As A New WONDER WOMAN Movie Takes Shape, Melissa Barerra Responds To Diana Fan-Casts

As A New WONDER WOMAN Movie Takes Shape, Melissa Barerra Responds To Diana Fan-Casts

Yesterday, James Gunn confirmed that a new Wonder Woman movie is in the early stages of development at DC Studios, and, as expected, the fan-castings have already kicked up a gear...

By MarkCassidy - Jun 11, 2025 08:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman fans have been wondering what DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran had in store for the iconic DC Comics character ever since the first "Gods and Monsters" slate announcement, and Gunn finally shared a positive update during a recent interview with EW.

"Wonder Woman's a separate thing, slow moving, but it's moving," said the Superman director. "We're working on Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman's being written right now."

Gunn didn't mention who is penning the script, but there's speculation that he may be writing the project himself, or possibly even planning to introduce the hero in his Superman follow-up, which he has already confirmed will not be a "straight sequel."

One thing does seem abundantly clear at this point: Gal Gadot will not be reprising the role.

Before it was announced that the DCEU was being rebooted, a third Wonder Woman movie was in the early stages of development with Patty Jenkins set to direct. However, things changed when (or before, depending on who you believe) Gunn and Safran took over as co-CEOs of DC Studios, and the threequel was shelved.

According to one report, the initial plan was to move forward with the project under the DCU banner, but it was actually Jenkins who decided to walk away after "receiving notes on the treatment she submitted to the studio." It seems WB higher-ups weren't completely sold on her pitch, which was said to contain "character arc problems which rivalled that of Wonder Woman 1984."

Later, Gadot claimed that she was still set to return as Diana for a Wonder Woman 3, but the trades soon refuted this.

Several actresses have emerged as fan-favorite picks to take over from Gadot, including Scream and Abigail star Melissa Barrera, who responded to the fan-casts during an interview with A Shot Magazine earlier this year.

“I think it’s nice because of what the character represents. I think whoever gets the role, I just hope that they can embody the essence of the character because I think that those movies, whether they're Marvel or DC, their reach is so big. And because those artists that get those roles will inevitably get a built-in fanbase and have the eyes and the ears of so many people, I think that it would be nice if they did something actually positive with the influence that they have to at least be a good example of the kind of human being that you wanna be in the world, instead of just using it for self-serving purposes."

Who would you like to see step into the role of Wonder Woman in the DCU? Let us know in the comments, and check out some fan-art of Barrera as Diana below.

James Gunn Announces That  A WONDER WOMAN Movie Is Officially In Development For The DCU
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James Gunn Announces That A WONDER WOMAN Movie Is Officially In Development For The DCU

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Lisa89
Lisa89 - 6/11/2025, 8:36 AM
Remember: The role of Wonder Woman is only up for grabs if Jennifer Holland turns it down.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 6/11/2025, 8:39 AM
@Lisa89 - I almost want him to cast her as WW just to witness the apocalyptic meltdown.
Lisa89
Lisa89 - 6/11/2025, 8:44 AM
@MarkCassidy - User Comment Image
DarthMauve
DarthMauve - 6/11/2025, 8:54 AM
@MarkCassidy - A Director, using actors he knows and trusts for most of their projects? It's unheard of! Other directors have NEVER behaved in such a manner! Booo! :P
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 6/11/2025, 9:03 AM
@DarthMauve - yeah... but in this case it's just him using his wife in everything lol a bit different
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 6/11/2025, 9:06 AM
@DarthMauve - I never said I had a problem with Gunn casting Holland... I simply suggested that him casting her as Wonder Woman would be met with an insane amount of backlash, which it would be.
DarthMauve
DarthMauve - 6/11/2025, 9:21 AM
@MarkCassidy - It was more a bit of sarcasm about when Gunn re-uses many actors from his other films, and people get up in arms about it. Many other directors do, and have done, the exact same thing but don't get the same hate :)
Lisa89
Lisa89 - 6/11/2025, 9:21 AM
@MarkCassidy - Justified backlash. It would confirm that, like Mr. Miyagi, Gunn showed his wife the image below a said "Choose."

