When Warner Brothers announced Michelle MacLaren would be directing the stand-alone WONDER WOMAN film in November, as part of their slate of DC Cinematic Universe, it was hailed as “the perfect choice.”

It’s now six months later, and the Hollywood Reporter’s Jeff Sneider breaks the story this afternoon that the dreaded “creative differences” disorder has forced MacLaren from the project. Some off-the-cuff thoughts:

• This marks the second time the “perfect director” has been bumped from WONDER WOMAN in recent memory. Joss Whedon – also seen as “the perfect choice” for directing the tale of the Amazonian Princess – was ramping up for the project in 2007, when he was unceremoniously dumped in the same fashion by Warner Bros. Time will tell if studio execs got too hands with the script process, or just couldn’t wrap their heads around a powerful female-driven property. Whedon would go on to direct THE AVENGERS for Marvel, the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time.
• The stakes are quite a bit higher than they were in 2007 when Whedon got the WB axe. There’s a hard release date of June 23, 2017 on the books from WB, in their struggle to get their competing series off the ground (while Marvel continues to rack up win after win). Two years might seem like a lot of time, but getting a new director up to speed will take a lot of time. McLaren was also being credited with the story direction for the film, so whoever comes on board will likely be starting from scratch. If there’s a short list WB was working from to hire MacLaren, whomever is left on it may not be available – or willing to work in an environment where MacLaren’s ideas weren’t well-received by studio brass.
• When Patty Jenkins was let go from THOR: THE DARK WORLD, there were rumblings in film crib circles that women weren’t considered “capable” of directing superhero flicks. When MacLaren was tapped to helm WONDER WOMAN, it was met with reactions of relief. The old, nasty arguments are about to fire up.

There are still plenty of capable female directors out there who could handle the job (Kathryn Bigelow comes to mind), but one has to wonder if any of them would be anxious considering this situation. We want to know your thoughts on this situation. Do you think MacLaren got a bum deal here? Do you have any potential choices that could take her place? Tell us in the comments below!

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