'Wonder Woman’ director says Joss Whedon's 'Justice League' 'contradicted' her movie, ‘tossed out’ his version
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ahead of the highly anticipated release of “Wonder Woman: 1984,” director Patty Jenkins is throwing some shade at Joss Whedon and Zack Snyder’s “Justice League.”
The 2018 superhero team-up movie featured characters Batman, The Flash, Superman, Aquaman, Cyborg and, of course, Wonder Woman. However, it faced a poor critical reception, was maligned by fans, and was marred by a shift in directors for post-production. In 2017, Snyder stepped away from his directorial duties to deal with the death of his daughter. Joss Whedon was brought in to finish things up.
Speaking on the ReelBlend podcast, Jenkins explained that there were some difficulties making “Wonder Woman: 1984” after “Justice League” debuted, offering fans their first look at Gal Gadot’s character since her 2017 solo film.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“‘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,” she explained (via CinemaBlend). “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?”
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This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in a scene from "Wonder Woman 1984." Following the less-than-stellar theatrical debut of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” Warner Bros. is delaying its next big release, “Wonder Woman 1984,” to Christmas. (Clay Enos/Warner Bros Pictures via AP)
The director wasn’t as in the loop with the movie creatively as she would have liked, causing issues with building a “Wonder Woman” canon for her sequel.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“But yet, I have to have my own films, and he’s been very supportive of that," she said. "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.’”
It seems Jenkins didn’t like what she saw in Whedon’s portrayal of the character, feeling it contradicted what Snyder had started when Wonder Woman was introduced in the 2016 movie “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and what she built off of in the standalone “Wonder Woman” movie.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Patty Jenkins said some of Joss Whedon's 'Justice League' decisions contradicted her 'Wonder Woman.' (Getty Images/Reuters)
It would not be the first time that Whedon’s involvement with “The Justice League” was criticized by people in the DC movie universe. Over the summer, Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg in the film, released a video of himself praising Whedon during a past Comic-Con panel.
"Joss is a great guy and Zack picked a good person to come in and clean up and finish up for him," the actor said in the video. Co-star Jason Momoa, who sat next to Fisher at the panel, gave a brief nod. But Fisher recanted
"I’d like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement," the actor wrote alongside the video.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He later elaborated on in another tweet: “Joss Wheadon’s [sic] on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable. He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. Accountability>Entertainment.”
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Jason Momoa, who played Aquaman in the film, backed Fisher’s claims in an Instagram post.
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In light of the controversy surrounding the production and release of “Justice League,” as well as a massive call from fans of the franchise, it was announced in May that a director’s cut of “Justice League” will be hitting HBO Max with Snyder’s original edits in place in 2021.