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MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 6/11/2025, 11:04 AM
@Lisa89 - Ehh. I think Holland was good in Peacemaker tbf, and I don't mind if Gunn wants to give her minor roles in the likes of GOTG Vol. 3.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 6/11/2025, 11:08 AM
@Lisa89 - this is funny if a joke

And even funnier if you actually believe it will happen (the offer) 😭
Lisa89
Lisa89 - 6/11/2025, 11:39 AM
@vectorsigma - Are you suggesting that if his wife expressed interest in the role, he would say “no”? If so, I question your sincerity.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 6/11/2025, 11:41 AM
@Lisa89 - it is basically career suicide and Gunn has no more livee left after his Twitter adventures 😅
Baf
Baf - 6/11/2025, 12:02 PM
@Lisa89 - I feel like if this was true, she would have picked Supergirl.
Lisa89
Lisa89 - 6/11/2025, 12:07 PM
@Baf - Perhaps she didn't want to force them to age up the character. Holland is 6 years older than Corenswet.
Thing94
Thing94 - 6/11/2025, 8:39 AM
She'd be a good contender for Wonder Woman for sure
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 6/11/2025, 8:39 AM
Nothing against her, but I don't see it. Wonder Woman is not latina, at least with the main characters I hope they try to stay close to the source material.
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 6/11/2025, 9:42 AM
@Urubrodi - Wonder Woman was an Amazon, hard to find an Amazonian to play the role. Before you talk about Greeks, they didn't believe in race, and Amazons have been portrayed as multi-racial. But for the sake of argument, most Greeks consider themselves olive-skinned though their skin color varies. You know who else is mostly considered olive-skinned? Latinos.
EarlChai
EarlChai - 6/11/2025, 9:56 AM
@SpiderParker - According to the Greeks, the Amazons were from what is now Turkey. (Actually, not too far from where my grandfather was born, which is kinda cool personally.) Someone Mediterranean would suffice, especially since they don’t get a lot of representation in Hollywood.

As for the ancient Greeks “not believing in race,” sure they didn’t follow the modern 21st century Western idea… but they literally invented the word “barbarian” for anyone different from them.
EarlChai
EarlChai - 6/11/2025, 10:22 AM
@SpiderParker - Also “Ethiopia.” Don’t look up the Greek origin of the word at work. 😅
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 6/11/2025, 10:27 AM
@EarlChai - As I said, Amazons are portrayed multi-racial, you could portray them however you want, Mediterranean? Latino? Anything works.

As for the supposed racial standards, its a given why people didn't care about such a way to describe people back then when they were in fact quite racially diverse people.

So, you are a little wrong about how the word "barbarian" was used for "anyone different from them", it was used as a way to describe people who didn't speak Greek or spoke in a way that was hard to understand but the meaning changed into uncivilized and primitive as time went by.
EarlChai
EarlChai - 6/11/2025, 11:13 AM
@SpiderParker - I mean technically, we Latinos (above-mentioned middle-eastern grandfather ended up in South America and married a local woman) didn’t exist when the Amazons locked themselves away from the rest of the world. Not that I expect Hollywood to care about that kind of thing, but it’s still funny to think about! 😂

Yes, technically the Greek word for Barbarian originally just meant “person who doesn’t speak Greek.” But look up the figurative Venn Diagram between Ancient Greece, the word “barbarian,” and chattel slavery. They weren’t as accepting of others as we like to think. 😔
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 6/11/2025, 12:24 PM
@SpiderParker - If only we had a visual medium that has been showing through decades how the character should look like... Oh wait, we do! Comic books! The comics took as inspiration the mythology, but it's not the mythology that is gonna be adapted directly, are the comic books.

And before conversation goes towards race... I am a latino myself and consider this actress very atractive so wouldn't be that mad if they chose her (considering she can act well).

I just prefer when actors resemble the characters they portray and that includes physically as well. For example, as much I think Pedro Pascal is a good actor and hope he does a great job in F4, I'm not a huge fan of him being Reed Richards as he looks nothing like the character. Plus, in his particular case I also have my doubts if he can portray this type of character well.

It's not like there is a lack of tall white women with black hair and blue eyes out there that can act.
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 6/11/2025, 1:16 PM
@EarlChai - Well, since Latino is ethnicity, not a race, while race is an obsolete structure, you are right. But if she lived during ancient times, could she have been Greek? Absolutely. Even a 'Barbarian' could turn Greek if they learned the language and customs.

