Amazons Of Cinema: 6 Women Filmmakers Who Could Direct The DCU 'Wonder Woman' Movie

Aug 16

Despite being rumors at first, it would eventually be confirmed this year that a DCU Wonder Woman movie is in the early stages of development with Ana Nogueira writing the screenplay. Based on the strength of her screenplay for Craig Gillespie’s upcoming Supergirl, Nogueira is slowly but surely becoming an essential creative for the DCU. With fans speculating a release by 2027 (the 10th anniversary of Patty Jenkins’ original film) or 2028, there is one question on everyone’s mind: Who is going to play Wonder Woman?

However, the question on my mind is who will direct? As of the writing of this article, no DCU films set for release are being directed by women. Despite Barbie becoming the highest-grossing film in Warner Bros.’ history, opportunities for women in the blockbuster space don’t seem to be increasing. After Patty Jenkins directed the original Wonder Woman, Anna Boden (with Ryan Fleck), Cathy Yan, Cate Shortland, Chloé Zhao, Nia DaCosta, and S.J. Clarkson have been the only women to helm films for either Marvel or DC. Sadly, their movies would be overshadowed by mixed reviews, bad box office, and culture war nonsense.

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Wonder Woman comic art — Image Source: PeakPX

While Ana Nogueira wrote the screenplay for Supergirl and will do the same for Wonder Woman and Teen Titans, she’s the only woman creative whose name is on the DCU film docket. The decision to hire Craig Gillespie for Supergirl is a 50/50 scenario. On the one hand, should any male director be hired for Supergirl, we should be thankful that it’s a director who has made great films about messy women going through a lot right now, with Oscar-winning films such as I, Tonya and Cruella being major highlights on his resume. On the other hand, I often wonder why a woman couldn’t also be afforded that opportunity. Whenever a woman in these fandoms points all this out, we’re greeted by a symphony of angry people who ask (often in bad faith), “Why not hire the best person for the job?” And when we reply, wondering why a woman can’t be the best person for the job, radio silence.

Craig Gillespie can become the DCU Wonder Woman director. If Ana Nogueira’s Supergirl script is good enough to land her Wonder Woman, it’s easy to see that James Gunn and Peter Safran can see Gillespie as an ideal candidate as well. However, I think it’d be insulting to hand Wonder Woman to a man. To me, it would show that DC Studios doesn’t see women as worthy candidates to tell our own stories. It’d be like if Marvel Studios hired anyone other than a Black filmmaker for Black Panther or anyone other than an Asian director for Shang-Chi. Diversity in the creative landscape is important and can and should provide equal opportunity for people of all walks of life. Which is why I wanted to present six directors I think would make great candidates to bring Diana Prince to the DCU.

The primary purpose of this article isn’t just to share six women filmmakers who I think should be given the chance to tell Diana’s story, but also to inspire more thoughtful conversation. As a woman in fandom spaces, it becomes increasingly frustrating to hear the same three names being suggested for this project. For that reason, Greta Gerwig will not be included here. While she is immensely talented and should have a future in the DCU, I find the idea of her directing Wonder Woman to be a bit boring. It seems too much like an idea WB executives would come up with. Hopefully, this article inspires you to seek out the works of these talented women and maybe even gives you ideas of what else they can do in the DC besides Wonder Woman. Never a bad thing to expand your film and TV tastes.

1. Kate Herron

Starting our list is the only filmmaker who has helmed a project on the other side of the superhero pond. Kate Herron has quietly established herself as one of the most reliable television directors in the game, lending her talents to shows such as Sex Education, Daybreak, and, most recently, The Last of Us. However, Herron’s biggest claim to fame is directing all six episodes of the first season of Loki for Marvel Studios. Citing Blade Runner, Metropolis, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as her primary influences on Loki, Kate Herron has her finger on the pulse when it comes to large-scale blockbuster storytelling. Herron’s expert mixture of stylish camera work and grounded emotional drama could easily lend itself to a film about DC’s greatest heroine. Herron’s bisexuality, which was spotlighted in Loki, could be included in Wonder Woman, which would be a landmark moment in representation for a sector of the LGBTQ+ community that still deals with societal stereotypes.

