What’s going on with the Wonder Woman sequel

With Wonder Woman now having outsold its DC Cinematic Universe predecessors in America less than a month into its theatrical run, the sequel buzz isn’t just humming, it’s ever-present.

Unlike most modern superhero blockbusters, Wonder Woman’s major players were not locked in for sequels or follow ups. Patty Jenkins had not been contracted for a sequel, and Gal Gadot’s agreement has her in for only three films (Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman and Justice League), with an option for a Wonder Woman sequel, not a guarantee. Warner Bros. was slow to confirm that a sequel would even happen, in a Hollywood system where, as just one example, Sony announced a Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel shortly after Homecoming’s first trailer was revealed.

So what’s going on with the Wonder Woman sequel?

At the film’s premiere, DC Films architect Zack Snyder said there would be a sequel. Around the same time, Warner Bros. producer Charles Roven said that a sequel was not currently in development. Director Patty Jenkins told the Hollywood Reporter that she was “more than ready to return to the character” ... but not that she was locked in and working just yet.

Then, Wonder Woman opened its first weekend with more than $100 million at the box office, when most projections had it around $70 million. And it kept its momentum, unlike Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, which both saw significant drops in their second weekend. Wonder Woman’s third weekend was the second best third weekend haul Warner Bros. has ever had, eclipsed only by The Dark Knight.

And just a few days after that third weekend, in speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, DC Films co-head Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. Pictures president Toby Emmerich both independently confirmed that a Wonder Woman sequel was being worked on. Johns allowed that he and Patty Jenkins were currently at work writing a treatment for the movie. Emmerich was cagey on the movie’s content, but said “It will take place somewhere between 1917 and 2017,” which would jive with Patty Jenkins’ early statements of what she’d like to do if given a chance at a sequel. In late May, she told Uproxx that her idea of a Wonder Woman sequel would not be set in the modern day, but rather somewhere between the World War I-era end of Wonder Woman and the character’s appearance in Batman v Superman.

Still, neither executive confirmed that Jenkins would be returning to direct, and we have yet to see an official word from Jenkins or Warner Bros. on the matter. While Jenkins spoke about her plans for the sequel, and her excitement for it, to the Advocate yesterday, she later tweeted to clarify that her statements were still hypothetical at the moment.

At the moment it seems that a Wonder Woman sequel is in early stages of development, Jenkins and Johns are working on a script treatment, and Jenkins and Warner Bros. are in talks but have not yet reached a formal contract that would have her returning to direct.