The extended universe of DC movies that began with 2013’s Man of Steel and has continued to extend through the new Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is set for release next month, has brought many great successes and utter failures. The high points of the series, at least in terms of box office, were 2018’s Aquaman and 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, while some of its biggest failures have been 2021’s The Suicide Squad and this year’s The Flash and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The various highs and lows of the DCEU have generally been contained to specific characters and series within the overall franchise. One of the few exceptions to this has been the Wonder Woman series, directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot, which has perplexingly been responsible for one of the most successful films in the franchise and one of the least.

After the success of the first Wonder Woman film in 2017, development immediately began on its sequel. This sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, featured a significant time jump, as it was set in the 1980s, 70 years after the events of the first film, which was set amid the backdrop of the First World War in the 1910s. This, however, still made the film a prequel to the rest of Wonder Woman’s appearances in the DCEU, which occurred in the modern day. Jenkins returned to direct WW84, Gadot reprised the lead role, and even Chris Pine came back to play Steve Trevor. Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig also joined the cast as the villains Maxwell Lord and the Cheetah.

Everything seemed to be lining up for the sequel to recreate the success of the first film, but then it dramatically failed to do so. Globally, WW84 only grossed $169 million, as compared to the $823 million that the first movie had brought in. To make matters worse, the budget for the sequel was increased by $50 million, from $150 million to $200 million. Looking at these results in a vacuum, it is difficult to guess why the second Wonder Woman movie failed so spectacularly. However, there is a lot of context to be considered, which, while it doesn’t alter the film’s terrible fate, it does make it more understandable. Here’s how:

The Pandemic Era Box Office
Warner Bros. Pictures.

First of all, one of the most important things to recognize when considering Wonder Woman 1984’s box office is the circumstances in which it was released. The film was originally set to open in June 2020, and it had already entered the early stages of its marketing for that prime summer release date when the COVID-19 global pandemic set in. As the world shut down, and we all collectively entered an extended phase of uncertainty, essentially every major Hollywood film that was scheduled to release in 2020 was delayed – this included WW84.

The Wonder Woman sequel ended up being released on Christmas Day in 2020, which made it one of the first major blockbusters to attempt to open during the pandemic era. The only major high-budget film that had tested the box office waters prior to WW84 was Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which hit theaters in early September and proved that the market was still far from normal. When the new Wonder Woman movie opened in late December, many theaters nationwide, and internationally were still closed due to pandemic restrictions and regulations.

In its opening weekend, WW84 played in just over 2,000 theaters in North America, which was about half of a typical blockbuster film’s theater count in any normal year. For reference, the first Wonder Woman opened in 4,165 theaters nationwide and The Marvels just opened with a wide release spanning 4,030 domestic theaters.

It was within this context that Wonder Woman 1984 was able to gross just $46 million in North America. Overseas, it managed to do a little better with an international haul of $122 million – still a far cry from the first film’s international gross of $411 million. The only real comparison to which the film’s results can be made is Tenet, which actually fared better in both categories. While WW84 totaled $169 million globally, Tenet actually managed to bring in $365 million, with $58 million coming from North America and $306 million from overseas. While the pandemic undoubtedly had a massive impact on the Wonder Woman sequel’s box office run, the degree to which it fell short of Tenet’s success shows that there were other factors at work against the film as well.

Related Wonder Woman: Why Gal Gadot Should Be Recast for James Gunn’s DCU With the DCEU coming to an end, it’s now time for a new actress to play Wonder Woman in the DCU.

A Lackluster Reaction from Fans and Critics
Warner Bros.

One of the biggest detractors of Wonder Woman 1984 was the less-than-stellar reception of the movie. While the first Wonder Woman film was hailed as one of the best films of the modern cinematic superhero age, its sequel fell far short of that praise. Many people, both critics and fans, felt that the film lacked the sharp and compelling story that made the first film so great. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film was smacked with a rotten approval rating of just 58% based on 451 reviews, as compared to the 93% approval from 479 reviews for the first film.

While there was certainly a lot of negativity surrounding the film around its release, particularly on social media, the overall reception from fans was potentially even worse, meaning that it was middling. The movie failed to excite a lot of viewers, nor did it make them feel one way or another about it. Few people loved it, and few people hated it. It was largely seen as a generic comic-book movie that wasn’t offensively bad, but also didn’t really add anything new to the genre. This kind of reaction to a movie is arguably worse than it being bad, because people are a lot less interested in talking about a movie that is “just okay” than they are in a film that is either great or terrible.

This reaction resulted in very little buzz surrounding WW84 upon its release. It’s possible that many of the casual viewers that DC and WB were hoping to entice with the movie didn’t even realize that it came out. By releasing the movie on Christmas, it was meant to be a big holiday cinematic event that would get families and friends to talk about it together throughout their festivities. Instead, however, it got lost in the background noise of an unprecedentedly isolated holiday season.

Related Why Wonder Woman 1984 is Actually a Total Mess An incoherent storyline and gaping plot holes make Patty Jenkins’ movie Wonder Woman 1984 hard to watch.

Simultaneous Release on Streaming
Warner Bros.

Finally, another major factor affecting the box office performance of Wonder Woman 1984 was the decision by Warner Bros. to release the film day-and-date on HBO Max (now Max) in North America. On the same day that the movie opened in theaters in the United States and Canada, it was also made available to view in its entirety on WB’s dedicated streaming service, which had yet to roll out in overseas markets. HBO Max subscribers were able to watch the movie at home, with no additional cost, from the very moment that the movie began playing in domestic theaters.

This was a drastic strategic decision from Warner Bros., and it’s one that has gone to haunt the company in a number of ways throughout the following years. After the film brought in solid viewership on the platform, WB also announced they would be taking the same approach with their entire 2021 slate of movies, ranging from Godzilla vs. Kong to The Suicide Squad, The Matrix: Resurrections, Dune, In the Heights, Malignant and more. While this course did offer significant benefits, particularly in the realm of safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it also doomed the box office performances of nearly every one of WB’s films for the next year.

This is because viewers who were on the fence about seeing a particular film could just stay home and watch it from there instead; while the die-hard fans, whose repeat business often secures a movie’s long-term success, were less enticed to go to the theater more than once for the experience. Additionally, this release strategy harmed WB’s working relationships with many filmmakers and actors throughout the industry, as many weren’t consulted on the way their movie would be released and their contracts weren’t altered to account for the sudden drop in theatrical profits and residuals.

This strategy began with WW84, and many of these effects were immediately clear to see. While it may have ensured that more people could see the movie sooner, it did so at the expense of the film’s overall chance of succeeding. This option, when combined with the lackluster reaction to the movie overall, played a significant role in the film’s failure to make any sort of splash upon its release, which then bled into Wonder Woman 1984 having a very small lasting impact, if any at all.