It’s no secret that Wonder Woman has become the beautiful anomaly of the DC Extended Universe.
Whereas the likes of Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad were encumbered by po-faced dialogue and admittedly weak storytelling, Patty Jenkins’ fantastical origins movie dragged the DCEU to dizzying new heights thanks to its deft balance of heart and humor.
The takeaway? Wonder Woman is arguably the most competent, accomplished superhero movie to come out of Warner Bros. – so far, at least – which leaves us all the more excited about its impending follow-up. Writer-director Patty Jenkins is back in the saddle once more, with Gal Gadot due to reprise as the Immortal Warrior following her best efforts to save Justice League from the murky depths of mediocrity.
Production is just now beginning to get underway ahead of a potential summer 2018 shoot, and during an extensive chat with Vanity Fair (h/t CBM), Jenkins revealed her desire to inject Wonder Woman 2 with the same heart and humor that made the original so special.
I was obsessed with the tone. It was the hardest thing. Particularly because the story we were talking about could so easily skew another way with any of the chapters. You start in a fantasy world of women in costume, and then you go to real life, World War I England and then you end up in the supernatural and then you have a love story.
It’s far too soon for Warner Bros. to announce any firm casting and/or plot details, but now that Justice League is out in the wild, Jenkins has begun drawing up plans for Diana’s second adventure.
Via Vanity Fair:
I brought in all of my [department heads] every week. I would sit and hammer home we have to be so careful that we don’t veer from one movie to another movie, first of all, and, second, that anywhere that she walks out in a Wonder Woman suit, it just doesn’t look ridiculous.
In closing, the filmmaker touched on Wonder Woman’s chances of nabbing an Oscar. The Academy plans to announce its official nominations on January 23rd, though Jenkins conceded that she’s keeping her expectations in check.
I know that superhero movies have had a very hard time. I know that women directors have had a very hard time being acknowledged. I know that superhero lead actors don’t get acknowledged. It is what it is . . . So to have my peers acknowledge [Wonder Woman] in this way and celebrate it in this way is a huge honor.
Clearly not one to rest on her laurels, Patty Jenkins is already deep into pre-production on Wonder Woman 2, a sequel that is presumably “totally different” than the original. It’ll light up theaters on November 1st, 2019 – six weeks before the arrival of Star Wars: Episode IX.
