The discourse around “Wonder Woman 1984” online right now is a little toxic right now, to say the least. And that’s probably due to the cycle of news and social media in today’s modern world, and perhaps a bit of (not necessarily unwarranted) resentment too. The narrative goes a little like this: hand-selected critics early and rave about the film with hyperbole. Some critics caution it’s not all that, but the film balloons to an 89% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Then, the rest of the world sees it, and well, the reactions are pretty harsh, perhaps a kind of bitter backlash to the overly positive reviews that started Warner Bros. hype cycle, and what do you a get? A film that has dominated the Film Twitter social media discourse—in a pretty ugly fashion, of course— and Rotten Tomatoes score that has now plummeted to 66% (if it hits 65%, it’ll be as low as “Aquaman,” and it goes below 60%, it’ll be rated rotten—one of the most head-spinning twists in the history of film hype).
READ MORE: ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Dreams Big, But Wishes It’s Something It’s Not: Compelling [Review]
The conversation about the aspirational fantasy superhero film has deteriorated in every direction, and yeah, head over to Twitter, if you want to see some wild (though not often invalid) discourse. I didn’t love the film at all (review here), but some of the takes are even too off-the-charts for me. I digress.
Back to “Wonder Woman” and the story at hand. During this press cycle, ‘WW84’ filmmaker Patty Jenkins has made it pretty clear she’s unsure if she will return to the “Wonder Woman” franchise. She’s already set to direct “Star War: Rogue Squadron,” which is due December 2023, so that likely means the very earliest “Wonder Woman 3” could arrive with Jenkins at the helm would be 2025, maybe 2024, if fans are fortunate. Would Warner Bros. want to wait that long?
That seems to be what Jenkins has been hinting at, saying she’s unsure if she’ll direct “Wonder Woman 3” or the Amazonian spin-off film she’s discussed.
The new wrinkle in all this is, while Jenkins says she may or may not direct the next ‘Wonder Woman’ film, she says she has the stories for two more films in the bank.
“The story continues after this in movies that I may or may not direct, but I have two more stories that become the completion of this story, and it’s all about women stepping in as women, in the most loving kind pure and natural way,” she explained to EW. “And making a difference in the world without having to change who they are to do it.”
This jibes with Jenkins’ narrative so far; she’s already said she has the entire story for “Wonder Woman 3,” already written. However, she’s “waiting” to see if it’s still relevant by the time she’s going to make it. I.e., again, seemingly referencing the delay that could happen, should another ‘WW’ film have to wait for her Lucasfilm movie.
Additionally, she’s rightly been worried about movie theaters and Warner Bros.’ decision to move all its films to HBO Max, simultaneously with theaters in 2021. While she thinks the decision is sound for ‘WW84’—and she’s probably not wrong considering where we are in the pandemic phase of things—and has suggested that she would not direct a ‘Wonder Woman’ film at WB should they extended their day-and-date release plan past 2021. Regardless, would WB even use those two story ideas if Jenkins moved on and another filmmaker was brought in? Time will tell.
In the interim, head to Twitter to discuss “Wonder Woman 1984,” if you want a lot of hot takes and or maybe just stay exactly where you are if you want to miss that chaos.