...sometimes you end up breaking stuff in the process.
It looks like the new DC Comics film and tv overlords aren't afraid to swing a big broom.
The director of the first two Wonder Woman movies with Gal Gadot, Patty Jenkins, turned in a script for the three-quel recently. The studio had notes. Whatever the requested changes were, they were more than Jenkins was willing to accommodate and the director has walked away from the project. At least that's the clearest picture I can dig up at the moment.
So now what?
There's no word on Gal Gadot's reaction to this development or even real confirmation of the facts, but given the wide reporting, that reaction is likely to hit soon. Will she be willing to work with another director and reprise the role for number 3? Will Warner Bros and DC even make the offer?
When the first hack at the property hired Adrianne Palicki as the first live action Wonder Woman since Lynda Carter's iconic take on the character, I was luke warm on her and the project's concept of having Wonder Woman be a corporate mogul, a super hero AND hold a secret identity as a normal twenty something. The pilot wasn't picked up to series and never even aired. I've seen the pilot and WB dodged a bullet with this one. Palicki is a fine actress, but the show was a mess from the jump.
When Gal Gadot was cast as Wonder Woman for the 2017 film I had never heard of her. The first film is still probably the best thing that DC has done in the 21st Century, rivalling Batman Begins for me in terms of rewatchability and general super hero joy.
The sequel was disappointing, although I don't fault Gadot for that in any way. She was great in the film but otherwise it was a mess. As I have said over and over, villains maketh the superhero film. The weak villain in the first Wonder Woman film is the only time I can recall that actually not being true but I put that down to the defacto villain of the piece being WWI, not Ares. The sequel had a mind-numbingly annoying villain in Maxwell Lord and would have been served much better by cutting him and having the supporting villain, Cheetah, have a strong 3rd act rather than just being Lord's muscle. Plus, having the hero give a speech to save the world is possibly the lamest cop out ending possible.
If Gadot sticks around for number 3, I hope that they get a great director to helm the film. The character deserves serious and sincere support. I'm not certain that having Jenkins replaced is actually a bad thing. Without knowing the nature of the studio "notes" and the plans she had for the film, it's not really something I can judge.
As much as I like Gal Gadot in the role, I also wouldn't be adverse to a recast and reboot. I've always liked what the second and third seasons of the Lynda Carter show tried to do with having Diana Prince be an intelligence agent who busts out the bustier and hot pants when she gets in over her head and I think a big screen version of that could be amazing. I don't really see Gadot in that version of the character.
Despite how messy this is now, I'm still hopeful that this sort "creative differences" parting of the ways with a well established director on a well established property actually is a good sign. It may signal the firming up of a vision for the DC Comics universe on film going forward. Not every artist is going to share whatever vision Gunn and Safran are crafting and that's okay.
Hell, I may not like what they do with these characters and that's okay too. Art is not a democracy, nor should it be. Even if I don't like Gunn's stuff generally, he's an artist who has a vision and his vision makes his employers money. Those employers have given he and Safran license to pursue that vision based on their track record and they deserve to follow that vision as far as they can. If I end up liking some or all of it, that's a bonus for me.
If I hate it, at least I'll have lots to write about.
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