‘Wonder Woman’ Officially Hires Director Patty Jenkins

A little over an hour ago, it was reported that Warner Bros. was seriously considering Angelina Jolie to replace Michelle MacLaren on Wonder Woman. Although she may have been considered, it looks like the studio is going in another direction — WB has hired Patty Jenkins to direct the Wonder Woman solo film, and if that name sounds familiar, that’s because she was originally attached to direct Thor: The Dark World.

Marvel replaced Jenkins with Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor on Thor: The Dark World, which caused quite a stir (Natalie Portman almost quit over it). But according to THR, Marvel’s loss is now Warner Bros.’ gain, as the studio has signed Jenkins on to direct Wonder Woman following the departure of Michelle MacLaren. That’s a pretty quick turnaround, considering that news just broke a couple of days ago.

Jenkins got her start in television before making her feature debut with Monster, a gritty drama that won Charlize Theron the Academy Award for Best Actress. Jenkins has struggled to find another film project, though she’s continued to work in television, directing episodes of Arrested Development, The Killing, and Betrayal. When she was let go from Thor: The Dark World, it was a pretty big disappointment for a couple of reasons — we wanted to see Jenkins make another film, and we really wanted to see what she would do with a superhero film in particular.

WB picking up a director previously dropped by Marvel is an interesting development. Many fans (myself included) made the obvious suggestion the other day that Marvel should now hire Michelle MacLaren to direct Captain Marvel — if the studio does that now, it would be very, very interesting.