How Joss Whedon may potentially undo Wonder Woman’s success with Justice League

Joss Whedon’s dominating the DCEU headlines with less than stellar news and now it’s spilling over into Wonder Woman territory in the worst way possible.

Bad news: Joss Whedon wrote a Wonder Woman script once that was so sexist, absurd and misunderstanding of the original material that it makes David Ayer’s stupid housewife fantasy portrayal of Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad look like something comparable to Joan of Arc.

Good news: Wonder Woman opened in theaters two weeks ago and was directed by Patty Jenkins based on a script written by Allan Heinberg.

Bad news again: Warner Bros. seems to carry some sort of mob loyalty torch for its directors. Which means, they brought Whedon back anyway, stuck him on Justice League to destroy Zack Snyder’s vision complete the film, and Batgirl’s still on the table.

Let me break that down for you, because not only do I have receipts, but my desire to protect the women of the DC Extended Universe is, like, also very strong.

With great power comes great scrutiny

Allow me to be honest: I don’t know if Joss Whedon’s adding the Hall of Justice. I do know that all arches look the same. If I gave Joss Whedon the benefit of the doubt, we could say that’s a museum. However, we know he’s making moves, and we know that he’s shooting new footage.

The same guy who explained the difference between reshoots and shooting new footage (Mark Hughes from Forbes) also tweeted this:

Sure, I can agree to that. Honestly, it even ties into the Colin Trevorrow/Star Wars: Episode IX situation, too. But here’s where Whedon gives me pause: Justice League opens in five months.

They’re shooting new footage — which needs to be edited to cohesively match the rest of the film — now. Does Joss Whedon know when to put his hands up and chill? Or will his ambition blind him as he tries to make up for Avengers: Age of Ultron backlash? I’m not comparing the films because it’s MCU vs DCEU, but because Age of Ultron is an example of what Whedon does with plenty of time in the driver’s seat. To come in at the last minute and make such extravagant changes seems really risky.

In comparison, let’s talk about Tony Gilroy and Rogue One. Gareth Edwards infamously struggled to make the Star Wars movie that Lucasfilm wanted — they also replaced people and Tony Gilroy was brought in late. Now, he’s credited as the person who saved the film. He was brought in with less time and served the same function as Whedon is now, according to reports.

But the problem doesn’t end there.

Undoing Wonder Woman’s progressive strides

Whatever version of the script that the internet is talking about today aside, Joss Whedon doesn’t get Wonder Woman. What’s worse is that he doesn’t seem to understand his own gender either. (Or he thinks he does get it and doesn’t want to change the conversation.) When given the opportunity to elevate material that could easily be a misogynistic portrayal of an otherwise beloved character, Whedon failed.

Of course, he wrote that a decade ago. He supports Wonder Woman‘s success, loves it, champions the women-only screenings. But that doesn’t change his fundamental misunderstanding of these female characters. Whether it’s Black Widow, Wonder Woman … or god forbid, Batgirl. Is Whedon the type of guy who looks at an iconic Batgirl storyline like The Killing Joke and says, “You know what this needs? A sex scene between Barbara and Bruce. That’ll fix it.”

Maybe not. But he does look at Batgirl and say, “What’s her damage?”

The real question is what is Joss Whedon’s damage? Wonder Woman is widely considered the bright spot of the DCEU. So everyone looks to Justice League right now with a ton of anticipation, if only because we’ll be able to see Diana Prince again. Unless it’s 2006 Joss Whedon’s interpretation of the character. In which case, hard pass.

Joss Whedon?

More like Joss Whe-don’t.

Related Story: #WWgotyourback is taking over the Internet

Justice League opens in theaters on Nov. 17. Though, don’t be surprised if you see a “Justice League pushed back to March” type headline in the near future.