When news broke that Warner Bros. was developing a movie revolving around the Wonder Twins, many people were a bit confused. Considering the deep history of DC Comics, the extremely limited shape-shifting powers of Zan and Jayna didn’t seem high on the list of heroes that the public was clamoring to see. Well, it looks like the Wonder Twins were apparently no match for the biggest villain of them all—company mergers.
According to a report from The Hashtag Show, Warner Bros Discovery has decided to scrap The Wonder Twins film right before production was set to begin. No details were given as to why the feature was cancelled, but all signs indicate Discovery’s recent $43 billion merger with Warner Media.
Under its new name Warner Bros Discovery, the company voiced wanting to reboot the DC Universe to look a bit more like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The new execs cited their desire for a fresh start and “a coherent creative and brand strategy,” per Variety. Execs also wished to find their own guiding figure in a baseball cap, á la the MCU’s Kevin Feige.
The Wonder Twins project already had Adam Sztykiel (Black Adam, Rampage) attached. It would have been Sztykiel’s directorial debut, and he was also signed on to write the HBO Max film as well. Riverdale’s KJ Apa and Isabel May (1883) were set to play the purple-clad alien twins, Zan and Jayna.
Out of all of the recently announced DC Comics films, The Wonder Twins film stood as the most likely to face the chopping block. First making their appearance on the 1970s cartoon show The All-New Super Friends Hour, the twin’s powers are definitely... interesting! After fist-bumping and saying the key phrase, “Wonder Twin powers, activate,” Jayna can shape-shift into any animal and for Zan? Anything that takes the shape of water he can do, including everyone’s favorite crime-fighting tool: an ice ladder!
Although DC Comics’ Batgirl film for HBO Max looks to be safe, the fate of their Blue Beetle feature starring Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes remains uncertain as Warner Bros Discovery continues to streamline its superhero franchises.