DC just promoted the Paradise Lost Wonder Woman series alongside a new comic series, prompting fans' concerns over Gal Gadot's status as the iconic hero.
It's been quite the year for Gadot's Princess Diana.
While she hasn't starred in her own film since 2020's Wonder Woman 1984, she managed to cameo in both Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash. Rumor is that she'll even show up in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in December.
Despite all that, her third solo movie was canned late last year, and all signs point to Gadot being replaced when James Gunn's new DCU rolls around. Though, among Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters' slate of projects is a television series about Themyscira titled Paradise Lost—which won't actually feature Wonder Woman.
DC Promotes Wonder Woman—But What About Gal Gadot?
In the Amazon description for the comic paperback trade of Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, DC Comics promoted the upcoming DCU series Paradise Lost.
Just before the listing talks about the details of the comic it's promoting, there's a small blurb that claims the story is "required reading for fans excited about the upcoming series Paradise Lost."
The 2021 comic storyline, which doesn't star Wonder Woman besides a brief cameo in the last few pages, claims to finally "[tell] the entire story of the Amazons..."
The wait is over, and the entire story of the Amazons can finally be told... Millennia ago, Queen Hera and the goddesses of the Olympian pantheon grew greatly dissatisfied with their male counterparts… and far from their sight, they put a plan into action. A new society was born, one never before seen on Earth, capable of wondrous and terrible things… but their existence could not stay secret for long. When a despairing woman named Hippolyta crossed the Amazons’ path, a series of events was set in motion that would lead to an outright war in heaven—and the creation of the Earth’s greatest guardian!
Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons was created by talents including Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, and Nicola Scott.
According to Gunn in his original Chapter 1 slate announcement video, the upcoming Paradise Island show, like the above comic, will be an origin story focusing on the birthplace of Wonder Woman:
"'Paradise Lost' is about Paradise Island, usually known as Themyscira, the birthplace of Wonder Woman. It's almost like 'Game of Thrones' with Westeros but with all the inhabitants of Paradise Island."
The prequel series will be set before Wonder Woman's birth and will be the first DC series to focus on the Amazons.
DC Studios co-lead Peter Safran revealed that the project will seek to answer plenty of questions about the mysterious Amazonian society:
"['Paradise Lost' is] really about the political intrigue behind a society of all women... How did it come about? What's the origin of an island of all women? What are the beautiful truths and ugly truths behind all of that? And what's the scheming like between the different power players in that society?"
It's Not Looking Good for Gadot's Justice League Member
DC Studios leads James Gunn and Peter Safran were definitely playing it safe by not forcing their hands on Wonder Woman's future so soon.
While Paradise Lost is in the first slate of projects, it seems to be set before Wonder Woman is ever active—giving Gunn and company plenty of time to figure things out. Based on the premise alone, it doesn't even look like the story needs to include Wonder Woman at all.
While Diana might not be around during that story, the project's mere existence does all but confirm how there will be some incarnation of the hero in the DCU eventually.
It would be hard to see James Gunn commissioning an origin story for the Amazonians and not starting from scratch. Otherwise, he'd have to adhere to the plentiful old DCEU canon about Wonder Woman's famous homeland—a blank slate would simply fit the new DCU better.
With both Batman and Superman getting new actors, with Aquaman and Flash looking to meet the same fate, Gal Gadot's future as Wonder Woman does look like it's at its end.
Though, that hasn't kept the actress herself from teasing "things are being worked behind the scenes."
As for when fans might find out if she'll be replaced, it could be quite a while. The Paradise Lost show doesn't even have a release window yet, so Wonder Woman's place in the new DCU is a long way off.
Though perhaps James Gunn might want to add Diana to the Man of Steel's group of super friends in Superman: Legacy when it lands on July 11, 2025.
