Whedon on Wonder Woman
Looks like it's official.
Emory and I got into a big fight several weeks ago about the possible success of a Wonder Woman movie. He was certain it would be a monster blockbuster, whereas I was sure that while everyone recognizes Wonder Woman, I was unsure of how many people would be genuinely interested in seeing a serious movie about her. Specifically, I thought men probably wouldn't be interested. I will cite current sales on the Wonder Woman comic as evidence of my claim. (If Emory and Leslie were swallowed up in an earthquake or something and no longer bought monthly issues, Wonder Woman would be one of the few titles I would strongly consider getting on a monthly basis, but the book still sells like ass.) But hopefully the movie will do well.
Emory and I got into a big fight several weeks ago about the possible success of a Wonder Woman movie. He was certain it would be a monster blockbuster, whereas I was sure that while everyone recognizes Wonder Woman, I was unsure of how many people would be genuinely interested in seeing a serious movie about her. Specifically, I thought men probably wouldn't be interested. I will cite current sales on the Wonder Woman comic as evidence of my claim. (If Emory and Leslie were swallowed up in an earthquake or something and no longer bought monthly issues, Wonder Woman would be one of the few titles I would strongly consider getting on a monthly basis, but the book still sells like ass.) But hopefully the movie will do well.
posted by Jeff at 9:41 AM
4 Comments:
Have you heard my Wonder Woman rant? It essentially consists of "I'm so goddamn bored by Wonder Woman."
But the problem with Wonder Woman, essentially, is that she's not a character. Every single iconic element of her character is external -- born an Amazon, sent by queen to be ambassador to men, snazzy superpowered accessories. Compare that to Batman's tragedy-fuelled quest for justice/vengeance or Superman's alien drive to fit in with humanity. I have never understood the whole DC triumverate thing because I've never understood Wonder Woman. Alas.
There are plenty of DC superheroines who are as interesting and faceted as their male counterparts. So many, in fact, that I don't recognize half the characters in Birds of Prey sometimes -- but they're all AWESOME. But Wonder Woman's just a blank.
Of course, if Whedon uses Gina Torres' Zoe as a model, it could work. COULD.
Greg Rucka talking about that: "Wonder Woman suffers, far more than Superman or Batman, from a lack of voice. I’m hoping that, by now in issue #208, people who are reading it know how Wonder Woman sounds, and what she is going to say, and how she responds, which is something that I don’t think was consistent prior to this. She’d get weepy, she’d revert to colloquialisms, and everywhere in between. She was very inconsistent."
GR has a history of wanting to take female characters that had the personality of cardboard cutouts and trying to do something with them. Hell, he even gave ELEKTRA a personality, and that's saying something.
--Leslie
Well-played, Rucka. Well-played.
I should really read the Rucka Wonder Woman. If only to see how the heck they do it.
Rucka's Wonder Woman completely rules.
He really plays up a lot of the mythology stuff, which I'm a complete sucker for, and shows how Diana being Athena's warrior takes such an intense toll on her. I think it is also safe to say that after then end of the "Stoned" storyarc, Diana is clearly the biggest badass in the DCU.
There's also a lot more diplomacy and world affairs stuff than you would find in Batman or Superman.
But I agree with you that few writers have really gotten a handle on Wonder Woman. Rucka's is worth it, I promise.
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