James Gunn Weighs in on DC Report, More on Wonder Woman 3

Some clarification – depending on what turns out to be true – has come regarding yesterday’s DC Studios exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter. First, James Gunn took to Twitter to comment on it:

Gunn’s statement makes sense, and again, I like how he goes straight to fans via Twitter instead of going through a media outlet that can spin his words however they want. Most of what he says boils down to telling everyone that little is set in stone, he and Peter Safran are still working on the DC Universe, and it will take time to figure out how to make everything work. And that’s perfectly reasonable; building a film-TV-animation-video game shared universe using established characters, some of whom are among the most beloved in the world, would be an arduous task even if they were starting from scratch. But these guys have to contend with a decade of mostly bad movies that have good elements, and even the lousy stuff has some fans. Gunn says he and Safran are going to “build upon what has worked” and “rectify what has not,” which I think indicates that they’re keeping on some of the actors, particularly Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot. As I said yesterday, getting rid of Cavill now would be an embarrassment and a massive loss of goodwill.

As for Gadot, part of why I think she’s likely to stay – outside of the obvious fact that pretty much everyone thinks she’s a great Wonder Woman – is today’s “clarification,” if you want to call it that, of yesterday’s report. There have been two, one from Deadline and one from The Wrap (which says it’s an exclusive despite the time stamp being over an hour later than Deadline’s). Regarding Wonder Woman 3, both have sources who tell them that Patty Jenkins was not fired but chose to leave when her script was rejected. They say that Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, co-CEOs of Warner Bros. Picture Group, didn’t understand her script, didn’t like the character arcs, and didn’t think it would fit with the future DC Universe, nor did James Gunn and Peter Safran when they eventually saw it. Jenkins argued back, and when the others asked her if she’d like to write a new draft and gave her some notes, she walked. Deadline says that the role is still Gadot’s if she wants it. Jenkins sounds like she’s got a big head, which has to be off-putting after how Wonder Woman 1984 was received, and if she just stormed off without even trying to work with Warner Bros., maybe it’s for the best. I hope Gadot stays on, though; she seems to want to keep playing Diana.

And it sounds like that’s the intention if Deadline’s source (a single one, in this case) is correct. Deadline is told that nobody was considering “not continuing with these actors” and that a lot hinges on how successful The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom are. Cavill is said to have taken it upon himself to announce his return before a deal was in place, but I don’t know if I believe that; the messaging from him, the Rock, and David Zaslav has been too consistent for it to be a unilateral move on Cavill’s part unless Zaslav is playing along for some strange reason. Gunn and Safran haven’t weighed in, but they haven’t been specific about anything because their DC Universe is still a work in progress and probably will be for some time. They also haven’t yet spoken to Zaslav, who has to okay everything. The other x-factor is Ezra Miller, whose fate is undetermined at this time. Deadline’s informers tell them there’s no word on Black Adam 2, but Deadline says the reports of the first movie losing money are false, and it really does figure to make Warner Bros. Discovery over $50 million, as the Rock tweeted the other day.

At this point, we can probably all just give up (though, let’s be real – none of us will). Nobody knows what the hell is going on at Warner Bros. Discovery or DC Studious outside of maybe a handful of people, and the “inside info” is contradictory and difficult to make heads or tails of when you don’t know what’s true or what’s false. Gunn’s cryptic statement about what is and isn’t true doesn’t help much, at least in that regard. But I don’t blame him; this is a job for him, and while it’s kind of him to try to ease fans’ tensions, he and Safran have got to talk to Zaslav – probably a few times between ironing out more details of their plan – before he starts letting us know anything concrete. And, hard as it is to wait, it’s probably a good thing that it may take a while; I’d rather them work hard on this and get it right than just slap something together and get it out quickly. It also hasn’t really been that long; Gunn and Safran have been in these roles for a month. They’ll get where they’re going, and hopefully, we’ll all be better for it – or, at least, the movies will.

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