So there have been a couple of news stories in the past few days revolving DC’s movie universe, and it looks like we’re soon going to see Wonder Women herself on the big screen. Great news, right?
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| Nope. |
Well, hold on a second. Turns out she’s not getting her own movie. Nope! She’s being thrown in as a cameo in the Superman vs. Batman film, leading to the inevitable Justice League movie. What do you think she is, the world’s most famous superheroine and one of DC’s iconic superhero trinity? Come on now!
I won’t rehash all the tired excuses over why a Wonder Woman movie won’t work. Okay, how about just one — “Her villains aren’t iconic!” Because moviegoers worldwide were OH SO FAMILIAR with Thor’s triumph over the Ice Giants of Jotunheim. Okay, I’m done.
It’s clear from this move that WB, and to some extent DC, has no faith in the Wonder Woman character. She’ll show up at the end of Bats vs Supes, shake her inevitable star-spangled panties (because you know it would betray canon to change her costume, not like we’ve ever worried about that with male superheroes!) and expect us to cheer.
And that won’t be the end. There will be no fucking Wonder Woman movie. There will be no Wonder Woman origin story. The followup to Supes vs. Bats is clearly Justice League, where Wonder Woman will be relegated to an also-ran along with Aquaman and Hawkman or who the fuck ever the put in to round out the cast, when Superman and Batman will be doing the brunt of the dramatic work.
Fuck everything about this. Fuck WB. Fuck DC. Fuck Zack Snyder. Fuck this shitty, cowardly move.
As if that wasn’t enough, look at their other announcement this week: DC has already decided to dip into their second-tier heroes to try to expand their cinematic roster. That’s right. Booster Gold and the Suicide Squad are getting movies before Wonder Woman.
Let me repeat that.
The Suicide Squad is getting a movie before Wonder Woman.
I’m probably being hyperbolic, but it’s hard to come to any other conclusion than that DC simply has no respect for its female characters. It’s shown this time and time again. It’s sad, disappointing and infuriating that such a powerful feminist icon (really, one of the few powerful feminist icons that exists in pop culture) is held back by such myopic asshats.
As for the casting itself: I’m sure Gal Gadot will be fine. Whatever. I’m not familiar with her work, but she looks the part and by all accounts she’s a pretty tough woman. But the fact that she’s not a bankable star in the same way Christian Bale, Ben Affleck or even Henry Cavill (a main actor in a long-running, popular TV show) were makes me think it’s fairly unlikely that the producers have pegged her to headline her own movie franchise.
Is it possible that I’m exaggerating this, that Wonder Woman’s cameo will be tasteful and well-received and will lead the way for a superbly-written, power, feminist Wonder Woman solo film? Uh, sure. Is it less likely than a Texas snowstorm in July? Yeah, I think so. Especially, as Charlie Anders so deftly points out, with Zack Snyder at the helm (though I’ll point out I disagree with her about Wonder Woman being substantially harder to adapt than any other hero).
All the more reason for me to finish editing that Wonder Woman script that’s been lying here on my hard drive. Not to prove how awesome I am, but to prove how goddamn easy it is to make a compelling Wonder Woman film, if people would just pull their heads out of their asses.