San Diego Comic-Con is currently going on and USAmerican comic book companies are revealing all manner of information about future material in the comics, as well as discussing casting decisions for ongoing television series, and most importantly for this post, showing trailers for upcoming movies. DC has released the trailer for the 6/23/17 debuting Wonder Woman, which sees Gal Gadot reprise her role as the Amazing Amazon (she first appeared in the dismal Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice flick earlier this year). Watching the trailer, it’s apparent that the filmmakers have gotten down an otherworldly feel to Diana, as well as her fighting skills and great power. The only thing I worry about is whether they will develop her beyond ‘warrior woman’. For me, Wonder Woman is best as a character who is a compassionate, empathetic, diplomatic warrior. Some of that might seem contradictory, but under the pen of writers like Gail Simone and Greg Rucka, Wonder Woman shines as someone with tremendous compassion for living beings (not just humans). She’s also someone who was raised in an all-female culture of immortals who mastered numerous fighting styles, but is also well read and highly intelligent. She’s a skilled diplomat who always strives to resolve conflicts without violence unless absolutely necessary. Which makes sense, bc she respects and values life. She doesn’t want to bring pain to anyone if she doesn’t have to. And at times, she’ll almost bend over backwards to avoid fighting. But when it comes down to it and a battle seems inevitable, the warrior in her will rise, and she becomes a relentless fighting machine. Trained. Skilled. Nearly unstoppable. She’ll fight to resolve the conflict at hand using every tool at her disposal (including diplomacy; she’s been known to continue trying to deescalate a situation in the middle of a fight), up to and including lethal force if her opponent(s) presents sufficient danger to others or herself. It is this combination of character traits that draws me to Wonder Woman, and is the thing I’m most worried about being accurately depicted in the movie. The trailer doesn’t appear to touch on any diplomatic skills, but it does show her as a warrior. Here’s hoping the finished product will present a much more rounded Wonder Woman, as it is time for this character to shine on the big screen and show the world how wonderful she truly is.
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The opening is straight out of The Little Mermaid 😀 and I bet they will forego any diplomacy in favour of her warrior skills. It looks good! I mean, for a superhero action movie. 😉 Looking forward to it!
Your description of Wonder Woman, is that how she has been from the beginning? Or is that “reluctant warrior” aspect more recent?
Aside from that, after the, let’s face it, bleakness of Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman, Wonder Woman really seems to have a sense of lightness to it from the trailer. Both the “What I do is not up to you” and the “Where I am from, that’s called a slave” are fantastic. And they did a good job of not featuring the male lead in almost any capacity in the trailer, despite it being Chris Pine. I’m guessing he has more of a presence in the movie, because you don’t cast Chris Pine and then ignore him, but I really hope this movie is about Wonder Woman.
I think I’d call her more of a diplomatic warrior (or something along those lines) and no, she hasn’t classically been that. She was created in the early 40s by the same guy who created the lie detector (William Moulton Marston). He fancied himself something of a women’s rights advocate and had some rather progressive ideas about women (for the time), but he didn’t focus on her as someone striving to bring a set of progressive values to the world. At least not in the way writers like Gail Simone and Greg Rucka have done. That’s why when I refer to Wonder Woman being written at her best, I try to clarify that “her best” is my subjective opinion. Because for many decades after she was created, she was rarely written well.
I saw a TV special that pointed out there was a lot of “wink-wink” type bondage in her early books. I also don’t remember her being as Superman strong as she became from early on.
But I’ve watched the trailer 5 times already and it’s just fantastic, in all senses of the word. I am looking forward to Wonder Woman. I can’t say that about Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman. I didn’t care to see those at all, and Batman is probably my favorite “superhero”. (Yeah, he’s a regular guy, that’s why the quotes.)
This comment makes me want to watch the trailer again. Is that wrong?