with the Star Wars movie Rogue Squadron.
Starting with Wonder Woman 3, it had been said that Patty Jenkins tuned in her treatment to Warner Bros. Pictures, but studio heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy were not impressed with the pitch and gave her notes. Jenkins allegedly refused to implement them and then left the project. In her statement on Twitter, the filmmaker laid out that she didn’t leave Wonder Woman 3, but rather was led to believe that there wasn’t anything to be done with moving it forward. In her words:
When there started being backlash about WW3 not happening, the attractive clickbait false story that ideas me that killed it or walked away started to spread. This is simply not true. I never walked away. I was open to considering anything asked of me. It was my understanding there was nothing I could do to move anything forward at this time. DC is obviously buried in changes they are having to make, so I understand these decisions are difficult right now.
Patty Jenkins continued by saying that she did not want her “beautiful journey” with Wonder Woman to end on a “negative note,” and went on to express gratitude for getting to work with people like Gal Gadot and Lynda Carter. She also thanked the fans for their “love and support” and called them the “best and most loving people.” Jenkins capped off her message by saying that we should “keep up the Wonder Woman spirit” and hopes that the character’s “beacon of love, truth and justice” is always there to lead the way for us as Diana of Themyscira has for her.
Shortly after Patty Jenkins’ tweet went up, James Gunn, who is now co-running DC Studios with producer Peter Safran, responded to share his positive opinion about the Wonder Woman filmmaker. See for yourself:
I can attest that all of Peter and my interactions with you were only pleasant and professional.December 14, 2022
As for Rogue Squadron, prior to going over Wonder Woman 3, Patty Jenkins explained that while there was a period where she left the Star Wars movie, she’s now back to working on it, although it’s not guaranteed just yet it will see the light of day. As she put it:
I originally left Rogue Squadron after a long and productive development process when it became clear it couldn’t happen soon enough and I did not want to delay WW3 any further. When I did, Lucasfilm asked me to consider coming back to RS after WW3, which I was honored to do, so I agreed. They made a new deal with me. In fact, I am still on it and that project has been in active development ever since. I don’t know if it will happen or not. We never do until the development process is complete, but I look forward to its potential ahead.
Rogue Squadron was officially announced in December 2020, and at the time, the plan was to release it in December 2023. However, by November 2021, Rogue Squadron’s production was halted, and that was followed by the Star Wars movie being taken off the theatrical calendar nearly a year later. However, with her time on Wonder Woman 3 over and having eventually returned to Rogue Squadron, maybe this will be just the push to finally get it off the ground, just like one of the X-wings that will be featured in the story.
Rogue Squadron is one of many upcoming Star Wars movies in development, with others including the one Taika Waititi will direct and is co-writing with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, as well the feature Damon Lindelof is writing that Ms. Marvel’s Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will direct. While Wonder Woman 3, or at least Patty Jenkins’ version of it, isn’t happening anymore. there are other upcoming DC movies to keep track of, though obviously we’ll let you know if any of them are also shelved.
