'Wonder Woman 3' May Mark The End Of Patty Jenkins' Time With The DC Comics Franchise

Director Patty Jenkins brought life back into the DC Extended Universe with Wonder Woman. Armed with the fierce Gal Gadot in the lead role, the movie was a shining beacon of hope that not every DC Comics movie needed to be gritty and gloomy. If the trailers are any indicator, Wonder Woman 1984 will continue to brighten up the DC universe, but unfortunately, whenever Wonder Woman 3 rolls around, it may mark the end of Patty Jenkins' involvement in the franchise.

In a recent interview with the German magazine Geek (via ComingSoon), director Patty Jenkins talked about what excited her about returning for Wonder Woman 1984. The director said:

"[Wonder Woman 1984] gave me a chance to do a lot of things that I couldn't accommodate in the first movie. I was so happy to tell the Wonder Woman origin story. It was almost her birth, but we really haven't seen what she is capable of. It is exciting for me to show her at the peak of her strength. But it is also very important that she fights an internal struggle: she is a Goddess and tries to help humanity. She is not only someone who fights evil, she tries to show bad people how to improve. It's an interesting dilemma."

Since Patty Jenkins was able to to show Wonder Woman at the height of her powers, she only has so much more she'd like to do with the character before she steps away from the franchise. And it appears that Wonder Woman 3 might wrap things up for the filmmaker. Jenkins added:

"The next one is probably my last Wonder Woman movie, so I have to put everything I want to show there. We have to think carefully."

Since Wonder Woman 1984 brings the superhero into an entirely new decade, before the hero's eventual return in Justice League, perhaps Wonder Woman 3 could jump into the 1990s. That decade has taken the place of the 1980s when it comes to the rise of nostalgia, and it could be a lot of fun to play in that time period now that it's 20-30 years in the past. But there also needs to be a story worth telling in that decade to make it a viable option.

However, even if Wonder Woman 3 does end up being her last film of the franchise, let's not forget that she's also developing a spin-off focusing on the Amazon women of Themyscira, not to mention an animated series that would also focus on the distant, mythical land where Wonder Woman grew up. So even if she's not directing Wonder Woman movies after the third one, she'll likely still have some kind of involvement with the franchise, though likely only as a producer.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for Wonder Woman 1984 to (hopefully) arrive in theaters. The movie has shifted a couple times after originally being slated for release in June this year. The current release date is October 2, 2020, but with movies shifting release dates all the time in the age of the coronavirus pandemic, that's hardly a guarantee.