The first decade of the DCU was defined by chopping, changing, and all-round inconsistency on every level, but you could make the argument that nothing sums up the chaotic shared universe more succinctly than the roller-coaster ride endured by the Wonder Woman franchise.
Gal Gadot’s first solo adventure remains the best-reviewed installment in the superhero saga’s history, weaponizing a stellar 93 percent Rotten Tomatoes score to rake in $822 million at the box office. Expectations were through the roof for the sequel as a result, only for director Patty Jenkins to drop the ball and then some.
Wonder Woman 1984 was repeatedly delayed as a result of the pandemic, but when it finally did come to theaters and HBO Max, nobody was left too impressed. The backlash was instant, vociferous, and entirely well-deserved, with a lot of the goodwill generated from the opener washed away in a sea of poor plotting, nonsensical story points, and more sketchy CGI.
There’s an asterisk next to its name due to COVID, but Wonder Woman 1984 will take some beating as the DCU’s lowest-earning entry ever after mustering a mere $169 million, while the threequel’s entire existence is in jeopardy after Jenkins walked away from the project entirely.
Despite all of the ups and downs, not to mention the general shrug of apathy the mere mention of Diana Prince’s battle against yet another poorly-rendered villain will bring when it’s mentioned to almost anyone, Wonder Woman 1984 has unexpectedly surged on streaming in a major way this weekend.
Per FlixPatrol, the reviled and widely-detested superhero blockbuster has jumped a massive 76 places on the Prime Video global rankings to become the platform’s fourth most-watched movie globally, but it’s 151 minutes of their lives subscribers will never get back.