Wonder Woman 1984 director talks Amazon Olympics, potential threequel, and spinoffs

Wonder Woman 1984, starring Gal Gadot as the titular hero, was one of the many anticipated films delayed thanks to the coronavirus. In the meantime, we’re been getting plenty of teases from director Patty Jenkins. Most recently, she talked a potential third installment in the franchise, and even the possibility of an animated spinoff focusing on the Amazons.

But let’s talk Wonder Woman 1984 first. Jenkins talked to Empire about the “Amazon Olympics” scene we can see in the trailer, revealing that it plays a bigger part in the movie than most of us thought. It looks like we’ll get an extended flashback to Themyscira — the home of the Amazons — where we’ll learn about this annual event, a series of challenges to find out which Amazon is the most powerful.

“What I love about the Amazon Olympics is everything that we got to celebrate in the first movie,” Jenkins said.  “Here are these people who are incredibly powerful and capable, but different in how they approach things. If you’ve ben training for hundreds of years because of an impending invasion, you’re going to be constantly working on all these skill sets. So, to me, every year, they would have these Olympics to see who’s doing the best on horses or swimming the fastest, and seeing new tricks people have figured out.”

Wonder Woman 1984 is set in America in the ’80s, long after Diana has left Themyscira. Perhaps she’ll be remembering her youth there.

If you’re into the Amazons and want to learn more about them, you’re in luck! Jenkins also reveals that an animated series based on the Amazons is currently being discussed, as well as an all-new live-action series that will be “part of the in-world story of Wonder Woman.” And of course, they’re also discussing a third movie.

"You’re enjoying the movie you’re making and also reflecting on what could be different or better in the [real] world. And therefore what story you want to tell. That’s the greatest thing to me about superhero stories. You’re able to have a dialogue about what a hero would be right now. So yes, I have ideas for what I’d like to say, and Gal does too."

If there are no further delays, Wonder Woman 1984 will release October 2. It will be the ninth installment in the ever-expanding DC Extended Universe.

Speaking of female-led superhero movies delayed by the coronavirus, Black Widow should have been out by now too. Also talking to Empire, director Cate Shortland shared some of her thoughts about what to expect from this Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) solo vehicle.

“[Marvel boss Kevin Feige] realized that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction,” Shortland said. “And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline.”

Florence Pugh is playing one of Natasha’s fellow assassins, Yelena: another Black Widow with whom Natasha has a sisterly relationship. Pugh is an up and coming star with a ton of talent, so I can believe that she steals the show.

The movie is set when Natasha is keeping low profile after the events of Captain America: Civil War, but will also hopefully serve as a way for fans to say goodbye to the character after seeing her die in Avengers: Endgame. “In Endgame, the fans were upset that Natasha did not have a funeral,” Shortland said. “Whereas Scarlett, when I spoke to her about it, said Natasha wouldn’t have wanted a funeral. She’s too private, and anyway, people don’t really know who she is. So what we did in this film was allow the ending to be the grief the individuals felt, rather than a big public outpouring. I think that’s a fitting ending for her.”

Black Widow is set to release in theaters on November 6…again, assuming everything goes as planned.

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