It should be noted that Kate Herron is the only candidate on this list who has never directed a feature film. While she is attached to direct and co-write a film based on the popular Sims franchise, the project has yet to move in front of cameras. Some have used this as an argument for why Herron isn’t ready for blockbuster films despite showing interest in directing X-Men and Spider-Man films set in the MCU. Kate Herron will not be the first director to make her feature directorial debut on a big-budget movie, as filmmakers such as J.J. Abrams and David Yates began their film directing careers this way. Considering the scale of Loki, directing six episodes of that is equal to making a trilogy of films, which is more practice than most blockbuster directors who are starting have.

2. Gina Prince-Bythewood

Arguably the safest choice on this list, Gina Prince-Bythewood isn’t lacking in experience with films centered around strong women or comic book adaptations. Prince-Bythewood began her film directing career in 2000 with Love & Basketball, which was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2023. Since then, she has made exciting career moves, as all her films are quite different from one another. This sense of variety could benefit Wonder Woman as a character, cause you never know what kind of movie Prince-Bythewood will make. Will she take cues from the more action-oriented The Old Guard? Will she take the more emotionally harrowing pages from The Secret Life of Bees or Beyond the Lights? Maybe she’ll stick with her current kick of power stories about women warriors, such as The Woman King and her upcoming film adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone.

Regardless of the tone and angle Gina Prince-Bythewood takes, should she be hired, the film will likely be epic in scope, feature character-driven action scenes, and wear its heart on its sleeve. The one knock against her is that it’s unlikely she would direct a film that doesn’t feature a Black protagonist of some kind. However, this can easily be addressed by either casting a Black actress to play Diana or by having Nubia play a role in the film. While neither option is guaranteed to happen, both would be easy ways to differentiate the DCU Wonder Woman from her DCEU counterpart. Prince-Bythewood’s desire to direct a superhero movie has been known for a while, especially in the aftermath of the cancellation of a Marvel movie centered on Silver Sable and Black Cat. Considering her large amount of talent, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s superhero moment should arrive any day now.

3. Elizabeth Banks

Whenever I suggest directors for superhero movies, I usually like to pick filmmakers who I can easily see handling the material. However, I also like to pick directors who are very out-of-the-ordinary. As far as directorial efforts go, nothing on Elizabeth Banks’ resumé even remotely suggests she can pull off any superhero movie, let alone Wonder Woman. And that’s why I chose her!

There are very few comic book movie directors who fit the movie they were hired for from the get-go. I still remember the confusion when James Gunn was hired to do Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2012. Banks’ three films (Pitch Perfect 2, Charlie’s Angels, and Cocaine Bear) all have a sense of playfulness to them. Banks leans into the insanity of the source material that’s presented to her with no sense of shame, which is what the superhero movie genre needs more of. While James Gunn has said he wants every DCU film to be tonally distinct, should a new Wonder Woman film follow the same tone as Superman, Elizabeth Banks is the best choice to give us a wackier and slightly unhinged Wonder Woman film. Even if she doesn’t get the job, there is a future for her in the DCU should she still be interested in directing a superhero movie.

4. Coralie Fargeat

Directors with horror credentials seem to go hand in hand with superhero movies. Richard Donner, Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, and James Gunn are just a few examples of this. Coralie Fargeat would be no exception. Last year, Fargeat hit the big time with her horror film, The Substance, which quickly became a massive pop culture phenomenon that earned her three Oscar nominations for producing, directing, and writing the film. And while it didn’t reach the same mainstream levels of hype, Fargeat’s first feature, Revenge, was just as remarkable. With both films, Coralie Fargeat took well-worn genre tropes and infused them with feminist fire without ever feeling preachy. Considering Wonder Woman is THE superheroine, that fearless feminist perspective combined with a no-nonsense intensity (within the likely confines of a PG-13 rating, of course) would be perfect for her. Fargeat’s masterful skill in visual storytelling lends her perfectly to comic book movies, with her directing style fitting the medium like a glove. Fargeat has come close to directing a superhero movie, as she was considered to direct Black Widow for Marvel Studios. However, she declined the offer due to a lack of interest at the time. While she hasn’t shared her opinions on superhero movies, whether positive or negative, she has stated that Star Wars and the Mad Max franchise are some of the films that inspired her to become a filmmaker, so there’s no reason to believe she doesn’t like superhero movies.

