Since Marvel notoriously elected to reboot the Iron Man franchise back in 2008, superhero films have become one of the biggest money makers in Hollywood. They elected to cast Robert Downey Jr. in the titular role and he delivered such a remarkable performance that resonated with fans so much, it would become the driving force behind the creating of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also bolstered by the success of the Avengers franchise as well as all of the superheroes’ individual franchises, the MCU would come to redefine superhero films as we know them today and force every major film studio in Hollywood to get in on the action themselves. Just last week however we found out that one of the franchises which was rebooted in recent years is coming to a premature ending as Warner Brothers elects to pull the plug on production of the third installment of the Wonder Woman franchise
Originally rebooted in 2017, Warner Brothers Pictures elected to join forces with DC Films, Marvel’s biggest competitor in the superhero space, and reimagine the story of arguably the most iconic female superhero ever when they rebooted the Wonder Woman franchise. Over 70 years since it’s inception, Warner Brothers struck gold initially as they cast Gal Gadot to play the iconic hero and saw the first film take in over $800 million in box offices around the world and left fans clamoring for more. They subsequently followed it up with a sequel at the end of 2020 when Wonder Woman 1984 was released via HBO Max amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, however that project struggled mightily in comparison and seemingly left a bad taste in the film studio’s mouth. That was virtually confirmed last week when Warner Brothers announced that Gadot’s stint as Wonder Woman would be coming to an end as they unexpectedly axed plans to produce the franchise’s third installment. Rumors have subsequently began to circulate as a result with many pointing the finger at either Gadot or director Patty Jenkins as the reason why the project will no longer be happening, however Jenkins was quick to confirm that she was more than prepared to take on the project while James Gunn, new co-CEO of DC Studios, has also come out to dispel the rumors Gadot was fired. Though it remains unclear exactly why we won’t be getting a third installment of Wonder Woman, many seem to be simply chalking it up to DC simply wanting to take things in a new direction under their newfound leadership.
The entertainment industry has always been incredibly volatile, however that has only become increasingly the case in recent years. Regardless though it was certainly shocking to hear the news about Wonder Woman, which understandably left fans a little distraught. Maybe Warner Brothers and DC have a few tricks up their sleeve to make up for it, but until we find out that they do all they have is questions to answer as everyone tries to make sense of their latest moves.
