New DC report sheds more light on Man of Steel 2 and Wonder Woman 3 cancelation

A new DC report has revealed more details about Man of Steel 2 and the cancelation of Wonder Woman 3. News recently broke that Henry Cavill's future as Superman is uncertain and Wonder Woman 3 won't be moving forward in its current form now that DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have begun mapping the future of the universe. 

Per Deadline, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins made the decision to depart the threequel after the studio gave notes on her treatment, which is said to have had issues around character arcs comparable to Wonder Woman 1984; the sequel received a lukewarm critical and fan reception. 

The notes themselves are said to have come from Warner Bros. bosses Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy as well as Gunn and Safran – according to the original report from The Hollywood Reporter , Wonder Woman 3 was axed in its current form because it didn't fit with Gunn and Safran's plans. But, Deadline adds that Jenkins pushed back and defended the character arcs, and she decided to walk away when given the chance to rework her treatment. 

But, that doesn't mean Gadot is out as Wonder Woman. The report claims that the studio is keen to keep Gadot as her character, and a source indicates that ditching the current Justice League cast isn't a given – instead, it depends on how The Flash and Aquaman 2 perform at the box office. Jason Momoa's future as Aquaman currently seems to be in doubt. 

As for Man of Steel 2, it's apparently still an "open slot" as the studio awaits a pitch it likes, as De Luca and Abdy weren't fans of a pitch from Man of Steel producer Charles Roven and an unnamed writer – so instead opted to wait until Gunn and Safran had their plan together. The film is said to have never been greenlit or had a director attached, and Cavill's Instagram post announcing his return is said to have been something he did himself. 

Cavill's cameo in The Flash, meanwhile, is still up in the air, as are Wonder Woman and Aquaman cameos, until studio executives have talked with Gunn and Safran. 

Gunn took to Twitter to address THR's report and speculation on the future of the DCEU. "As for the story yesterday in the Hollywood Reporter, some of it is true, some of it is half-true, some of it is not true, and some of it we haven’t decided yet whether it's true or not," he wrote in a lengthy thread, adding: "I will sadly have to ask you to wait. We are giving these characters and the stories the time and attention they deserve and we ourselves still have a lot more questions to ask and answer."

The next DC release to arrive is Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which hits theaters March 17, 2023. Until then, check out how to watch the DC movies in order to get caught up on the films so far.