Last week, Patty Jenkins cast some doubt on her continued involvement with the DCEU’s Wonder Woman franchise when she admitted that she wasn’t sure if she’d return to direct the third installment, but after the blockbuster sequel scored the biggest box office opening since March and looks to have drawn in huge numbers on HBO Max, it was swiftly announced that Wonder Woman 3 was being fast-tracked with Jenkins on board alongside Gal Gadot.
However, just because Diana Prince’s third solo outing has raced into active development a couple of days after Wonder Woman 1984 was released, that doesn’t mean we should be expecting the next chapter anytime in the near future. After all, Jenkins was recently announced to be helming Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, and the intergalactic fighter pilot epic already has a December 2023 bow locked in, meaning that the comic book superhero might not be back on our screens until 2024 or 2025.
That being said, the director signing on the dotted line for Wonder Woman 3 is great news for fans, even if 1984 is drawing some unfavorable comparisons to the infamous Green Lantern, and in an interview given before the news of her impending return broke, the filmmaker revealed that she has two more stories to tell.
“The story continues after this in movies that I may or may not direct. I have two more stories that become the completion of this story and it’s all about women stepping in as women, in the most loving kind pure and natural way. And making a difference in the world without having to change who they are to do it.”
While that shouldn’t be taken as gospel that Jenkins will be tackling Wonder Woman 4 as well, at least the general direction of the series has been planned out. The Monster director previously confirmed that she already knows what the bare bones of the story are going to be as well, so this isn’t a case of a mega budget movie being cobbled together on short notice after the higher ups in the boardroom have crunched the opening weekend numbers and deemed themselves satisfied.