Patty Jenkins, the director for the recently canceled Wonder Woman 3, really didn't get along with Warner Bros. (WB) when it came time for them to offer their notes on her treatment for the DCU project.
Recently, despite Gal Gadot having teased her third film a day before the announcement, Wonder Woman 3 was scrapped by WB. Needless to say, this shocked many.
In response to the news breaking across the web, DCU co-lead James Gunn commented that "some of [the report] is true, some of it is half-true, [and] some of it is not true."
Now, some more information about how the decision came to be has been revealed, and it doesn't paint Jenkins in the best light.
Warner Bros. & Patty Jenkins Get Petty
In a new report from The Wrap, Patty Jenkins and Warner Bros. did not agree at all on the direction of Wonder Woman 3, with the director going as far as to send a petty, passive-aggressive email.
According to the outlet, Warner Bros. executives Mike DeLuca and Pamela Abdy reached out to Patty Jenkins, the director of the late Wonder Woman 3, and told her that they "didn't think [the third film's script] was the right direction for the franchise."
They then asked her if she'd consider "pitching something else for the IP in another direction."
The Wrap's source revealed that Jenkins refused and told the two that "they were wrong, that they didn't understand her, didn't understand the character, didn't understand character arcs and didn't understand what Jenkins was trying to."
The director even sent an email to the executives that included a link to the Wikipedia article about "Character arc."
Warner Bros. then made it clear that if she ever wanted to pitch something different, they'd listen. As expected, Jenkins "stood firm to her vision," letting the studio know that if they weren't going to take her treatment, she'd just move on to her next film.
The report also revealed how Jenkins didn't want to hear anything that Peter Safran, the new co-lead of the DCU at WB, had to say. However, he actually had nothing to do with the choice of not moving forward with that particular version of Wonder Woman 3.
The Wrap's insider elaborated on how the filmmaker doesn't want to hear anything the newly installed DCU lead had to say:
“She just doesn’t want to allow them to have a seat at the table to have an opinion on something new that she might come up with"
According to the outlet, neither Jenkins' representatives nor Warner Bros. offered comments on the situation.
Jenkins Leaves Wonder Woman
It would seem that Patty Jenkins really isn't having a good time with all these regime changes at WB.
The volatile and shifting landscape is understandably frustrating, but it still feels unexpected for Jenkins to walk away from the character entirely. This choice probably hits harder for her as well, as she dropped out of Paramount's Cleopatra to focus on Rogue Squadron and Wonder Woman 3—both of which have been canned.
With those three projects out of the way, her next one is completely unknown. Having such high-profile movies being abandoned not too long after each other probably doesn't look too great for the director.
As for Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot's future in the DCU is also unknown. Her recent tweet suggests she's more than up for more appearances, but it'll be up to James Gunn and Peter Safran to decide what they'll do with the character.
Gal Gadot's next full outing as Wonder Woman is unknown, but she will supposedly be making a cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which debuts in theaters worldwide on March 17, 2023; The Flash would be another likelihood when it lands on June 23.
