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Richard Donner on comparisons between his Superman and WW84: Patty Jenkins has 'good taste!'
After months of delay, Wonder Woman 1984 finally became available to the general public over the long Christmas weekend. Almost immediately, audiences began comparing the long-awaited sequel to Richard Donner's colorful, optimistic (and sometimes campy) Superman film from 1978; the one starring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. During an interview with The Telegraph, Donner happily welcomed the parallels, stating that “it just means" writer-director Patty Jenkins has "got good taste!"
"There are so many people that make superheroes so cynical, it's depressing," he added. "When they're dark and bleak and angry with themselves and the world, I don't find it entertaining. I think there's enough reality going on for that. We just got over four years of that [referring to Donald Trump's presidency]. I think we crave the opposite."
The celebrated director also said that it's "wonderful" Zack Snyder is getting a second shot at Justice League. HBO Max will debut the new version of the film (with additional footage that didn't appear in the theatrical cut) in four, one-hour chunks sometime next year. As of right now, the project marks Snyder's final involvement with the DCEU.
Further in his chat with The Telegraph, Donner harkened back to the small controversy Martin Scorsese stirred up last fall when he said that comic book movies weren't cinema. The Oscar-winning director of Goodfellas and The Irishman compared them to "theme parks," a term that sits just fine with Donner.
“Well, I'd like to be able to make one of those theme park rides!” he said. “The problem is, a lot of times, we see in our industry that when the technical lens becomes readily available, it's totally misused. But at the same time, every once in a while you really see quite a wonderful story with one of these films.”
Wonder Woman 1984 is currently playing in theaters and on HBO Max. In its first weekend, the sequel brought in just over $16 million at the North American box office, prompting Warner Bros. to fast track a third movie with Jenkins and Gal Gadot slated to return. Unlike its predecessor, WW84 was not as well-received by critics and fans — it currently holds a 62 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. For comparison, the first Wonder Woman has the highest score of the entire DCEU roster with a 93 percent.
