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The history of “Wonder Woman” is inextricable from the larger recent history of DC Comics films. While Zack Snyder’s Superman reimagining “Man of Steel” was in production, “The Avengers” became the biggest movie in the world. Warner Bros scrambled, realizing they had to build a countervailing DC Extended Universe with a big screen Justice League.
Gadot’s debut film as Diana, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” was panned and underperformed (despite earning the approval of Snyder’s devoted fanbase). All eyes fell on Gadot’s “Wonder Woman” spin-off, helmed by Jenkins, to deliver. And it did! “Wonder Woman” got some of the best reviews the DCEU ever earned and, as Nielsen mentioned, an $800+ million box office gross.
A live-action “Wonder Woman” film was long overdue; Gadot was the first silver screen Wonder Woman, acting beside the third Superman and sixth Batman. When “Justice League” also underperformed, it looked like Wonder Woman could be the glue that would hold the DCEU together; as far as 2023, Diana got cameos in “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” and “The Flash” that both play with the gravitas of an audience favorite strolling onto the set.
Would Wonder Woman save the DCEU? Nope, not after “Wonder Woman 1984.” When that movie turned out to be yet another of DC’s disappointments, it transformed Gadot and Jenkins’ third film from a sure thing to an uncertainty.
DC films in general stand on uncertain ground right now. The newly formed DC Studios, co-headed by filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, is rebooting the franchise. In December 2022, it was reported that Gunn and Safran had rejected Jenkins’ treatment for a third “Wonder Woman,” and the trilogy capper had been canceled altogether.
Then in August 2023, Gadot claimed she was working with Gunn and Safran on a third “Wonder Woman” film. Despite the DCU supposedly being a hard reset, Gunn has also said that John Cena (Peacemaker), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), and Xolo Maridueña (Blue Beetle) will keep their roles in his revised DCU. (It makes complete sense that Gunn intends to keep his own projects, “The Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker,” canon.)
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