Despite being one of the most iconic superheroes in the sprawling DC Comics universe, Wonder Woman still hasn’t received the same big-screen treatment as her male counterparts like Superman, Batman, Thor and the Green Lantern.
What gives? I mean, come on…the Green Lantern? Remember how that cinematic reboot turned out? I’m still trying to forget.
The good people at Dorkly broached the subject of Wonder Woman’s suspicious absence from live-action feature films in a new comic, and it actually makes a lot of sense. See, it’s just because all the suits involved in bringing capes to the big screen haven’t figured out “the right angle for her.” Never mind that Marvel has taken a lucrative “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to its film adaptations.
Well, maybe people just aren’t ready for a “superhero movie starring a warrior royal heir in ancient European history who has beautiful flowing hair.” Except for, you know, that Thor guy.
Ok, so it actually doesn’t make any sense. Unless we’re in Bizarro World, I guess:
Check out more Dorkly comics here.
Comments
30 responses to “Why There Still Isn’t A Wonder Woman Movie”
I just don’t know if a female character whose weakness is being tied up by men would ever cut it except as a porn.
Also the lasso’s power is to compel people to tell the truth….
In other news.
A new superhero group film involving the adventures of a human whose group includes a sentient plant monster and a raccoon who uses guns!
I know I’d rather watch that than ‘Person with a lasso and an invisible jet’
I can’t think of anyone that could fit her role now. Need a slightly dark tonned busty and meaty woman and not some aneroxic actress.
Gal Godot, who will appear as Wonder Woman in a cameo part in the Batman/Superman film, has signed a three picture deal which also covers a Justice League film and a standalone Wonder Woman film. So it’s definitely on the cards, though when they will actually be making it (if indeed they follow through) remains to be seen.
It’s because she’s a woman.
I really honestly wish that wasn’t the reason… But how many female leads do you see in Hollywood action tent poles?
That said, I am now thinking how awesome a Keneth Branagh directed Wonder Woman film would be.
Honestly? I think it might have more to do with just being a boring character. I dunno, maybe I’m not a fan of DC so much, but there just never struck me as anything overly interesting to Wonder Woman. Then again, I feel the same way about Superman, and Superman movies are usually pretty damn bad.
Superman is a boy scout, so unless a story is particularly strong and actually pushes against that grain it’s going to be boring.
Wonder Woman generally seems to be a bit more free, the exiled warrior princess with no patience for social niceties.
Yeah she’s basically Thor with tits the more I think about it…
That said I’ve seen her written really dully in a few adaptations where she starts taking on the more maternal/understanding female trope. She’s at her best when she’s a hard ass who revels in who she is.
That said I’d expect any major studio adaption of her to be pretty awful, which is a shame she could and should be awesome.
“Yeah she’s basically Thor with tits the more I think about it…”
Just a Thor without any awesome powers other than a ‘truth lasso’ Sorry, Mjolnir’s a bit more useful.
Spot the person who’s never read a wonder woman comic (or even the powers and abilities section of the wikipedia article on her)
I thought originally Thor had no powers either? He had a belt that gave him strength, a hammer that needed a serious nerfing and was immortal from drinking I forget what…
However like WW he slowly had those powers worked into his natural abilities.
But that’s a standard comic thing due to the massive power arms race they all have. If you can’t survive being punched by a superhuman then you have no place in a AAA comic =P
Aeon Flux, Resident evil 1 through 5, Underworld 1 through whatever, the first silent hill movie, bloodrayne ugh i mean really ugh, dead or alive.
So apparently a fair few video game movies. Also in a co starring role; the island, sahara, thomas crown affair (rene russo version).
Those are just from my outdated DVD collection prior to the digital revolution. Oh a bunch of angelina jolie films.
Really good catch on the videogame flicks bucking the trend. I’d add that Aeon Flux is also adapted, though I forget whether from a manga or anime (or both).
I specifically didn’t want to point out supporting status since the issue is generally with studios believing a female action lead can’t carry a movie herself.
There’s a few other exceptions, Angelina Jolie seems pretty immune to this. And there’s a bit more leeway in thrillers where the protagonist is intended to have a level of vulnerability.
Of course it’s stupid since we can look at some of the strongest leads in action movie history who were female in Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor. I would love for studios to remember that these characters can carry a movie and to see the numbers lean back to something more equitable.
As always there’s no absolutes, only trends.
‘sprawling DC Comics universe’… ‘Thor’…
Not sure is trolling…
A Black Widow movie has been freakin’ green lit, so really what is WB’s excuse?!
