As if Batgirl being scrapped wasn’t already a big enough DC shakeup for 2022, yesterday brought word that Wonder Woman 3 has reportedly been cancelled. It was among numerous items concerning where we stand with the future of DC media projects that DC Studios’ James Gunn later responded to on social media. However, as far as Wonder Woman 3 is concerned, apparently its collapse involved behind-the-scenes issues with Patty Jenkins, the filmmaker behind the first two Wonder Woman movies.
After solely directing 2017’s Wonder Woman, Patty Jenkins both picked up the helming reins again for 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984 and co-wrote the script with Geoff Johns and David Callaham. Jenkins had once again intended to put pen to paper for Wonder Woman 3, and reportedly turned in a treatment to Warner Bros. Pictures. However, both Deadline and The Wrap report that studio heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy were not impressed with the threequel treatment, with the former publication specifically saying that the pitch “had character arc problems which rivaled that of Wonder Woman 1984.”
Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy allegedly gave Patty Jenkins notes for her Wonder Woman 3 pitch, but Jenkins refused to implement them, arguing that there wasn’t anything about her creative vision that needed to be improved. Although Jenkins was given the opportunity to pitch a different treatment for the next Wonder Woman movie, she decided to leave the project, not even wanting to hear what DC Studios co-chairmen/CEOS James Gunn and Peter Safran had to say on the matter, even though they had nothing to do with the decision to send back the treatment.
As for where things currently stand, Gal Gadot is still attached as Wonder Woman, whom she’s been playing since 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. There’s the possibility that Gadot will stick with the role (as she might have indicated in a social media post from a few days ago), and that Wonder Woman 3 could be reborn in a new form with a different filmmaker spearheading it. On the other hand, considering how closely she and Patty Jenkins worked together, there’s also a scenario where Gadot walks away from Wonder Woman. Either way, right now, the character’s film future is up in the air, although allegedly Gadot is cameoing in The Flash next year.
While the first Wonder Woman movie was a critical and commercial success, pulling in over $822 million worldwide and ranking at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Wonder Woman 1984 didn’t impress on either fronts. Granted, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 1984 being delayed multiple times, and when it did open in theaters, it was released simultaneously to HBO Max subscribers. So box office-wise, it only made over $169 million worldwide, and it was met with mixed critical reception, earning a 58% Tomatometer. Gadot’s Wonder Woman also appeared in both cuts of Justice League.
Should a different version of Wonder Woman 3 get off the ground, or we officially learn where Gal Gadot’s Diana of Themysicra will pop up next, CinemaBlend will pass along that news. Until then, take a look at the upcoming DC movies coming our way.
