Wonder Woman actor Connie Nielsen cannot wrap her head around why DC Studios opted not to proceed with a third movie starring Gal Gadot as the fan-favorite DC superhero.
While Wonder Woman 1984 was a critical and commercial failure, the first Wonder Woman movie, released in 2017, was arguably one of the DC Extended Universe‘s biggest hits. The origin story made over $800 million worldwide and was the best-received movie in the DCEU, with a certified fresh rating of 93 percent on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.
The success of the original Wonder Woman allowed director Patty Jenkins the chance to complete her trilogy, with a third movie initially announced by Warner Bros. and DC. However, after James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as heads of the restructured and renamed DC Studios, the Wonder Woman 1984 sequel was scrapped, alongside the majority of the other DCEU projects in development.
Roughly two years after Wonder Woman 3 was scrapped, Nielsen — who portrayed Queen Hippolyta in the DCEU — has reflected on DC’s decision to start fresh with the DC hero, telling Den of Geek, “I think it’s crazy. I mean, frankly, I don’t understand it. [Wonder Woman] made $800 million just in the movie theaters, and it has an enormous and passionate, passionate fan base. These are spectacular films, and there’s just no reason I can understand whatsoever for not investing in that. If I were a business person, I would say that’s money on the table. It’s right there. Plus every time we’ve done it, [it was] with budgets that were way smaller than any of the other DC budgets.”
She continued, “It’s a pity. I really hope that they change their minds, and that they realize this is crazy. This is a billion dollars that is lying on the table. Not claiming those fans and making them happy is something I just don’t really understand at all.”
Wonder Woman 3 wasn’t the only DCEU sequel that was scrapped
Wonder Woman 3 wasn’t the only DCEU sequel that was in development before Gunn and Safran took over. Under the previous regime, screenplays were reportedly being written for The Flash 2 and Man of Steel 2, the latter being a long-requested sequel by the DCEU fandom. However, Gunn and Safran believed that it was best to start fresh, opting to largely reboot the franchise with the forthcoming DC Universe.
There are some outliers, such as Peacemaker and his assorted cast of characters making the jump from the DCEU to DCU with its portrayers staying the same. The same goes for Xolo Maridueña, who will be returning as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle in the DCU after starring as the young superhero in one of the last DCEU movies.
As for the DC Trinity, Wonder Woman is currently the only member who does not have a new film in development at DC Studios. Gunn is currently in post-production on Superman, which hits theaters in July 2025, while The Dark Knight has both the Elseworlds film, The Batman Part II, and the DCU-set, The Brave and the Bold, in development.
Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984 are currently streaming on Max.
