Patty Jenkins Discusses the Many Challenges Ahead in Making a ‘Wonder Woman’ Sequel

It's a tough act to follow a universally beloved comic book film. Iron Man 2, The Dark Knight Rises, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians Vol. 2, and X-Men: The Last Stand are but four examples of films that failed to meet the outstanding quality of their immediate predecessors. Therefore, it's understandable that Patty Jenkins—director of Wonder Woman—is approaching the film's upcoming sequel with the many pitfalls ahead of her firmly in her sight.

While speaking with Vanity Fair, Jenkins said that she's aware of the dangers of following up a four quadrant hit like Wonder Woman, because she carefully constructed the world of the first film...

“I was obsessed with the tone. It was the hardest thing. Particularly because the story we were talking about could so easily skew another way with any of the chapters. You start in a fantasy world of women in costume, and then you go to real life, World War I England . . . and then you end up in the supernatural . . . and then you have a love story. So I brought in all of my [department heads] every week. I would sit and hammer home . . . we have to be so careful that we don’t veer from one movie to another movie, first of all, and, second, that anywhere that she walks out in a Wonder Woman suit, it just doesn’t look ridiculous.”

I sincerely hope that the change in guard at DC and WB will give Jenkins the time she needs to put out the best film possible. Let's also not forget that many comic book sequels have greatly improved upon the first film—The Dark Knight, Superman II, Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: Ragnarok, Batman Returns, and so on—so the potential for a killer sequel exists. Again, time is of the essence though as this sequel is currently scheduled to hit theaters in 22 months. Maybe slow your roll a bit, DC. It couldn't hurt.