WONDER WOMAN 1984 Sequel Canceled as DC Studios Strategy Shifts
By Movieguide® Contributor
The future of fan-favorite DC comic book adaptations remains uncertain after DC Studios canceled the WONDER WOMAN 1984 sequel as new studio chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran shift the strategy for upcoming DC movies.
Variety reports, “after [WONDER WOMAN 1984 director Patty] Jenkins submitted a treatment for a third WONDER WOMAN, she was informed by studio leadership that it did not mesh with Gunn and Safran’s emerging plans for the DC Universe, and the studio would not make the project.”
WONDER WOMAN was nominated for Movieguide®’s 2018 Best Movie for Mature Audiences award, and WONDER WOMAN 1984 was nominated for the same award in 2021.
Movieguide®’s reviews highlight both movies’ celebration of “sacrificial love” and “truth.”
While the WONDER WOMAN sequel has been canceled, the futures of other DC movies are also unknown. The Hollywood Reporter claims that the MAN OF STEEL sequel teased by star Henry Cavill in October could also be cut.
In 2013, Movieguide® nominated MAN OF STEEL for their Best Movie for Mature Audiences award, and the review touts the movie’s “very strong Christian, redemptive and moral worldview.”
Currently, only Gunn and Safran know the future of the DC Universe, and they plan to unveil their new strategy for the studio to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav this week.
Variety adds that the meeting between Gunn, Safran and Zaslav “has the potential to mark a critical inflection point for the company, with the very real possibility that the cinematic universe created by filmmaker Zack Snyder would reach a definitive end following the premiere of AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM in December 2023.”
While Snyder left the DC Universe in 2017, the “Snyderverse”—DC adaptations following MAN OF STEEL in 2013 and casting Cavill, WONDER WOMAN star Gal Gadot, AQUAMAN star Jason Momoa and THE FLASH star Ezra Miller as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes—continues to divide fans through its “morally grey and visually gritty approach.”
Movieguide® previously reported on the WONDER WOMAN 1984 sequel:
Gal Gadot is set to come back as Wonder Woman in her third installment of the DC’s new WONDER WOMAN franchise.
WONDER WOMAN 1984 was one of the first tentpole movies to test the waters with the deal between HBO Max and Warner Bros. and Movieguide® honored it as one of the Best Movies of 2020 for Mature Audiences.
Shortly after WONDER WOMAN 1984, Warner Bros. greenlit a third WONDER WOMAN movie.
Gadot confirmed the news in a recent interview with InStyle where she said of the new movie: “We’re developing the script right now. We’ll probably start in a year and a half or so.”
This likely means fans of the first two Gadot-led DC movies will have to wait for a while before WONDER WOMAN 3.
In total, Gadot has played Diana in six DC Comic blockbusters, if you include Zack Snyder’s cut of JUSTICE LEAGUE.
Movieguide® previously reported on the MAN OF STEEL sequel:
Actor Henry Cavill returns as the Man of Steel after making a cameo in the latest DC Superhero movie, BLACK ADAM.
Cavill took to Instagram to celebrate the return as Superman.
“I wanted to wait until the weekend was over before posting this because I wanted to give you all a chance to watch ‘Black Adam,’” Cavill said in a video posted to his Instagram. “But now that plenty of you have, I wanted to make it official: I am back as Superman.”
Cavill said that the cameo is “just a very small taste of things to come. Thank you for your support and thank you for your patience. I promise it will be rewarded.”