How Wonder Woman 3 Can Revive Zack Snyder's DCEU Plans
While there are no plans to continue Zack Snyder's DCEU plans, story elements of his Justice League sequels may be found in Wonder Woman 3.
The upcoming Wonder Woman 3 will be the final installment in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman films, and it may revive some of Zack Snyder’s plans for the DCEU. Zack Snyder, working alongside the DCEU’s solo film directors, mapped out a multi-film plan for the franchise, tying the Justice League crossover movies with the heroes’ solo outings. After the release of Justice League’s director’s cut, however, WB is no longer planning on continuing Snyder’s vision, though Wonder Woman 3 can incorporate some of his plans for Diana and the Amazons.
The DCEU’s original plans would have further developed the Justice League heroes in their solo films and the larger-scale crossover films. Superman would have eventually replaced his regenerative black costume with his original blue suit before falling victim to the Anti-Life Equation and becoming a villainous pawn of Darkseid. Batman would have clashed with Deathstroke and trained a new Robin before working with The Flash to avert the apocalyptic Knightmare future, undoing Superman’s corruption and sacrificing himself to defeat Darkseid.
In Snyder’s plans for future Justice League films, Wonder Woman, Queen Hippolyta, and the rest of the Amazons would have been killed by Lex Luthor and Doctor Poison, with the latter using a lethal gas on Themyscira. Wonder Woman’s death would be undone by when the Knightmare future is averted, though the final Justice League film would have still resulted in Hippolyta dying, only this time in a battle against Darkseid. While Snyder’s plans for the Knightmare future and a final conflict with Darkseid may not make it to the big screen, parts of his plans for Wonder Woman could be altered and integrated into Wonder Woman 3. There is little information about the upcoming film’s story, but if its antagonist is one of Wonder Woman’s most powerful foes, such as Circe, the film may have a foe powerful enough to kill Hippolyta. Wonder Woman may finally return home to Themyscira, but the tragic loss of her mother would necessitate that she become the new Queen of the Amazons.
Zack Snyder worked closely with colleagues such as Patty Jenkins and James Wan to ensure that the character development and narratives of the DCEU remained consistent between solo outings and crossover films. Although the DCEU movies vary in tone, they were well-synchronized when it came to continuity. Even with Zack Snyder’s Justice League sequels on hold indefinitely, Patty Jenkins may still follow their collaborative plan for Wonder Woman in her third film.
The DCEU is set to undergo a major continuity shift in 2022’s The Flash, but the film’s timeline alterations seem to only be affecting future Batman and Flash films. Future DCEU solo films like Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Shazam! Fury of the Gods appear largely unaffected and will likely continue their intended stories, following up on their respective first films regardless of The Flash’s continuity changes. This will likely be the case for Wonder Woman 3 as well, allowing Patty Jenkins to repurpose Zack Snyder’s DCEU plans for Wonder Woman as she sees fit.