We Could Have Had It All: Wonder Woman Director Michelle MacLaren Exits Film Project

Hera, help us.

The Hollywood Reporter had the exclusive, citing a statement from Warner Bros. “Given creative differences, Warner Bros. and Michelle MacLaren have decided not to move forward with plans to develop and direct Wonder Woman together.”

Excuse me for a moment.

While no other details were given except the age-old “creative differences,” THR already jumped to one of the first things that came to our mind:

While the specific differences that led to the split are not known, it inevitably carries echoes of an incident in 2011 when Marvel and director Patty Jenkins also parted ways. Jenkins had been tapped to direct Thor 2, which would have made her the first female director of a Marvel movie. But when she and Marvel hit an impasse, that movie, which came to be titled Thor: The Dark World, was turned over to Alan Taylor. The fact that both MacLaren and Jenkins off their respective projects is sure to raise the question of whether women filmmakers are welcome in the world of high-stakes, superhero movies.

MacLaren, whose previous work included Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Breaking Bad seemed an excellent choice for the job when she was announced as director back in November of last year. Last we heard on the project, Jason Fuchs was working with her on drafts of the script.

What do you think? Without knowing more all I can hope is they choose another talented female director to replace her. Though the internet is already telling Marvel they should quickly scoop up MacLaren if they know what’s good for them…

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Jill Pantozzi

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."

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