The Four Color Media Monitor

The Hollywood Reporter says that, despite some previous news suggesting otherwise, it looks like a third WW movie starring Gal Gadot is off the table. Interestingly, at the beginning, it says:

Call it DC Rebirth or DC: Genesis. Maybe call it Identity Crisis or Flashpoint. These titles of past DC comics event series aptly describe the state of Warner Bros.’ DC movies, which are on the cusp of a new era but not before a potentially messy transition period.

I hope they realize those 3 books they allude to are truly awful, and a waste of trees along with coherency for their shared universe. Now, the main issue at hand:

Multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 is not moving forward and is considered dead in its current incarnation.

Sources say that Jenkins recently submitted her treatment, co-written with Geoff Johns, and that Gunn and Safran, as well as Warner Bros. Pictures co-chairs and co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, broke the news to the filmmaker, telling her the project — as it stood — did not fit in with the new (but still unfolding) plans. Jenkins directed and co-wrote the previous two movies, starring Gal Gadot and released in 2017 and 2020. No decision has been made about next steps.

And while costs are not a factor — insiders say that DC Studios will not have any overburdensome financial restrictions — the studio could end up saving tens of millions of dollars by not making the third installment. Gadot, according to sources, was on track for a $20 million payday for Wonder Woman 3 while Jenkins would have received $12 million. Those figures don’t include any possible backend bonuses.

Gee, why don't they also save money by closing DC's publishing arm in its current incarnation too? Jenkins' co-scriptwriter, Johns, played quite a role in ruining it himself, along with other awful modern writers like Greg Rucka 2 decades ago, much like Brian Bendis and Dan Slott ruined Marvel. To learn another project Johns was attached to is being canned is nothing short of relieving, because he's been bad news for a long time, and doesn't deserve to work on movie and TV adaptations any more than the comics proper.

And the 3rd WW entry isn't the only production that's been cancelled:

The rest of the DC slate remains in flux, or at least is being kept deep in a pocket of Gunn’s own utility belt but there are several rumors and possible scenarios to consider ahead of next week’s meeting.

The first, which builds on the shuttering of Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3, is the closing curtain of the Snyderverse, and the heroes cast by filmmaker Zack Snyder for his Justice League. This one sees the shutting down of Man of Steel 2, with a returning Henry Cavill, and having no more Aquaman, fronted by Jason Momoa.

These characters are to cameo in Flash, the highly anticipated time travel adventure movie that is due to release June 16. Cavill shot his part of the cameo in September. But sources say there is a debate inside the studio as whether or not to keep the cameo and if its inclusion promises something that studio would have no plans on delivering.

A Warners insider cautions that no plans have been finalized and that Flash remains an unlocked picture.

Seriously, big mistake. Anybody in-the-know about Ezra Miller's offenses would do well to stay away from what doesn't look like a stand-alone movie, and is bound to be dismaying anyway. But wow, who would've thought a sequel to Man of Steel would've been cancelled as well? No matter, the 2013 movie by Snyder hasn't aged well in any event. And then:

Also unlikely is a sequel to Black Adam. Despite the hype surrounding the movie of launching a new corner of DC, a lot of it led by star Dwayne Johnson, the movie has only grossed $385 million worldwide and insiders at the studio say the movie, which cost more than $190 million to produce (two sources peg the actual cost at $230 million, not including marketing), will be lucky to break even, even considering ancillary revenue. Even if the movie does eke out a minimal profit, any follow-up’s inherent rising costs dim the prospect of a sequel.

I'm not sorry if there's no plans for a Black Adam sequel. There wasn't one for the Green Lantern movie from 2011 either. The political metaphors in Johnson's mess of a movie are alienating enough as it is, and a leading reason why we could do without any more of WB's overblown live action adaptations. Unfortunately, what they may have in store going forward includes a Lobo adaptation, possibly with Jason Momoa:

Momoa, meanwhile, could emerge as a pivotal figure in the new plans, according to several sources. In one scenario, the actor would wrap up his days as underwater hero Arthur Curry with Lost City, due out Dec. 25, 2023, which would be the final movie released that was made by the previous regime. But it would not spell the end of the actor’s involvement with DC, with sources saying the actor would lead another movie or franchise. The character of Lobo, a foul-mouthed cigar-chomping intergalactic bounty hunter, has been mentioned in connection with Momoa.

Whether or not Momoa does play everybody’s favorite bastich, Lobo emerging as a rising character early on in the conversation may point to the kinds of characters the Gunn-Safran team may be focusing on. The character is an outsider, an anti-hero, and is keeping in line with Gunn’s specialty of taking the off-beat and quirky and flipping it into crowd-pleasing fare.

