Summary

  • Gal Gadot's return as Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman 3 raises doubts about the DC Universe's reboot and the necessity of sacrificing Henry Cavill's Superman and Ben Affleck's Batman.
  • Integrating other actors like Jason Momoa's Aquaman and Ezra Miller's Flash into the DC Universe would further isolate Cavill and Affleck, suggesting that the main issue was with Batman and Superman themselves.
  • Gal Gadot's return makes the new franchise more complicated, as Wonder Woman 3 cannot be a direct sequel to previous films and her character arc may lose its impact if integrated into the DC Universe.

Gal Gadot's confirmation of a Wonder Woman 3 movie taking place within James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe can bring major continuity problems to the new franchise. The new DC Universe aims to establish a new beginning for DC after the DCEU's shaky ten-year run. To achieve it, the DCU is leaving behind characters such as Henry Cavill's Superman, Ben Affleck's Batman, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Black Adam. However, some returning actors put the idea of a full reboot into question.

The first steps toward the DC Universe's reboot have included the announcement of a new DC movie and TV slate and Superman: Legacy's cast, which will eventually be joined by the confirmation of a new Batman actor and a new Justice League. The upcoming Paradise Lost series also seems to serve as a prelude to the DCU's new version of Wonder Woman, as it may establish a new version of Themyscira. But now that Gal Gadot has seemingly confirmed Wonder Woman 3, the DCU's continuity may no longer be as clear-cut as it initially seemed.

Wonder Woman 3 Makes It Seem Like The DC Universe Is Only Rebooting Batman and Superman

Henry Cavill as Superman Ben Affleck as Batman Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

Replacing Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck despite their potential for more appearances as Superman and Batman is necessary to restart from scratch, and keeping Xolo Maridueña's Blue Beetle and Viola Davis' Amanda Waller in the new franchise seems rather reasonable due to how few connections they have to the Justice League. But keeping a character as central to DC as Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman brings up major doubts about DC's reboot; namely, if Cavill's Superman and Affleck's Batman are a necessary sacrifice, what exactly makes Gadot's Wonder Woman irreplaceable is uncertain, as she was just as well-received and met just as many obstacles as the rest of the DCEU's Trinity.

Related: 10 Ways Wonder Woman 3 Can Fix Diana Prince's Story After Gal Gadot's $169 Million Failure

The possibility of integrating Jason Momoa's Aquaman, Ezra Miller's Flash, Sasha Calle's Supergirl, Zachary Levi's Shazam, and Aldis Hodge's Hawkman into the DC Universe has already been acknowledged by either James Gunn or the actors themselves. If these actors were to join the DCU like Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, their return would finish singling out Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, which would suggest that the DCEU's main problem wasn't its lack of consistent planning or its logistical issues, but Batman and Superman or the actors themselves.

Gal Gadot’s Return As Wonder Woman Makes DC’s Continuity Much More Complicated

Gal Gadot Wonder Woman Justice league

Besides undermining the reboot's main goal, Gal Gadot's return as Wonder Woman makes the new franchise more difficult to understand right from the start. With Gadot reprising her role in the DCU, Wonder Woman 3 cannot be a direct sequel to Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984, nor will it link to Gadot's four DCEU supporting roles, as her version of Wonder Woman no longer belongs to the universe where those stories took place. Also, Gadot can't play an entirely new Wonder Woman, as Diana Prince will continue to be defined by Gadot's portrayal and everything she and the DCEU's writers and directors contributed to the character.

Related: DC Truly Cannot Cut Ties With The SnyderVerse

If James Gunn and Peter Safran integrate Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman into the DC Universe, her character arc from previous movies may lose its impact, and her relationship with Batman, Superman, and other Justice League members will likely turn confusing while watching Gadot's previous Wonder Woman appearances back to back. Unlike Harley Quinn and Rick Flag's subtly soft-rebooted return in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad five years after David Ayer's Suicide Squad, Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman will be transferring the baggage of six DCEU appearances from one universe to another.

The DC Universe Needs To Stay True To Is Reboot Promise

Blue Beetle and Wonder Woman in the DCU vs the DCEU's Justice League

Decisions like bringing The Suicide Squad characters to the DC Universe and making Blue Beetle the DCU's first official character have challenged the DCU's idea of a reboot, but the fact that the franchise is still in its early stages of development leaves room for many creative ways to utilize those characters without causing confusion. However, James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe is at risk of defeating the reboot's main purpose if it continues to incorporate established DCEU characters, as general audiences would need to study the franchise's history and logistics in order to understand the differences between the DCEU and the DCU.

Superman: Legacy, which will introduce a brand-new Superman and a lived-in universe filled with established superheroes, offers a solid foundation for a reboot. Superman: Legacy's cast and synopsis tease a version of Earth that's already familiar with metahumans but likely hasn't experienced Zod and Steppenwolf's invasions, Ares' WWI influence, Doomsday, and Flash's multiversal shenanigans. So, while Wonder Woman 3 could work within the DCU, a limited number of connections to a previous franchise would help the new DC Universe avoid confusion and unnecessary comparisons to what came before.

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