Director Patty Jenkins says that Justice League's version of Wonder Woman is different from her films. The filmmaker returns to the DCEU following the 2017 smash hit Wonder Woman, which is technically the franchise's first real success as it both earned great numbers at the box office and was beloved by fans. For Wonder Woman 1984, Jenkins reunites with Gal Gadot as the Amazonian Princess goes on a new adventure in a different decade.
After her debut in Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, Diana Prince starred in her own film set at the height of World War I. Then, she returned to the modern era in Justice League. However, as a known fact now, the 2017 Warner Bros. ensemble film went through a series of changes culminating with Joss Whedon taking the reigns and reshooting the movie extensively. This not only altered the film's narrative but also the individual approach to the characters, and Jenkins says that the version of Diana Prince in Justice League is not in line with her iteration of her.
Speaking with CinemaBlend as part of doing the press rounds for Wonder Woman 1984, Jenkins talked about how Whedon's cut of Justice League created a Diana that's not consistent with the version of her in the solo film. The filmmaker continued by saying that her version of Wonder Woman was supposed to be more like Snyder's take on the hero:
"The Justice League? … No, I think that all of us DC directors tossed that out just as much as the fans did. But also, I felt that that version contradicted my first movie in many ways, and this current movie, which I was already in production on. So then, what are you going to do? I was like… you would have to play ball in both directions in order for that to work. The only thing I have done, and have always tried to do, is -- I knew, when Zack was doing Justice League, where she sort of ends up. So I always tried… like, I didn’t change her suit, because I never want to… I don’t want to contradict his films, you know? But yet, I have to have my own films, and he’s been very supportive of that. And so, I think that that Justice League was kind of an outlier. They were trying to turn one thing into, kind of, another. And so then it becomes, ‘I don’t recognize half of these characters. I’m not sure what’s going on.'"
Aside from the change in Wonder Woman's characterization, the other Justice League heroes were also individually impacted by the reshoots made by Whedon. For starters, entire backstories were cut, primarily Victor Stone/Cyborg's, who was set to be the heart of Snyder's narrative given his connection to the Mother Boxes. After the reshoots, his whole arc was pretty much left on the editing room floor, including the accident that physically disables him as well as the death of his father, Silas Stone. Instead, the theatrical version mostly uses Cyborg as a plot device instead of an actual character. Portions of The Flash's and Aquaman's arcs were also edited out, and of course, the manner of Superman's resurrection was rushed, opting to forego other planned plot points like him donning the black suit.
Fortunately for both Jenkins and Snyder, they both have the chance to rectify the glitch in Wonder Woman's characterization in the DCEU. Granted, the four-part Justice League Snyder Cut to be released through HBO Max won't technically be canon, fans can still opt to look at the version of Diana in the film as their definitive take on the hero. Meanwhile, Jenkins continues the Amazonian goddess' arc in the franchise through Wonder Woman 1984.
Source: CinemaBlend
