Patty Jenkins Explains How She Came Really Close To Walking Away From ‘Wonder Woman 1984’

Despite Wonder Woman smashing box-office records and being a stunning success for the DC Cinematic Universe, which had hit a stumbling block with the lackluster reception to Batman V Superman and was about to face even more trouble with the release of Justice League, director Patty Jenkins ran into some interference when it came time to set up Wonder Woman 1984. In a new interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Jenkins reveals that she came very close to walking away from the sequel after Warner Bros. seemed reluctant to pay her as much as her male counterparts even though she’d deliver a blockbuster hit.

“They got paid seven times more than me for the first superhero movie,” Jenkins said. “Then on the second one, they got paid more than me still.” Realizing she’d have to play hardball, Jenkins prepared herself to say “no” to Wonder Woman 1984 if she wasn’t afforded the respect she’d earned. Via /Film:

“I started to walk away. I was gonna’ walk away. I even said I’d be happy to go to another studio and make a quarter as much because it’s not a sequel, on principle, no problem. It’s interesting as someone who never made any profit in my career up until Wonder Woman, that I was always at peace with it. I was like, ‘Hey I get it.’ But now I was like, ‘Listen, I never made any money in my career because you always had the leverage and I didn’t,’But now the shoe is on the other foot so it’s time to turn the tables.”

Obviously, things worked out, and Jenkins delivered the sequel that’s set to hit theaters and HBO Max on Christmas Day. However, Jenkins is noticeably more reluctant to tout her involvement with Wonder Woman 3. Couple that with the bombshell news that she’s signed on to direct Rogue Squadron, making her the first woman to direct a Star Wars films, and it’ll be interesting to see if Jenkins might have just left DC Comics behind for a galaxy far, far away.