What happened between Gal Gadot and DC Studios? That's becoming an increasingly difficult question to answer, particularly after some recent comments from the Wonder Woman star about whether she has a future in the DCU.
Gadot previously made it sound like her return as Wonder Woman was pretty much guaranteed. In 2023, shortly after James Gunn and Peter Safran took charge of DC Studios, she revealed that she had met with both executives and was told they wanted to develop Wonder Woman 3 with her.
"I had a meeting with [DC Studios CEOs] Peter Safran and James Gunn, and they both told me that they're going to develop a third Wonder Woman with me," the actress told Flaunt. "They said, 'You're in the best hands, you've got nothing to worry about.' Time will tell."
Well, it turns out Gadot's final sentence was rather prophetic.
Speaking to ScreenRant this week, the actress said she hasn't had "any specific conversations" with Gunn or DC Studios about either reprising her role as Wonder Woman or following Jason Momoa's example by playing another character in the DC Universe. According to Gadot, her last major discussions with the studio happened when "they came to the studio, and they really wanted to develop the third one."
Patty Jenkins has confirmed that DC Studios "axed" the movie, while Supergirl writer Ana Nogueira is now penning a fast-tracked reboot. The trades previously reported that Jenkins' proposed story for the threequel "did not fit in with the [studio's] new plans," and thus far, the only characters to make the leap from the DCEU to DCU are those Gunn previously worked on (Peacemaker, for example).
The Superman director later muddied the waters, saying of The Hollywood Reporter's story, "Some of it is true, some of it is half-true, some of it is not true, [and] some of it we haven’t decided yet whether it’s true or not."
Still, Gadot's latest comments raise a big question: Did DC Studios change its mind, or did it leave one of the franchise's biggest stars hanging?
In fairness, Gunn and Safran were under no obligation to develop any DC projects already in development. They inherited a franchise in desperate need of a creative reset, and deciding that Wonder Woman 3 didn't fit their plans is perfectly understandable. Gadot also comes with a lot of baggage, and most fans had soured on her Diana Prince after Wonder Woman 1984, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and The Flash.
If Gadot's recollection is accurate, there's something decidedly awkward about telling an actress that you're developing another movie with her and that she's "in the best hands," only for her to later reveal that there have been no meaningful conversations about what comes next.
That leaves us with two possibilities, neither of which are particularly flattering. Perhaps DC Studios genuinely intended to make Wonder Woman 3 with Gadot in 2023 before its plans changed. If so, why wasn't she kept more closely informed? Or is Gadot trying to force their hand by putting a positive possible spin on a conversation that never progressed beyond an early-stage idea?
Either way, the optics aren't great. DC Studios didn't just cancel Wonder Woman 3; it seemingly went from telling Gadot that she had "nothing to worry about" to not even discussing what her future in this universe might look like.
All the while, after years of frustrating radio silence from Gunn—who was happy to comment on and debunk countless other rumours—he casually mentioned plans for a new Wonder Woman movie, seemingly without ever letting Gadot know that she wouldn't be coming back (a courtesy he did extend to Henry Cavill and Dwayne Johnson).
Perhaps she spoke out of turn in 2023? It certainly felt like she upset someone at DC Studios, given that her comments about a return were followed by blistering pieces in the trades with insights from insiders who essentially made her out to be a liar.
There's often more to these kinds of stories than we'll ever know, because Hollywood remains a strange town that handles these situations in its own, often hard-to-fathom ways. Either way, with it looking increasingly like that Man of Tomorrow star Adria Arjona is the new Wonder Woman, few fans are likely to mourn Gadot's abrupt ousting.