James Gunn’s DCU reboot is expanding at an incredible rate, even before any of its releases have officially greeted us on the big screen. There’s plenty of stuff happening behind the scenes, with most discussions related to the upcoming Superman: Legacy and The Brave and the Bold. For example, Gunn recently shared that Krypto the Superdog might make an appearance in the upcoming Superman movie and that Jensen Ackles isn’t playing Batman in the upcoming movie about the Caped Crusader.
Suspiciously missing from the trinity of DC superheroes is Wonder Woman, whose character has been largely absent from any recent developments and hasn’t been mentioned in association with any of the aforementioned projects. But that doesn’t mean that a Wonder Woman–related project isn’t in the works. In fact, James Gunn just provided a minor update on Paradise Lost, a Wonder Woman prequel series, confirming that script drafts are currently under review, but nothing has been officially greenlit.
For those who haven’t heard of Paradise Lost, the series will serve as a prequel story for Wonder Woman. It’s one of the titles announced for the first chapter of James Gunn’s DCU reboot, titled Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. The series has been described as a Game of Thrones–like story about Themyscira and all the ruthlessness, drama, and political intrigue behind Amazon society, set at the time before Diana’s birth. However, there hasn’t been any major news about the project ever since it was previously announced, especially since Wonder Woman is one of DC’s A-tier superheroes.
Well, that just changed; in a recent Threads interaction, former MCU director James Gunn stated that Paradise Lost is one of the shows whose script drafts he has been reading, reiterating the series’ active development stage. While he didn’t share any details about the plot of the series, he did say that nothing has been greenlit yet. This is not surprising, as projects usually go through a number of script drafts before they’re officially approved for further development. But, when asked specifically whether Paradise Lost was making progress in that area, Gunn simply replied, “Yes.”
To be entirely honest, this wasn’t the first time Gunn commented on Paradise Lost; he previously confirmed that the show is in active development and clarified that nothing has been officially greenlit — so nothing really changed since then, at least from the fan perspective. However, Gunn also explained that the project is greenlit until its script has been completed, and he and Peter Safran are happy with the results. This is a good approach that might ensure quality when it comes to overarching narratives.
This means that the series still hasn’t entered its production stage but remains (with many other projects) in active development. The projects that are in active production are Superman, Supergirl, Penguin, Peacemaker, Lanterns, and a few animated DC projects WB has become known for. As part of an update and explanation of how their creative processes work, Gunn also stated that DCU isn’t officially casting on anything that hasn’t been greenlit.
As for the show’s narrative, well, we can only speculate. The Wonder Woman comics feature a two-part story arc called Paradise Lost, which focuses on the feud between Princess Diana and Queen Hippolyta and the civil war between Themysciran Amazons and Bana-Mighdall Amazon sister. But we already know that the setting takes place years before Diana is born, so it would seem that the Paradise Lost series might borrow some elements from the same-name two-parter and add in or remove a few elements of its own.
This also means that the show will introduce several new characters we previously hadn’t met in the DCEU prior to James Gunn taking over. And that might be a good thing for Wonder Woman, as it might provide her with a fresh start in the new DCU. It would seem that the interest in Wonder Woman has been growing, partially thanks to the original 2017 movie and partially thanks to the announcement of a Wonder Woman video game in development by Monolith Productions — a WB subsidiary responsible for Middle-earth: Shadow of War (highly recommended for LotR fans).
Additionally, Gunn cast Anya Charlotra as Circe (a Wonder Woman villain) in Creature Commandos, potentially signaling that his DCU has bigger plans for the character of Wonder Woman. What still remains unclear is Gal Gadot’s casting and her potential reprisal of Wonder Woman in the show (perhaps as a cameo) or in future releases. Though the actress hinted at her potential return, Gunn’s previous statement regarding casting means that the chances of Gadot’s return to the role are becoming increasingly slim as time goes by.
However, until official casting information regarding the character becomes known, any speculation is purely theoretical. Paradise Lost is currently in development for Max by DC Studios; the project still doesn’t have an official release window, nor does it have a release date.