Black Widow was also omitted from the Avengers toy lineup, so there’s still room for improvement.
Well, it would be a challenge to make the costume not look like a joke in real life. And a magic lasso, and cuffs that divert bullets.
I don’t know, I just think as a character WW is pretty outdated. They kind of got away with the Captain America thing by doing the whole World War 2 thing, but Wonder Woman would be tricky not to just make tacky.
Black Widow is way cooler anyway 🙂
It’s not that hard, just have to get the look and body type right.
http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/118/8/4/wonder_woman_by_jeffach-d59egpa.jpg
(I know it’s drawn, but the idea is there)
She has also evolved just like most DC characters. Her lasso and cuffs haven’t been her defining attribute for a while. She is now a demigod with blessings from various gods. Super strength, super speed, regenerative healing, flight, enhanced sight and hearing, beyond normal intelligence and technical prowess.
The DC cartoon films did a good job of showing how good she is as a character (And didn’t go the path of demeaning her with stereotypical woman tropes)
I just hope the film makers don’t fuck it up by making it all about titillation.
Purely for my own entertainment, I’d like to see the fallout from the filmmakers trying to get this scene into the movie: http://files.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/292800_S/wonder-woman-vs-feminine-vanity.jpg
This one is cool.
http://dresdencodak.com/images/costume/wonderwoman.jpg
all of those things could also have been said about batman 10 years ago, or superman. a dude in a blue jumpsuit and red underwear. the reason you think they were easier to translate into real life is because teams of hundreds of creative people have put time and effort into making them good and they would do the same for wonder woman.
I can’t honestly say I enjoyed a single superman movie they’ve made. The best I can say about the reboot was that at least it was less cheesy than the original movies. Smallville was good, but Clarke from Smallville was very different from Superman from… anything
I think its partly because she’s a woman.
Not in the sense that A female superhero is looked down on, on its some male dominance thing.
But in the sense that she’s a female superhero in tight “revealing” costumes. There’ll be questions on whether the costume needs to be changed? then the hardcore comic crowd will argue against it. Nobody’s gonna be against Superbuff, 6-pack bearing, muscle bound Batman, Superman, Thor or captain America….But a female made to look idealised….could be a minefield investors don’t want to walk into
I get the criticism, but isn’t Wonder Woman gonna be in B v S? That’ll lead into a standalone.
More than likely, to lead into the Justice League movie.
There is some crazy rampant sexism in discussion of this topic
….which is a large part of probably why the wonder woman movie hasn’t been made…
You’re making excuses in order to get your political statement to work. Whilst every woman is equal to a man, individual characters aren’t. Briefly and clumsily comparing characters doesn’t make them equal. There’s a lot wrong with the Wonder Woman character that makes her less relatable to modern audiences than the male ones. There are some great female characters in comics, people are just consistently looking in the wrong direction.
Sheesh, haven’t they watched an episode of Xena?
It seems to me more likely that the lack of a WW movie is more down to copyright/profit sharing.
The creator of Wonder Woman, William Marlston, was already an established psychologist at the time he approached DC about a WW comic (his other work contributed to the first lie detector – a nice analogy to WW’s lasoo of truth) . As a result, he was more educated in legal affairs and suchlike than the average comic creator of the 1940s and ended up securing a killer contract (for the time, at least).
My memory is hazy, since it’s all based on comic-related reading in the 90s, but I think that Marston stitched up a deal where he licensed WW to DC on the condition that they kept publishing a WW comic; if they ever stop for more than a short period, the rights revert to him. I think/assume that he also stitched up a portion of any licensing deals (quite forward-thinking for a guy who died in 1947).
So it’s quite likely that DC would have to pay a portion of their profits from any movie/TV/etc to the Marston estate. This would mean that their share of any money acquired from any deals would be reduced (perhaps significantly), since they would automatically have to pay a fair percentage to his estate.
(Mind you, I also saw similar arguments some years back for a similar profit-sharing equation meaning there’d be no more Superman films since DC (apparently) only own half of Superman these days and thus would have to fork over half their revenue from the big S to the Joe Siegel estate, but the Siegel/Superman lawsuits got so caught up in confidentiality agreements a few years back that it’s hard to tell – so maybe keeping the (Wonder) Woman down is just part of the patriarchal conspiracy blah-blah etc-etc).
PS – Still a funny cartoon and a good thread 🙂
ABC started the Wonder Woman in 1975 for TV with Lynda Carter appear in the month of November…this statement is false NO Wonder Woman Movie..
ABC made another Wonder Woman in 1974 made with Cathy Lee Crosby appeared in April and August.