An anti-hero?!? Considering what background Lobo had established by writers in the mid-90s, I think it's tasteless to label him that way. And I won't be wasting any money on any upcoming adaptation they have planned. "Everybody's favorite"? Not if they go by that kind of status quo where Lobo's guilty of wiping out much of his original planet.

Part of the plan could entail a truly fresh start and having no baggage from any previous regimes as they set about resetting how DC movies and shows are made. That, however, does not take into account the possible success of movies such as Shazam! Fury of the Gods (March 17, 2023), on which Safran is a producer, and Blue Beetle (Aug. 18, 2023). Would that plan include forging ahead without the actors who inhabit those characters and recast them even if those movies prove to be box office hits?

On the subject of Blue Beetle, one can only wonder how woke that'll be, recalling it not only relies on the social justice-pandering creation of the Latino Blue Beetle named Jaime Reyes, the crew choices for filming are PC too? After all the bad directions taken under Dan DiDio, including the mistreatment of Ted Kord, that's just one reason why whatever they're setting out to do here is totally soured.

The Wrap has more details about what happened regarding Jenkins:

Hollywood was stunned by the news this week that Warner Bros Discovery would not move forward with “Wonder Woman 3,” but in fact it was Patty Jenkins, who directed the first two films in the superhero series, who walked off the project after rejecting studio notes on her treatment, multiple individuals told TheWrap.

So she wouldn't even accept their requests for modifications, and quit? No matter. She's one of the most overrated PC directors around, and was bound to continue what she started with the 2nd movie.

Although Gunn and Safran have been given a mandate to reshape the DC landscape, Warner Bros. Discovery has “ongoing enterprises” that “nobody was going to mess with,” according to one insider. This includes Matt Reeves writing the sequel to “The Batman,” J.J. Abrams’ Black-led “Superman” from Ta-Nehisi Coates, Todd Phillips’ “Joker 2,” and Patty Jenkins doing “Wonder Woman 3.”

As has been mentioned already, that Coates-scripted project was canned as well, and it's better that way, seeing how he's already notorious for injecting far-left ideology into his writings. But, it's likely for the best that Cavil's proposed return to his 2013 role was dropped as well.

Last week, Jenkins turned in her treatment for “Wonder Woman 3” to the studio, according to the insiders.

Warner Bros. Film Group Co-Chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy didn’t think the treatment worked and decided not to move forward with the film in its current iteration. Gunn and Safran, who had nothing to do with the decision, also agreed with De Luca and Abdy that the treatment didn’t work.

De Luca and Abdy spoke to Jenkins first and communicated that they didn’t get the treatment, didn’t think it was the right direction for the franchise and asked Jenkins if she would consider pitching something else for the IP in another direction.

According to one insider, Jenkins refused and let De Luca and Abdy “know that they were wrong, that they didn’t understand her, didn’t understand the character, didn’t understand character arcs and didn’t understand what Jenkins was trying to do.”

To underscore her point, according to the first insider, Jenkins sent an email to De Luca that ended with a link to the Wikipedia definition of “character arc.”

I think somebody who relies on Wikipedia isn't very understanding of the character. Especially considering that Gal Gadot didn't have enough time to wear the costume in the 2nd movie, which was more like man-hating propaganda, and lest we forget, simultaneously contained a bizarre storyline where WW rapes a guy whose body is possessed by Steve Trevor's ghost. Also note how Jenkins refused to take the advice of a woman to rework the script, and that's got to be telling something right there.

Jenkins was told that if she wanted to come back and pitch a different direction for Wonder Woman, the studio would hear it. She stood firm to her vision and responded that if they didn’t want to do her treatment, she wasn’t going to do a different one and would instead just move on to her next film.

Jenkins especially didn’t want to hear what newly installed DC Chiefs Gunn and Safran had to say, even though they had nothing to do with decision to not move forward with her version of “Wonder Woman 3.”

“She just doesn’t want to allow them to have a seat at the table to have an opinion on something new that she might come up with,” the insider added.

Ironically, Gunn's no good himself, and WB's willingness to hire him as a supervisor for any further DC adaptations is embarrassingly bad. Especially if he believes characters like Lobo, based on how they were characterized and emphasized years ago, make the most worthwhile emphasis for a new movie.

Seriously, WB should just stop making these live action adaptations altogether, since if they haven't delivered much at the box office, chances are they won't do so in the future either. They're just a lot of overhyped special effects and overrated performances by actors who hardly qualify for halls of fame in the future.

Labels: Aquaman, Batman, dc comics, golden calf of villainy, Justice League of America, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, politics, Superman, Wonder Woman