Patty Jenkins Is New 'Wonder Woman' Director

Warner Bros. announced on April 15 that Patty Jenkins will direct the new "Wonder Woman" movie. The announcement was made after director Michelle MacLaren left the movie on April 13.

The studio raced to sign the director in order to stick to their schedule. The movie is set to release in 2017. Jenkins was earlier set to direct "Thor 2" for Marvel. A 2011 Hollywood Reporter report said that the director left because of "creative differences."

McLaren had joined the project after Warner Bros. had said they were wanted a woman to direct their first female-led superhero movie. According to Time.com, creative differences were cited as the reason for the director exciting the project.

Like MacLaren, Patty Jenkins is also an experienced TV director. She has worked on episodes of "Entourage," "The Killing" and "Arrested Development". However, unlike MacLaren, Jenkins didn't start out in the small screen. Her first and only feature film was the 2003 "Monster." The crime drama film about serial killer, Aileen Wuornos, won Charlize Theron a Best Actress Oscar.

Many social media users welcomed MacLaren's hiring as "Wonder Woman" director. There had been a lot of clamoring for more diversity in the superhero franchises. According to Time some critics suggested that there was a biasness against women in the superhero genre.

The Hollywood Reporter said that MacLaren's departure is “sure to raise the question of whether women filmmakers are welcome in the world of high-stakes, superhero movies.” The report also stated that Warner Bros. worked quickly to hire Jenkins to mitigate some of those concerns.

Created in 1941, Wonder Woman has been one of the most popular comic book characters ever in the DC universe. However, apart from a short-lived television-movie in 1974, the Amazon Princess has not yet hit the big screens. In the past few years, there have been multiple failed attempts to bring her to film or Tv.

"Fast Five" actress Gal Gadot, will debut in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," as Wonder Woman. The movie will be directed by Zack Snyder and is set to release on March 2016.

The "Wonder Woman" film is set to hit theatres in June 2017.

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