James Gunn Dropped A Huge Wonder Woman Update, And It's Part Of A Larger Plan

When it was first announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran were taking over DC Films, and that an entirely new DC Universe would launch from that, fans had a lot of questions. While it soon became clear we would get a new Superman and a new Batman, the future of other major DC characters was a lot less clear, most notably, Wonder Woman. It seems that's really starting to change, though.

The first Wonder Woman movie starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins was one of DC's biggest hits in the previous franchise, and yet, the original unveiling of James Gunn's first chapter of the DCU had no specific path forward for the Amazonian. In a recent conversation with EW, however, Gunn confirms that not only is a new Wonder Woman movie planned, it's currently in development. Gunn said...

Considering Wonder Woman's popularity and previous success, it was a bit surprising that she hadn't been mentioned in the first batch of upcoming DC movies. Fans will now certainly have a lot of questions about what the plan is for this new movie, but they'll surely be happy to hear that it's happening. While the movie is apparently being written, Gunn does not mention who is actually penning it. This isn't unusual, of course. For instance, it's known that a DCU Batman movie is also being written, and a writer for that film hasn't been revealed either.

As for the bigger plan aspect of this, the movie isn't the only piece of the new DCU connected to Wonder Woman. Gunn confirmed that the previously announced Wonder Woman-adjacent project, Paradise Lost, a prequel series set on the island of Thymascira, WW's home, but set long before her time, was still in development. Gunn called the series "slow-moving" but assured that it is still moving forward.

Originally, with the prequel series announced without a directWonder Woman project, it seemed the series was likely designed to stand alone. With a movie now confirmed to be in development, one wonders if there may now be more direct connections between the two pieces of the franchise.

When it comes to the film, the next big question, of course, will be just who is going to play Wonder Woman. Gunn made it clear that decision has not been made. He has previously said casting isn't considered until a script is finished. Casting somebody new in the role would seem to be the most likely scenario but, as some actors from the previous DC franchise are set to return in the new one, the return of Gal Gadot cannot be entirely discounted.

There were plans for a Wonder Woman 3 starring Gadot before the franchise reboot took place. For a while, there have been conflicting reports regarding who ultimately walked away from the project first. Nevertheless, I'm excited that James Gunn and co. are moving full steam ahead in order to craft a new version of the Amazonian warrior for the DCU.