Who Will Direct Wonder Woman With Michelle MacLaren Dropping Out?
By Nick Tylwalk
Warner Bros. and DC still have their Wonder Woman in Gal Gadot. What they don’t have right now is a director for the solo film debut of the most iconic female super hero ever created.
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They thought they did, tapping TV veteran Michelle MacLaren, whose credits included powerhouse shows like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad. But now MacLaren is out, as first reported yesterday by Variety, citing the ever popular “creative differences.”
That’s not an uncommon situation in super hero movies. Variety points to Thor: The Dark World as an example, as Patty Jenkins was supposed to direct before dropping out. Marvel also had Edgar Wright on Ant-Man before he decided to leave, which led to Peyton Reed getting the gig.
The difference with Wonder Woman is that Warner and DC really appear to have made having a female director one of their main goals. That could still happen, as earlier reports had various names thrown around on a supposed shortlist. One that is bound to resurface again is Kathryn Bigelow, whose work on The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty have made her a hot commodity. She has announced plans to tackle two more movies based on real life events, though, and may not want to revisit her Strange Days/Wild Palms period.
Warner reportedly met with Jennifer Kent and Lesli Linka Glatter before choosing to go with MacLaren, so they could re-emerge as viable candidates. Kent, especially, would make for a fine second choice coming off a wave of raves for The Babadook.
The studio could also opt to broaden its search to include male directors as well, but that would feel like at least a partial defeat for a project with this much visibility. With the stakes for a female-fronted super hero movie so high, Warner can’t afford to mess this one up. Wonder Woman isn’t supposed to hit theaters until 2017, so there’s some time to find the right fit, and comic book fans everywhere should be hoping that it happens — no matter how long it takes.
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