Even with the superhero genre becoming mainstream and highly lucrative, there is still one niche audience that the studios are fearful of: fanboys. Vocal, and given to complaining loudly at any perceived slight to the source material they love so much, studios are always eager to court their approval, lest their investment of hundreds of millions of dollars is met with bad buzz. And so with that in mind, the news of director Michelle MacLaren leaving "Wonder Woman" has an interesting wrinkle.
Reporting on the latest development, Badass Digest says that according to their intel, MacLaren’s visions for the film "maybe would have alienated fandom" and goes on to suggest the issue might’ve been pairing up the superhero with "a tiger sidekick/pet she could talk with." That’s….interesting… We presume that would mean DC won’t be bringing Tawky Tawny to life for "Shazam!" either.
But, here’s the thing. There’s still no finished script for "Wonder Woman," and the release date is still two years off, so Warner Bros. has time to get things just right. My guess is that the movie wasn’t planned on being shot until next year anyway. That said, the clock is ticking, and this is still a bit of egg on the face for the studio, so I’d expect new rumors cropping up for replacement directors very soon.