The HBO Max debut of Wonder Woman 1984 has put director Patty Jenkins back in the spotlight of DC Extended Universe fans.
Jenkins is officially set to continue on with the franchise as the director of the untitled Wonder Woman 3 after she moves to the Star Wars universe with 2023's Rogue Squadron.
Jenkins' return for Wonder Woman 3 was up in the air for the past few weeks as reports detailed multiple disagreements she had with the higher ups at Warner Bros., including facing doubts toward certain parts of her Wonder Woman movies. Most notably, she detailed how Warner Bros. executives forced her to change the ending of 2017's Wonder Woman to make it more visually appealing for fans.
Jenkins' recent quote reveals that this is still a sore spot for her with the studio, three and a half years after Wonder Woman's release.
NEWS
In a new interview with Marc Maron, via Reddit, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins expanded on her original ending that she planned for the movie after Maron commented on the "pyrotechnics" and "light show" that brought the climactic battle to life:
"Good, I'm glad. That was the only thing that the Studio forced my hand on, it was not supposed to be [like that]. It was supposed to be, like... He never turns into Ares. The whole point of the movie was that you get there to the big monster and he's just standing there looking at you and says 'I didn't do anything'. And then the Studio kept saying 'Ok we'll let you do that and then we'll see' and then I could feel them creeping up and at the last minute they were like 'You know what, we want Ares to show up' and I was like 'Goddammit, we don't have time to do that now', 'Nope, you gotta do it'. And it just pisses me off now, because sometimes I'll read reviews and the only thing [that gets unanimously criticized are] those end pyrotechnics."
When confirming that, in her originally-planned ending, David Thewlis' Ares wouldn't have made the full transformation into the God of War, Jenkins firmly stated that he wouldn't have needed the armor to handle a fight with Diana Prince:
Yeah. They would have a big fight because he's a God, he can do anything, she can't hurt him, he didn't need the armor.
WHAT THIS MEANS
It's safe to say that even with the success of the Wonder Woman franchise the past few years, Warner Bros. can't seem to fully give up control to the experts that make their movies.
The language she uses in this quote clearly shows how frustrated she still is that Warner Bros. forced her to bring Ares to full strength on screen against Diana, especially since it appears to have been a decision made very late in the production process. Considering that the reviews for this movie noted this scene as one of the only major flaws, Jenkins' annoyance with the studio seems to have plenty of reasoning behind it with so few adjustments to the rest of the movie's plot.
Studios clashing with movie directors is nothing new, especially on major blockbusters such as Wonder Woman. From Warner Bros.' perspective, they certainly wanted to make sure every aspect of the movie worked out the best for them as producers, with this being the first live-action movie centered around the Amazonian princess. On the other hand, they brought Jenkins in to direct the movie because they felt she would do the best job, and this was only the first in a handful of issues that arose between both parties.
Wonder Woman 3 likely won't go into production for some time, but Patty Jenkins' ongoing relationship with Warner Bros will be something to keep an eye on.
