Hey, DC movies fans! Remember back in August when it was announced that Batgirl was being scrapped despite having already been shot? Well, with just a few weeks left in 2022, there’s another piece of shocking DC news that’s come out. Wonder Woman 3 reportedly isn’t happening anymore, and supposedly there are even more shakeups for this superhero franchise ahead.
It’s been over a month since James Gunn and Peter Safran were announced as the heads of the newly-created DC Studios, which has them overseeing DC Comics’ film, animation and television projects (with a few exceptions, like Joker 2). Evidently, they’re now in the midst of cleaning house and preparing to usher in a new era of DC, as THR has heard from multiple sources that Wonder Woman 3 is no longer moving forward and “is considered dead in its current incarnation.” These sources claim that writer/director Patty Jenkins recently turned in the treatment for the threequel she worked on with Geoff Johns, but she was told that it “did not fit in with the new (but still unfolding) plans” for DC.
By setting Wonder Woman 3 aside, DC Studios could reportedly save tens of millions of dollars, with Gal Gadot having been “on track” to collect $20 million for reprising Diana of Themysicra in this next project, and Patty Jenkins would have netted $12 million, with neither amounts including backend bonuses. And as already mentioned though, this could be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. THR’s article stated that shelving Wonder Woman 3 could be the first step to permanently closing the door on the DCEU, which began in 2013 with Man of Steel, although such a decision hasn’t been cemented yet.
Both Gal Gadot and Henry Cavill are reportedly cameoing in next year’s The Flash, but in Cavill’s case, there’s supposedly still “debate” about whether his appearance will be kept in the Scarlet Speedster’s first leading feature. For now, The Flash remains an “unlocked picture,” but apparently Cavill’s future as Superman might not be as optimistic as it seemed just a few weeks ago. Following his cameo in Black Adam’s end-credits scene, the actor teased there was more to come from him as the Kryptonian superhero, but now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are formulating their own DC plans, perhaps that’s no longer on the table. Speaking of Black Adam, with the movie losing money at the box office, it’s looking “unlikely” that a sequel will get off the ground.
THR also brought up Jason Momoa, who’s been starring as the DCEU’s Aquaman since 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the same movie where Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher joined the franchise. Momoa is described as a “pivotal figure” in these new DC plans, with one scenario being that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom would be the actor’s last outing as Arthur Curry, and he would then transition into playing the alien bounty hunter Lobo, a character he’s expressed interest in playing. Again, this isn’t a plan that’s definitely going forward, but just something that’s being considered. It was also mentioned that whatever James Gunn and Peter Safran are cooking up isn’t expected to affect Matt Reeves’ plans for The Batman universe, at least “for now.”
This is a lot of information to absorb, but clearly, DC is going through a major overhaul, and Wonder Woman 3 was the first casualty. It’s looking like a definite possibility that the DCEU could be shuttered and a new shared universe could be created, but needless to say, we’ll pass along any details that present a more concrete picture. Until then, look through the lineup of upcoming DC movies that are still on the docket, and use your HBO Max subscription to get your fill of DC entertainment.
