In the first public acknowledgment of both the cancelation of Wonder Woman 3 and her planned foray into the Star Wars universe with Rogue Squadron, Patty Jenkins has issued a lengthy and passionate statement via Twitter explaining her reasons for no longer working on the former, and issuing a cautious, if encouraging update on the latter.
The Wrap originally reported that Jenkins had walked off the Wonder Woman 3 project of her own accord, and the report stated this has to do with the fact that the filmmaker’s vision for the third entry in the film series didn’t match those of Warner Bros. Film Group Co-Chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. It was said that Jenkins delivered her treatment of the Wonder Woman 3 script to the duo, who rejected it out of hand, and didn’t like the direction the franchise was taking. Earlier reports had stated that the future of the franchise had been permanently compromised by the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran to take over the running of DC Studios. However, Jenkins has now made her position very clear and robustly defended herself.
Jenkins took to addressing what she referred to as “backlash” about Wonder Woman 3 not happening. “The attractive clickbait false story that it was me that killed it or walked away started to spread. This is simply not true. I never walked away,” she said, later adding: “DC is obviously buried in changes they are having to make, so I understand these decisions are difficult right now.”
Jenkins helmed the first two films in the franchise, which starred Gal Gadot as Diana Prince, a warrior from the mythical island of Themyscira. The first film, set during the first World War, was critically acclaimed and a stunning box office smash, while its sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, was released at the height of the pandemic and met with more mixed reviews – and a disastrous box office to boot.
Despite that, Gadot’s portrayal is extremely popular and there was hope and belief that a sequel would return to the highs of the original, while bringing Diana back into the modern age where she was first introduced to audiences, after her cameo appearance in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. One thing appears certain, though. When Diana does appear again, it won’t be with Patty Jenkins at the wheel.
The full statement from Patty Jenkins is available to read below:
