Gal Gadot has seemingly confirmed that Wonder Woman 3 is still in development under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe. This comes as quite a shock, considering it was widely reported in December 2022 that the Wonder Woman sequel had been shelved following Gunn and Safran’s instatement as co-CEOs of DC Studios. Discussion of Wonder Woman 3 began before the second film in the series, Wonder Woman 1984, was even released. Director Patty Jenkins confirmed that a story was already being developed for the third film in 2019l; by late 2020, the sequel received an official greenlight from Warner Bros., with both Jenkins and Gadot slated to return.
When Gunn and Safran took over the DC universe, plans to recast Henry Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman were quickly confirmed, while films like Man of Steel 2, Black Adam 2, and Justice League 2 were tossed or put on hold. It wasn’t long before Wonder Woman 3 was also scrapped. Jenkins confirmed the cancellation, clarifying that there was nothing she could do to prevent its cancellation amid the DCU changes and denying rumors that she walked away from the project.
Later, Gunn sat down to outline Chapter 1 of the DCU, and Wonder Woman 3 was noticeably absent from the slate of upcoming projects—though a Wonder Woman prequel series, Paradise Lost, was confirmed to be in development at Max. Gunn indicated that he and Safran were open to potentially having Gadot return as Wonder Woman in the DCU, though seemingly not in Wonder Woman 3. However, Gadot is now denying that Wonder Woman 3 is dead at DC Studios.
Gal Gadot says Wonder Woman 3 is back on at DC Studios
In an interview with ComicBook.com (which took place before the SAG-AFTRA strike), Gadot gave a surprising update on the status of Wonder Woman 3 at DC Studios. “I love portraying Wonder Woman,” Gadot said. “It’s so close to and dear to my heart. From what I heard from James [Gunn] and from Peter [Safran] is that we’re gonna develop a Wonder Woman 3 together.” Neither Gunn nor Safran have confirmed if Wonder Woman 3 is in development, but considering Gadot is the star of the Wonder Woman film series, her statement seems credible. However, given how little has been said about Wonder Woman 3 since it was scrapped over half a year ago, the news does come as a surprise.
It is worth noting that Gadot did not mention Jenkins in her talks about Wonder Woman 3. It’s possible that Jenkins’ story for the sequel was scrapped, and that Gunn and Safran are working on finding a new angle for the film. It also isn’t likely that the film has been officially confirmed since it seems Gadot is still in talks with Gunn and Safran. This does confirm that Wonder Woman 3 is still on the table, though. Considering that there was never any talk of recasting Wonder Woman and that Gadot made cameos in both Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash, there may have been subtle hints that Gunn and Safran planned on keeping Gadot around.
Of course, given that it’s not part of the lineup for Chapter 1, it remains to be seen when Wonder Woman 3 might become a reality. It’s also unclear if Gunn and Safran will hire a new director, and whether the new film will be a sequel or a reboot. It’s also unclear how the sequel survived the major DCU shakeup that saw every established actor/character either conclude their runs or have their futures rendered ambiguous. However, given the success of the first Wonder Woman film and the massive success of Barbie, choosing to let Wonder Woman 3 go forward sounds like a strong choice, and one that heeds what audiences want.
(via ComicBook.com, featured image: Warner Bros.)
