The creation of this this fan-made Wonder Woman poster has provoked a lot of people to talk about the possibility of non-animated Wonder Woman movie again.
Colin Boyd thinks DC Comics is missing the boat:
So when I say Marvel can’t really compete with Wonder Woman, that’s not a slam on Marvel; they just haven’t had a female character that is as top-of-mind to John Q. Public. Sorry: Before the X-Men movies, most people had never heard of Jean Grey. And if Hulk isn’t making waves, She-Hulk is a terrible idea.
With Marvel pushing some of their less mainstream characters into theaters over the next couple of years, I wonder why DC wanted to go with the Justice League, which actually dilutes their pool of heroes, instead of the biggest name in their stable who hasn’t had a movie. The thing about Wonder Woman is it requires very little invention because we’re familiar with the character already. We know, more or less, what she’s about. We saw the TV show or picked it up through cultural osmosis. So why is Wonder Woman still on the shelf and why is her maiden voyage likely to be arm-in-arm with a bunch of other heroes in JLA? You got me.
EDP on the other hand is not as enthused about the idea:
This is a nifty, fan-created poster for the the live-action Wonder Woman movie, which, apparently, is never going to be made. The image is a little static for my taste, but the poster is proof of WW’s passionate fan base. Meanwhile, Hollywood yawns.
Warner Bros. is releasing a direct-to-DVD animated Wonder Woman movie in February, and while I’ll probably buy it, my excitement has waned considerably. Stiff-looking animation and a reheated storyline (From princess to warrior!) are a long way from “Dark Knight.”
While Rich from Comic by Comic wonders if Wonder Woman’s origin can work for movies:
But maybe it won’t. Maybe the origin of Wonder Woman – of being made from clay on an island full of women who, let’s face it, hate men and are kind of butch, what with the armor, spears and wrestling – doesn’t lend itself to movies too well.
And if that origin was changed, if Diana was a cast out minor Greek deity, or a miracle of science, or some other bastardization, how well would it work?
How well would it work, period?
Diana has a muddy origin, no clear mission (want to bring peace to man’s world? good luck with that!), very few defining storylines or moments, a sparse rogue’s gallery and a constantly-shifting supporting cast. Let’s face it, she might be iconic but she’s hardly marketable.
So what do you think?
September 21st, 2008 at 1:42 am
“But maybe it won’t. Maybe the origin of Wonder Woman – of being made from clay on an island full of women who, let’s face it, hate men and are kind of butch, what with the armor, spears and wrestling – doesn’t lend itself to movies too well.”
Your kidding right? I am not sure about the clay bit but there are people out there who already pay top dollar for the rest!
September 21st, 2008 at 8:25 am
Aren’t the “butch-looking, man-hating” Amazon a recent invention though? I remember skimming through a DC Archive of Wonder Woman at the library once and seeing rather curvy, feminine Amazons populating the island.
I’ve always thought it rather uncreative to have the Amazons be a “Xena Warrior Princess” type society. I know they’re Amazons, but weren’t they basically on an island without any wars for thousands of years before Diana went to man’s world? I find it odd that they would have maintained any sort of war-like tendencies.
I apologize in advance if any of the above is incorrect. I admit that my Wonder Woman knowledge isn’t quite complete.
September 21st, 2008 at 9:44 am
“butch-looking, man-hating” is, I fear, a woefully inadequate description of a slightly more complex idea. Perez revised the Amazons from the Pre-Crisis era in a way that simply instated them as mature, powerful, intelligent warriors. Their origin story comes from the rape of their nation. That doesn’t make them man-hating, that makes them anti-patriarchy; and thats not a hard concept for a mainstream popcorn munching audience to get in this day and age, surely?
Their ‘war-like’ tendencies come from the fact that, thousands of years of isolation or not, they came from a warrior tradition, and they evolved in isolation, without outside influence or change, and they had to stay warriors to keep the demons beneath the island from getting out (I know, thats a specific fan-detail, but its an important one). As for ‘butch-looking’; 1) who cares? and 2) that really depends on your artist and cast.
With that in mind, a Wonder Woman from that tradition gives great scope for a movie of epic proportions. Diana’s origin easily suggests a movie of two halves (ala Batman Begins), with the Island, the Amazons, some kind of history of the nation, and I daresay The Contest as the inagural segment, and then Diana coming into the modern world to stave off the evil spilling out from her own being the second half of the film.
I could go on, but I just think its not the ideas that are thin on the ground here, its the suspicion that no-one seems to really want to take the concept of the film seriously enough to devote the time to executing it well.
Alex
September 21st, 2008 at 9:47 am
Yikes, I’m sure the second paragraph should start: ‘Their war-like tendencies come from the fact that they came from a warrior tradition…’ etc
September 21st, 2008 at 10:17 am
The poster has a 300 feel to it and I think that’s the take WW needs. First an epic battle with the man gods that makes the Amazons realize they have to influence events off the isle if they are going to influence the world.
So they send their most diplomatic/warrior, Diana. I don’t think this is a character that needs an elaborate origin. An explanation of the Amazons and how Diana fits within that group is enough.
September 21st, 2008 at 12:45 pm
To Rich from Comic by Comic…ever see 300 ??
300 with women = Hollywood marketed !
September 21st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I think someone needs to call Olivia Munn ASAP.
September 21st, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Please, no, not another “no colors but brown and red!” movie. My eyes cannot stand much more.
September 21st, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Alex – I agree that Perez added a lot of depth to the Amazon society and that it is actually quite complex…but the fact remains that if you have a two hour movie that concentrates on your main character moving away from that society, I think it would be tough to get that across.
AMiller – Well sure, when you put it that way…
September 21st, 2008 at 6:44 pm
At the end of the day, no one cares about Wonder Woman.
Catwoman replaced her as the superhero actors want to play
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
The key elements are that she comes from an isolated island populated by the Amazons of Greek myth, and is the daughter of their queen. IMO, everything else about her origin is negotiable.
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