Any prejudice was solely based on perceived inferiority like lack of intelligence and way of life, not based on skin color. Prejudice against people who are not from your country is not uncommon, but unlike in certain places, they weren't prejudiced against their own people based on color, who were in fact racially diverse. Other forms of prejudice (wealth, class, etc.) did exist though.
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 6/11/2025, 1:43 PM
@Urubrodi - Contrary to popular belief, you can be White AND Latino/Hispanic. And referring to comics as how she should look doesn't work unless it has been stated. Art is subjective.
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Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 6/11/2025, 1:52 PM
@SpiderParker - "you can be White AND Latino/Hispanic" I am well aware, since I am white and latino XD

But this actress is not white nor resembles MOST depictions of the character. Of course certain runs and adaptations take a few liberties from time to time, but the design always goes back to what most people know the character for.
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 6/11/2025, 2:41 PM
@Urubrodi - I'm sure most runs goes back to portray her as Greek not "white" but in any case, Pedro Pascal is White Latino and yet you have a problem with him. She is at least half white and you have a problem with her even though Greeks aren't even white. She does look Wonder Woman to me. And at least she would be miles better than Gal Gadot.
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 6/12/2025, 7:16 AM
@SpiderParker - Take a freaking comic book with Mr Fantastic on, look at the page and then look at Pascal and really tell me that he looks similar to the character, like go buy some specs mate. If Pedro Pascal is white latino, then I'm albino.

"I'm sure most runs goes back to portray her as Greek not "white"" What does she look like in most adaptations? I am talking here about the character's physical traits if that has not been obvious already. I don't care from where in the globe she is from (which in this case it's a fictional island so it doesn't even matter). I'm talking about just apperance.

In any case this is as pointless of a conversation as they come, if you're fine with the castings, then just enjoy.
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 6/12/2025, 8:15 AM
@Urubrodi - Its not fictional, its mythological. Amazons exists in Greek mythology so does Themiscyra. If you are albino, that's good for you but the matter stays that Pedro Pascal is White Latino. Maybe you are not as much of a Latino you thought you were to know that.
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 6/12/2025, 8:59 AM
@SpiderParker - LOL No, he's not a white person just look at the skin colour, not that hard. I am a Brazilian guy. You can have latinos of any skin colour. Some might even get confused to an European person as to how white they are. Some are more tan, like him. Some are mixed. Some are black. Point is he does not in any way look like the damn character.

Wonder Woman used mythology as the basis for the character, but the comics are what's gonna be adapted. So it doesn matter if in real life a Greek person looks a certain way (although I have met at least one girl that looked similar to the character). The point is that on the page the chraacter is white, with black hair, tall and with blue eyes. Period.
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 6/12/2025, 10:44 AM
@Urubrodi - You are saying this guy is not white? Get your eyes checked. He himself has admitted to being White.

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As for Wonder Woman, the comics have adapted the mythology so in a sense no matter how you look any adaptation of Wonder Woman would still be a adaptation of the Greek Mythology by transitive property. And they have never portrayed her as white. As I said everyone was quite diverse in Ancient Greek so it was normal for Greek people to have fair skin or dark skin but olive skin was still the most common.

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Hold this comic book cover next to your face and tell me which one of the incarnations is the same color as your complexion. None, if you are indeed white.
NHartMusic
NHartMusic - 6/11/2025, 8:48 AM
Would be very funny to see a pro-Palestinian actor take over the role after Gadot
UnderBelly
UnderBelly - 6/11/2025, 10:32 AM
@NHartMusic - Now THAT would be wild, but I have a feeling they'd be careful not to look political.

Oberlin4Prez
Oberlin4Prez - 6/11/2025, 8:52 AM
No
FrankenDad
FrankenDad - 6/11/2025, 9:00 AM
I’m already dead set on Eisa Gonsalez. 🥰
TDKRnry88
TDKRnry88 - 6/11/2025, 9:28 AM
@FrankenDad - Not Adria Arjona???
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 6/11/2025, 9:14 AM
We all know there's only one person big enough to play this part!

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WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 6/11/2025, 11:28 AM
@Feralwookiee - does he look like Jean Claude Van Damme or is it just me?
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 6/11/2025, 7:55 PM
@WruceBayne - Uh, he looks like the perfect Wonder Woman.
BobGarlen
BobGarlen - 6/11/2025, 9:18 AM
Honestly, I figured they'd want her as Jessica Cruz.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 6/11/2025, 9:33 AM
Honestly from what I have seen of Melissa’s work (which I’ve liked), I think she might be able to pull off Diana even if she wouldn’t be my first choice.

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