A Tale Of Two Wonder Woman Stories - Opinion
From Gaius Bolling
While doing press for her latest Netflix flick Heart of Stone (all done before the SAG-AFTRA strike), Gal Gadot let it slip that she would be developing Wonder Woman 3 with James Gunn and Peter Safran under their new DCU. In fact, she doubled down on those comments during another interview that seemed to indicate it was a sure thing. Then, "faster than the speed of light", those comments were rebuffed by "sources" saying that these talks never took place, which proved to confuse fans even more about the direction of the DCU.
When Wonder Woman was released, it was a breath of fresh air for DC after some significant critical misfires. The film worked on a level that the others didn't and it seemed as if Gadot was born to play the role. In addition to great critical notices, the movie was a huge financial success, which guaranteed a sequel.
Wonder Woman 1984 was not met with the same enthusiasm as it dealt with mixed critical reaction and the box office was heavily impacted by the pandemic as it shuttered movie theaters nationwide. It was just a series of unfortunate events for the sequel and it felt like all the goodwill that was built up with the first film was instantly loss. However, that didn't stop Warner Bros. from announcing that a third film was in the works.
This was all done under a previous regime and, as we know, Gunn and Safran would eventually become co-heads of DC Studios, in charge of making some tough decisions to fix a brand that had become seriously tarnished. Those tough decisions included no more Henry Cavill as Superman, Black Adam 2 would not be happening despite all the muscle and efforts of Dwayne Johnson, and Wonder Woman 3, as we knew it with director Patty Jenkins, would be no more. The big question mark was Gadot as the titular character. No announcement was made about whether or not she would be vacating the role and when a Twitter user suggested Gunn got rid of her, he shot the rumor down as false. That's not to say that he said she would be staying. He really gave no clarity on the matter at all.
Enter Gadot appearing to give some clarity recently. During a chat with comicbook.com prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the actress spoke of her love for the Wonder Woman character and she revealed that she had spoken with both Gunn and Safran about returning for another sequel. She elaborated by saying, "I love portraying Wonder Woman. It's so close and dear to my heart. From what I heard from James and Peter is that we're gonna develop a Wonder Woman 3 together."
Alright, that sounds promising, if not a little confusing since it's hard to tell if their DCU is a full or partial reboot. Almost like they're hoarding and can't figure out what to get rid of. The comment confused a lot of fans because it seemed that after the release of The Flash and Aquaman 2 (Blue Beetle appears to be an outlier and a part of their new DCU) they could really just focus on their new direction and let the past be the past. Not helping matters was that neither Gunn or Safran spoke up about Gadot's comments when the former is always quick to take to Twitter and let fans know what's true or not true.
Gadot's comments got more pointed and direct during a chat with Flaunt magazine, also done before the SAG-AFTRA strike. Talking on the matter further Gadot said, "I was invited to a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran. They told me, and I'm quoting: 'You're in the best hands. We're going to develop Wonder Woman 3 with you. [We] love you as Wonder Woman - you've got nothing to worry about.' So time will tell."
Time was very quick to speak on Gadot's more direct comments on the matter to rebuff what the actress was saying. However, Gunn nor Safran commented on this. The matter was addressed via "sources close to the matter" to Variety. Their sources told them, "Despite Gadot's comments, a third Wonder Woman film is not in development at DC Studios nor do James Gunn & Peter Safran have plans at this time for any Wonder Woman project. Furthermore, nothing as ever promised to Gadot regarding a third film nor were there any definitive discussion had about Gadot's Wonder Woman continuing with the new DCU."
AWKWARD!
The crazy thing about all this is that once that Variety story was released and it spread across the trades, neither side spoke on the matter. What we have now is Gadot appearing to speak out of turn twice and being left with egg on her face in the public eye because she seemed to speak with absolute comments that these talks took place. Gunn and Safran haven't come out to confirm or deny the talks and it looks like both parties just waited to see if this story would just go away.
What's left here is speculation. I don't think Gadot, especially with her second statement, would just make this up. I believe that some talks took place at some point but I also think that there is a possible miscommunication here. Maye the trio spoke about something down the line and Gadot's new comments appear as if something is more imminent. A big reason I think there is truth to what she said is that Gunn didn't dismiss it as false. He's not a stranger to doing this. His Twitter trigger finger is fast and he will shut down many false rumors. With this one, he remained very quiet. Perhaps they talked about this in private and things were made more clear to Gadot but it does appear in poor taste to let her take this hit alone publicly. Some kind of statement could've been made that would've protected her integrity and not made it seem like she's speaking on something she knows nothing about.
What emerged for me following this story was that, no matter how much the new DCU might be in better hands under Gunn and Safran, there still appears to be a lot of confusion and misinformation coming from the company. It's very reminiscent of what they're trying to leave behind. I feel like this Wonder Woman 3 narrative could've been cleared up in a more professional way but instead, we got a classic case of she said/he said with no clear resolution about what really happened. I'm hoping the future of DC is brighter but when stuff like this happens, it honestly feels like we're in store for more of the same.
