DC superhero movies have been struggling for a while, and ahead of the officialDC Universerelaunch, movies likeJoker: Folie a Deuxappear to be adding to the pile of commercial failures, while other safer bets are ignored. While the DCEU was spiralling out of control almost from the moment it started, there were some big hits that came out of the struggling franchise. The firstAquamanpassed the billion dollar mark, becoming the instant leader of the pack, andWonder Womanfollowed close behind with an over $800 million box office (viaThe Numbers).
While looking back at themissteps of the franchise, stars such as Connie Nielsen, the woman who played Queen Hippolyta, have commented on the unusual choices made by the studios to simply scrap financially viable products, like a potentialWonder Woman 3, in favor of starting from scratch and potentially draining even more funds on failed attempts. In the light ofJoker 2’sspectacular fall from grace, having gone from a billion dollar hit like the original 2019 movie, to a sequel that’s struggling to reach $200,000, it’s worth considering why Warner Bros. is flailing in this way.
Not Making Wonder Woman 3 Looks Different After Joker: Folie à Deux’s Reception
Scrapping All The DCEU Projects And Future Plans Seems More Reckless
Looking closer at the numbers, it’s clear that Warner Bros. and DC Studios had a lot to consider when it came to the reboot and what movies should be impacted.Joker 2was expected to be a huge hit considering the earlier entries' success, but when looking back at any of the other DCEU projects and their sequels, many of them had a major drop-off.Aquamanwent from a billion dollar first entry to a sequel that earned less than half of that figure despite the increase in production budget. However, whenAquamanhad plans for a sequel in place,Jokerwas initially released as a solo movie.
“I mean, frankly, I don’t understand it. [Wonder Woman] made $800 million just in the movie theaters, and it has an enormous and passionate, passionate fan base. These are spectacular films, and there’s just no reason I can understand whatsoever for not investing in that. If I were a business person, I would say that’s money on the table. It’s right there. Plus every time we’ve done it, [it was] with budgets that were way smaller than any of the other DC budgets.”
- Connie Nielsen
Applying the same kind of analysis toWonder Woman’sfigures, the first movie took home more than $800 million, and the sequel had a significant drop in earnings, with a total of nearly $170 million. However,Wonder Woman 1984had themisfortune of coming after the DC reshuffle, and many fans felt that the movies lost their attention when they had no stakes or future. Announcing early on that many of these staple projects were going to be scrapped, and the actors discarded, meant fans felt betrayed and saw no point in watching these dead-end projects. WhileJoker 2existed on the outskirts of the Elseworlds, it had even less reason to get a sequel.
Why Wonder Woman 3 Could’ve Been A Safer Bet Than Joker 2
Wonder Woman 3 Was Always Meant To Happen
Ultimately,Joker’ssuccess meant that the studios put pressure on them to create a sequel, and due to its detachment from the core DCEU, they saw it as a movie that could still get made despite the DCU reboot. However, at the time ofJoker’srelease in 2019, director Todd Phillips, and the star, Joaquin Phoenix were clear about the fact that it was made as a standalone movie. So,when a sequel was announced, it wasn’t exactly expected, or even wanted by fans of the original. Add to that the significant departure in the sequel’s approach and delivery, and it explains some of the reasons why it flopped.
$150,000,000
$817,691,766
$200,000,000
$166,360,232
$55,000,000
$1,063,574,394
$190,000,000
$167,883,843
All figures above have been sourced through The-Numbers.com
Meanwhile,Wonder Womandirector, Patty Jenkins, and star, Gal Gadot, both had excitement and anticipation for their third entry. Announcing that not only would aWonder Woman 3not happen, but also that the entire universe was being scrapped in favor of new stories, new actors, and a whole new universe, the DCEU lost any credibility, validity, or intrigue. Had the studio said that they planned to continue the stories forward until a natural reboot could take place, likeThe Flashmovie or some other event,Wonder Woman 3could have been made, and it likely would have exceeded the box office total of the jarringJokersequel.
