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Patty Jenkins has opened up about why she chose to set her second Wonder Woman film in the 1980s.
Speaking to Deadline, the director said that she wanted a more visually “enjoyable” experience to offset the serious message being delivered.
“We wanted to talk about something quite a bit more serious than we did with the first film, which is [about] the crisis facing our world,” Jenkins said. “How do you use a superhero to inspire and reach the people of tomorrow, the kids of tomorrow, and the younger people of the world to save our world? I mean, if we’re not doing that with our superhero films, what are we doing?
“But because it was a more serious subject, I wanted it to be a more enjoyable – visually -ride. And so, I loved the idea of the ’80s. It countered the seriousness of our message with something fun and delightful.”
Jenkins said she felt that the political and cultural spirit of 1980s America – particularly centred around the rise of Ronald Reagan and neoliberalism – made for an interesting era to explore. “We were celebrating excess wealth and power and money for no reason – having it all just because we wanted it,” she says. “Not because we’d earned it, not because of hard work, not because of any of these other things.
“And, of course, I grew up watching the Lynda Carter TV show, so it felt like such a wonderful home for Wonder Woman.”
Gal Gadot, the films’ star who also joined Jenkins on the panel, called Wonder Woman 1984 “the biggest movie and the most ambitious movie I’ve ever got to work on,” adding that she wanted to give “a thousand percent for eight months to make sure that we could give the best movie we can to these amazing, amazing fans.”
Last month (December 28), Warner Brothers announced that Wonder Woman 3 is in development and being fast-tracked by the studio.
Warner Bros Chairman Toby Emerrich also confirmed star Gal Gadot and director and writer Patty Jenkins would return for the next movie.
“As fans around the world continue to embrace Diana Prince, driving the strong opening weekend performance of Wonder Woman 1984, we are excited to be able to continue her story with our real life Wonder Women – Gal and Patty – who will return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy,” he said.
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