The big three: that’s how comics fans refer to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in the DC universe. For all the controversy over Zack Snyder, his casting for them was pretty spot-on: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, and Gal Gadot gave performances worthy of the icons, even if the scripts weren’t always to everyone’s liking. In the James Gunn era of DC Studios, we got Superman right away, have seen mixed plans for Batman (one “Elseworlds” sequel, a Bat-family film, and a puppet-animation hybrid), and heard mixed things about a possible Wonder Woman debut. The popular rumor has been that Adria Arjona is secretly playing Wonder Woman in the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, despite an apparent cover story that she’s playing Maxima.
Now, with Gunn out as head of the studio, Wall Street Journal writer Ben Fritz appears to have blown the cover completely. In a post on X, he wrote, “Gunn + Safran are debuting Wonder Woman in Man of Tomorrow.” Unless they’re managing to completely hold back a mystery actress not yet reported as being in the movie, this strongly implies that Arjona is indeed playing the Amazonian heroine.
When Arjona was cast in the movie, fan speculation began almost immediately that she would be playing Wonder Woman. James Gunn once again looks to be grounding Superman in a whole universe full of existing heroes, including Aaron Pierre’s Green Lantern and Xolo Mariduena’s Blue Beetle, in addition to returning characters Supergirl, Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mr. Terrific. If Wonder Woman is brought in, and Fritz is saying that she is, it would be the second time Wonder Woman has been introduced in a movie where Superman teams up with an arch-rival, in this case Lex Luthor, but previously, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Arjona previously described her intense workout routine for her unnamed role, saying, “The excitement of playing the woman I’m playing gives me everything I need to wake up.” Fans wondered if any actress is really that big a fan of Maxima, when her phraseology implies a more iconic role. Training videos of her posted online made her look like Wonder Woman. Costar Frank Grillo stoked the rumors by sharing a fan-made poster with her as Wonder Woman alongside the confirmed cast. Arjona made a $500 bet that she’s not playing Wonder Woman, but if she is, residuals from her likeness on movie merchandise will more than cover that bet, so it’s an easy one to make. Then if she is the less marketable Maxima, she gets an extra $500. Win-win for her.
Where Wonder Woman goes from there is anyone’s guess. A TV series about the Amazons, titled Paradise Lost, has been in and out of development. In the previous DCEU, Gal Gadot’s first Wonder Woman movie got her off to a great start, but COVID lockdowns kneecapped the sequel, and that was before fans piled on over the Maxwell Lord-centric plot and uncomfortable ramifications of Wonder Woman having sex with a possessed body (was the reincarnated Steve Trevor the original Freaky Nikki from Obsession?). A third movie with Gadot was going to happen, first in the DCEU and then later in the current DCU, until it wasn’t. Now that everything is being shaken up, it’s not unwise to wait and see how the new Wonder Woman will be accepted. Based on rumor reactions so far, it seems like Arjona is someone the fans want to see.
Don’t make us wonder what you think — speak your truth below! Is Arjona the one you want to see in the role?