Some fans have written off the idea of Coralie Fargeat directing a DCU film due to her insistence on having creative freedom, especially in having final cut privilege. This point was often raised whenever Fargeat was suggested to direct Clayface before James Watkins was hired. While it is important to remember that, it’s also important to remember that filmmakers can often change their minds. For example, Destin Daniel Cretton went from begging his agent never to let him direct a Marvel movie to directing and co-writing Shang-Chi, being a major creative force behind Wonder Man, and directing Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Fargeat, should she be asked to direct Wonder Woman, can easily request more room to stretch her legs to make the movie more her own. Maybe not as far as getting final cut privilege, but becoming a producer and perhaps having a hand in the script can help Fargeat’s Wonder Woman feel more like a Coralie Fargeat movie first and a DCU movie second.

5. Julia Hart

Now and then, a director comes along whom you constantly root for to have their big mainstream break. Julia Hart is the director for me. Hart has been among my top choices for multiple superhero movies over the years, so it’s dumbfounding that it hasn’t happened yet. While Miss Stevens and Stargirl are both really solid films, it’s Hart’s work on Fast Color and I’m Your Woman that landed her on this list. Fast Color is an original superhero film that sadly flew under the radar in 2018. Considering that year also gave us Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Into the Spider-Verse, it’s almost unfair that Fast Color didn’t have more mainstream attention.

Hart’s handling of grounded themes while combining science-fiction elements and mystery is a tonal tightrope walk that could benefit the DCU. And while visuals shouldn’t take precedence over story, Hart’s sleek visuals could help Themyscira feel lively and beautiful. Due to her interesting career moves thus far, Julia Hart isn’t much different from male directors who had a solid resumé of well-made dramas before getting a superhero movie. So maybe it’s time someone gave Hart the chance to showcase what she’s made of with a big-budget film.

6. Regina King

When you hear the name Regina King, many will likely think of her acting roles in critically acclaimed films such as Boyz n the Hood, Jerry Maguire, Ray, and If Beale Street Could Talk (which earned her an Oscar win). Some may even think of her dual roles as Huey and Riley Freeman in The Boondocks. However, her directing credits are equally impressive. As of this year, King has only directed one film, One Night in Miami, which, in my opinion, is one of the best directorial debuts of the decade thus far. On the TV side of things, King has had her hands in multiple prominent shows such as Scandal, This Is Us, Shameless, and Insecure. Or if you’re a DC fan, you know her for the role of Sister Night in the HBO Watchmen series.

Regina King is a filmmaker who makes the best of what she has, using her cast, the writing, and intimate set space to craft an engaging story. One Night in Miami, despite its small scale, is a gripping tale of identity, the importance of justice, and sacrifice that never feels lost or in your face. Should Regina King tackle Wonder Woman, she and writer Ana Nogueira can give Diana emotional, moral dimensions in addition to making her badass. King is also no stranger to the world of comics. As mentioned above, she played the lead in the HBO Watchmen series, which earned her an Emmy win for her troubles. In 2021, King became attached as director of a film adaptation of the comic series Bitter Root. Most interesting of all, she was considered to direct an Elseworlds film focused on a Black Superman written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and produced by J.J. Abrams. When asked about it, despite not knowing she was being considered, she expressed interest in it. Perhaps King does have superheroes in her future. What is preventing her from bringing Diana Prince to life in the DCU?

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