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| Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and DC Comics |
In the hours that followed NBC's rejection of David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman pilot, reactions on Twitter and comic book forums were mixed. Though leaked plot details and an ugly costume had been panned by some fans, others were looking forward to seeing a live action Wonder Woman for the first time in over thirty years. Gail Simone, a fan-favorite writer of the Amazing Amazon, tweeted that "not-great Wonder Woman show could be improved. A non-existent Wonder Woman show cannot." This is a fair assessment that was echoed by some Wonder Woman fans. It should also be pointed out that drastic changes can be enacted between a show's pilot and airing. All of the elements from the leaked script that made fans cringe could have been ironed out and, perhaps, replaced with a Wonder Woman that was truer to form. It looks like we'll never know now since NBC has sent the Kelley pilot back to Themyscira.
As a Wonder Woman fan, I have to admit that I am of two minds about the entire situation. On the one hand, I was definitely one of the people who read the details of the pilot and cringed. By now, the point has been belabored, but, if the leaks were accurate, Kelley's Diana Prince was going to be hard to swallow. On the other hand, Wonder Woman is due a splashy spotlight in a big way. While sitting through press interviews for Sucker Punch, Zack Snyder discussed how strange it was for there to be a high-profile, true to form Thor movie before such a movie was made about Superman (an opinion, I admit, I agree with). If that is true for the Man of Steel, who has had six movies in the last thirty-five years, then it is even more pertinent for Wonder Woman. We comic book fans, specifically DC Zombies, love to include Wondie in the Big Three, but when compared to the treatment her Trinity cohorts have received, Diana lags far behind. Batman and Superman have starred in twelve movies since Lynda Carter's The New Adventures of Wonder Woman series was canceled in 1979. Wonder Woman is due a return to her place of prominence.
If anything, the failed Kelley pilot at least indicated that there is interest in a Wonder Woman series. The potential show was one of the most talked about pilots being filmed by the major networks this season. Interest may have been inflated by knee-jerk reactions to Diana scarfing down Häagen-Dazs and the shiny plastic of her suit, but regardless of the reason, people were talking about her. If Warner Brothers and DC immediately started work on a new Wonder Woman live action property of some sort, they might be able to ride a wave of good will just by making a product that looked better than Kelley's! Really, all they have to do to keep interest high is make the costume look less like a cheap Halloween getup and return Diana to a truer interpretation, then remind people of how much better and truer it is. It's not like the character is boring. She's one of the DC Universe's fiercest warriors, most powerful heroes, and smartest tacticians. She also happens to be a strong, sexy woman with a penchant for fighting crime in skimpy clothing. (Hey, look, I don't need "the skimpy outfit" angle to buy into Wonder Woman, but it would not hurt for that beloved 18-35 demographic.)
Personally, I would be happy with a carefully crafted, loving adaptation of Wonder Woman on any screen. For example, I am of the opinion that DC's 2009 direct-to-DVD Wonder Woman movie was one of the best animated features they have made. Having said that, I believe Wonder Woman deserves a big time, Hollywood movie. If anything, Thor showed us that people would go see a superhero movie based loosely on adaptations of mythology and fish-out-of-water plots if the trailers were well crafted. (Man, that was hard for this DC Zombie to type.) Wonder Woman may not have the cache she used to command, but she's still more famous than Thor. (Ah, I feel better now.)
So, if Diana deserves a movie what would it look like? What would it be based on? Though I am on record as an advocate of limiting origin story comic book movies, I have to admit that Wonder Woman is the kind of character that might need some exploration. I just do not think enough people know their Wondie canon for it to be left out. Yesterday, Tripp suggested to me that an adaptation based on Gail Simone's story “The Circle” might make a good movie. I have to agree with him. With flashbacks to Wonder Woman's creation and a physical threat she could smack around, it would give the movie all the story beats it needs. You get to see her in her Diana Prince identity, you get to see her interacting with the “man's world” and then you get to see her beat up on an awesomely anachronistic villain named Captain Nazi. Wonder Woman gets to play all the roles you would want her to play in a movie. She could even have a love interest. Use the master of disguise Nemesis (or, heck, if you're a stickler, just replace him with Steve Trevor).
If the interest in a Wonder Woman television show persists, I have some ideas about that as well. Start the series from the moment Wonder Woman arrives in America. Like in the comics, she has come as an ambassador to the “man's world.” She barges into the United Nations or the White House and immediately becomes an international celebrity. The state department decides they need to protect and keep an eye on her, so she is given an entourage of supporting characters. Etta Candy and Steve Trevor are assigned to “Princess” detail, showing her around the world and making sure she does not get into too much trouble. Story arcs could include an attempt at giving her a secret identity (Diana Prince, of course), the U.S. could employ her as a negotiator for a few episodes, or Ares could infiltrate the Defense Department. Wonder Woman could be strong willed, maybe a little naive, surprisingly diplomatic and tough-as-nails in a fight. She might be perplexed by the world she is in, but she discusses it confidently with Etta. (Please, for the love of everything holy...no crying into a tub of ice cream!)
The thing is, I have rambled. I did not mean to go so long in discussing this. Wonder Woman deserves a careful, loving adaptation. While I was glad to see the idea of a TV show bandied about, ultimately, I would rather a studio get it right than suffer through a show that was Wonder Woman in name only. I think Wonder Woman, done correctly, could be a successful property. She does not need a major re-imagining or a significant revamp. She has existed, thanks to a mostly unchanged formula, for 70 plus years. It is about time that Hollywood got reacquainted with the “real” her.
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