Warner Bros. Could Have A Serious Wonder Woman Problem

After the crumbling of Zack Snyder’s DC Extended Universe, Warner Bros. has grand plans to reignite everyone’s love for the heroes and villains of DC Comics with James Gunn’s DCU. The Guardians of the Galaxy director has jumped ship from Disney to help steer the rival studio’s comic book output, and while fans are yet to see how things are going, Gunn’s packed “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters” is giving Warner Bros. plenty to keep itself busy on the small and silver screen.

Creature Commandos is currently the only DCU project to have aired, but with it earning rave reviews and quickly being commissioned for a second season, it’s looking promising. 2025 is a big year as David Corenswet suits up for Superman and John Cena returns for Peacemaker season 2, while 2026 boasts the likes of Supergirl: World of Tomorrow. 2027 brings back Robert Pattinson for the Elseworlds The Batman Part II ahead of the DCU getting its own Caped Crusader in The Brave and the Bold, but as the Justice League slowly forms from the sidelines, it’s not looking good for one major player.

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The Bleak Future of Wonder Woman

Since her introduction in 1941’s All Star Comics #8, Wonder Woman has rightly earned her place as one of the greatest superheroes of all time. Going toe-to-toe with DC Goliaths Batman and Superman, she forms part of the comic book powerhouse’s Holy Trinity and has claimed her title as Princess Diana of Themyscira. Wonder Woman has appeared in everything from cartoons to video games, live-action movies to Roy Lichtenstein paintings. The character found a whole new legion of fans when Gal Gadot portrayed her in the DCEU, but with that franchise having ground to a halt, the future of Wonder Woman looks pretty bare as she’s left out of the DCU and beyond.

Following the success of Rocksteady’s Arkham games and Insomniac’s Spider-Man titles, there were high hopes that Monolith Productions could do the same with Wonder Woman. Having been around for 30 years, Monolith is remembered for the F.E.A.R. and No One Lives Forever games, as well as the industry-renowned Nemesis System from 2014’s Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Wonder Woman had been in development for years until it was axed alongside Monolith in February 2025. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier hyped Wonder Woman as being similar to God of War, but claimed Monolith had been ‘eviscerated’ as far back as 2021. Given that Wonder Woman was announced at The Game Awards that year, it doesn’t sound like it stood a chance.

The peak of Wonder Woman’s popularity undoubtedly came when Lynda Carter played her in the live-action TV series from 1975 to 1979, with the DCEU even bringing Carter back for a tantalizing tease of the non-existent Wonder Woman 3 at the end of Wonder Woman 1984. Sadly, it isn’t just Carter’s time in the signature shorts that looks like it’s come to an end, as it’s confirmed that Gal Gadot’s version of Diana Prince won’t be coming over to Gunn’s vision for the DCU. Even though Patty Jenkins’ third Wonder Woman movie fell through, Gadot teased the character’s future when she popped up in Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Andy Muschietti’s The Flash. Despite Cena’s Peacemaker and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller having made the leap from the DCEU to the DCU, Gadot is out.

This is the least of Wonder Woman fans’ worries, as there’s currently no sign of who will play her in the DCU. In March 2024, Gunn shut down wild rumors that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 alumni Elizabeth Debicki was being touted to play Diana Prince in the DCU. There’s currently not so much as a known casting call for Wonder Woman, although she has technically already appeared in the franchise. Giving fans a grim look at the future during Circe’s vision in Creature Commandos, Wonder Woman’s impaled corpse was seen on the battlefield. Even though this apocalyptic future has seemingly been avoided, it suggests that she’ll at least become part of the Justice League at some point. The problem with that is that Gunn has repeatedly said the DCU’s Justice League doesn’t exist…yet.

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How the DCU can Make Wonder Woman ‘Great’ Again

With no news on a potential Wonder Woman solo project or who could direct it, it’s unclear where Diana Prince goes next. Gunn has been praised for capturing the spirit of Richard Donner’s Superman but putting a modern twist on the character to make him relevant in 2025, just like Jenkins got plenty of love for her handling of Wonder Woman. It all depends on who ultimately lands the role of directing a Wonder Woman standalone whenever it’s eventually added to the DCU slate. There is a Wonder Woman-adjacent project in the works, but with Paradise Lost being a prequel series set long before Diana’s birth, it might be hard to weave her into the story unless she bookends it as a narrator.

At least it sounds like Gunn has some sort of plan for Wonder Woman, including hints that he could be working on an unannounced cartoon that could finally give her an animated series all to herself. Responding to a post back in 2023, one fan of the character said:

“Diana is a character with such a rich cast with so much untapped potential and stories, it’s beyond past time for it to be explored. #WonderWomanAnimatedSeries”

Gunn responded saying, “Agreed, working on it,” but two years later, there’s no sign of an animated Wonder Woman series, let alone her live-action counterpart. The success of Creature Commandos could reignite the idea of a Wonder Woman cartoon, while gaming fans might remember when Gunn spoke about an interconnected canon of video games and other DCU projects. Alongside the disaster of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League apparently losing WB $200 million, it’s too early to start talking about a new Wonder Woman game while Monolith’s bed is still warm. Moving forward, she could help lead the DCU’s proposed gaming corner with a Tomb Raider-inspired reinvention.

The DCEU established the Holy Trinity and built out from there, so it makes sense that Gunn might want to try a different cocktail of heroes and villains. Superman already looks like it’ll include the Justice League International under Sean Gunn’s Maxwell Lord, with other more obscure projects including James Watkins’ Clayface movie, James Mangold’s Swamp Thing, and the currently directorless The Authority. It’s true that Wonder Woman could fit into any of these, but after finding out where to place her, there’s the all-important question of who will be playing her. It’s sure to be a big point of contention, with names including Adria Arjona and Ana De Armas have been thrown into mix. Others have called for Adrianne Palicki to get another chance after her Wonder Woman TV series never made it past a pilot.

None of this takes away from the fact that it’s been two and a half years since the DCU was announced and over four years since Wonder Woman 1984 failed to set the box office alight. The gap between Wonder Woman movies looks like it’s going to get bigger, so all eyes will undoubtedly be on Paradise Lost to see if it can sow the seeds for Diana’s DCU debut. For the time being, Gunn’s efforts are elsewhere. Even though he says only about half of the God and Monsters slate has been announced, there’s a lot to be getting on with. Although Batman did appear in Creature Commandos, he’s even confirmed that the DCU’s Dark Knight doesn’t exist yet in live-action. When he finally decides to introduce or tease Wonder Woman, he might be wise to take the Creature Commandos route of dropping her in where audiences least expect it.

Wonder Woman

Release Date

May 30, 2017

Runtime

141 minutes

Director

Patty Jenkins

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  Gal Gadot

  Diana Prince / Wonder Woman

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