Are Waller, "Wonder Woman" Prequel Series Paradise Lost In Trouble?
· BCPosted in: HBO, Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: paradise lost, waller
Are Waller, "Wonder Woman" Prequel Series Paradise Lost In Trouble?
Even with Lanterns premiering this Sunday, could DC Studios be rethinking its live-action DCU series plans for Waller and Paradise Lost?
Published Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:10:10 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary
- James Gunn said Waller was still in the works in 2025, but admitted the Viola Davis DCU spinoff was moving slowly.
- After Peacemaker Season 2 and Checkmate changes, Waller may have faced a DCU continuity rethink behind the scenes.
- A new report claims Waller and Paradise Lost have been scrapped as DC Studios shifts focus more toward movies.
- Gunn had called Paradise Lost in extreme development, making the reported Waller and prequel series setbacks more surprising.
During a red-carpet premiere for Peacemaker Season 2 in August 2025, DC Studios co-CEO and writer/director James Gunn was asked for a status update on the Viola Davis-starring spinoff series Waller, from writers and co-showrunners Christal Henry and Jeremy Carver. "We're working on it, but you know some things have moved really fastly and some things not so fast – and that's been a thing that hasn't moved so fast. But I can't wait to see Viola [Davis] get her Waller outfits on, with her shity floral dresses and do something special," Gunn shared. At the time, we wondered how the way things ended with Peacemaker Season 2 and the creation of Checkmate might have led to a change of plans.
In April of this year, Gunn also addressed the statuses of two other projects that were part of DC Studios' "Chapter One: Gods and Monsters" rollout – and it sounded like really good news. When asked if Booster Gold was still in development, amid rumors that it and the Wonder Woman prequel series, Paradise Lost, had been canceled, Gunn made it clear that it was quite the opposite: "BG is in development. PL is in extreme development." Since that time, things have been a bit of a rollercoaster for DC Studios, with a disappointing box office for Supergirl followed by early praise for HBO's Lanterns, and some folks still figuring out what to make of Clayface.
Just before August hit, the DCU rollercoaster took another sharp dip, with David Jenkins (Our Flag Means Death) announcing that DC Studios was not moving forward with his Booster Gold pilot script (though reports are that the series remains in active development). And now, The Ankler's Lesley Goldberg reports that both Waller and Paradise Lost have been scrapped, with DC Studios reportedly looking to follow Marvel Studios by focusing more on theatrical releases. Regarding the reasoning, it's interesting, considering that production on the Jimmy Olsen/Gorilla Grodd "true DCU crime" series is set to begin. If those shows aren't moving forward, it may very well be due to DCU continuity. As we mentioned, the finale of Peacemaker Season 2 changed Waller's role moving forward, while the delay in getting a solo film for Wonder Woman off the ground may be a reason for shelving the historical prequel.
Set before the birth of Diana (Wonder Woman) and located on the island of Themyscira, Gunn and DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran said they saw Paradise Lost as a "Game of Thrones" -like take on Wonder Woman's origins ("It's really about the political intrigue behind a society of all women": Safran) when it was first announced at the beginning of 2023. Comic fans may recognize the title from Phil Jimenez & George Pérez's Paradise Island Lost comics series. "How did that come about? What's the origin of an island of all women? What are the beautiful truths and the ugly truths behind all of that? And what's the scheming like between the different power players in that society?" were Gunn's rhetorical questions when explaining the series' themes.
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