Wonder Woman 3 is officially happening with director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot returning. Diana's second solo DCEU movie, Wonder Woman 1984 is now in select theaters and available to stream on HBO Max (in the U.S.). The choice to debut the film on the streaming service the same day as in theaters has been a controversial one, but given the pandemic's continued effects on the industry, the decision is seen by many others as the best option left.
Wonder Woman 1984 moves forward in time with Diana from the WWI-set Wonder Woman, catching up with her in the 1980s where she now resides in Washington, D.C. and works at the Smithsonian. The film introduces new villains for Diana and finds her reunited with her long dead love, Steve Trevor. Similarly to the first Wonder Woman, WW84 does not explicitly set up a sequel, but just as viewers expected Diana's journey to continue, the same is true here. Now, WB has made that expectation a reality.
Warner Bros. officially announced Wonder Woman 3 just two days after Wonder Woman 1984 hit theaters and HBO Max. In a statement (via Variety), Warner Bros. chief Toby Emmerich said:
"As fans around the world continue to embrace Diana Prince, driving the strong opening weekend performance of Wonder Woman 1984, we are excited to be able continue her story with our real life Wonder Women – Gal and Patty – who will return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy."
The news of Warner Bros. green lighting a third Wonder Woman movie may in itself not be all that surprising, but the speed at which WB has made their announcement is a bit of shock. Then again, Wonder Woman 1984 was originally slated to release some time ago, so it's possible WB has been sitting on the news and simply waited until WW84 was out before announcing. For WB, it was a safe bet WW84 wouldn't be a colossal failure, and even if reactions to the sequel are mixed, there's certainly more than enough interest to pursue a third movie.
Exactly what Jenkins and Gadot will deliver with Wonder Woman 3 is, at this point, anyone's guess. Jenkins has previously discussed setting a third movie in the present day, finally bringing her Diana closer in time with that seen in Batman vs Superman and Justice League. This suggests a Wonder Woman 3 could even be set after those films, finally looking fully towards Diana's future. Both Jenkins and Gadot have very busy schedules coming up between Cleopatra and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, so it isn't clear when work would begin on Wonder Woman 3. But given how quickly WB was in making the announcement, it could signal the studio wants work to start as soon as possible.
Source: WB
