With news that Wonder Woman will be part of the Man of Steel sequel with Batman I reached out to the author who literally wrote the book on super heroines. Mike Madrid chronicled the history of women in comics in The Supergirls with a huge section devoted to the most famous woman in comics.
With such a long history, devoted fan following, iconic television series and numerous attempts at films and new television shows, the Amazon Princess finally hits the big screen. I asked Madrid about the casting choice.
“Like all Wonder Woman fans, I have my own idea of how I see the heroine. Personally, I would have loved to see a Wonder Woman movie with Catherine Zeta Jones in the lead,” said Madrid.
“I’m not familiar with Gal Godot’s work to date. She’s certainly attractive. I watched her in a clip from one of the Fast and Furious movies and I saw a tough but confident quality in her that made me feel optimistic about her ability to play Wonder Woman.”
Fans may be thrilled to see DC Comics’ Big Three together in the upcoming movie but Madrid wonders why couldn’t Diana hold her own in a solo movie?
“The bigger issue for me is the fact that Wonder Woman is not headlining her own movie, but is being included in a Batman and Superman movie. Gravity and The Hunger Games were big box office champs, and both had strong female stars. But the studios still don’t think that audiences will go to see a Wonder Woman movie, so we have to work her into a “guy” movie. I was not a fan of Man of Steel, so I’m not sure how I’ll feel about a Wonder Woman interpreted by director Zack Snyder. Hopefully his Wonder Woman will be more of a warrior than the battling Victoria’s Secrets models featured in his film Sucker Punch.”
With Superman – studios have gone for little known new faces. With Batman – the studio went big – Ben Affleck is the latest example. But for Wonder Woman is having a younger fresh face the right casting call?
“Would I have liked to have seen an established actress like Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Christina Hendricks or Gina Carano play Wonder Woman? Of course. But we have to remember that Lynda Carter didn’t have many acting credits to her name when she was cast in the role of Wonder Woman. And for many her interpretation of the Amazon princess is the gold standard. So we’ll have to reserve judgment until 2015 to see what kind of Wonder Woman we get from Ms. Godot.”
For the history of Wonder Woman and other icons check out The Supergirls by Mike Madrid and Divas, Dames and Daredevils for this exploration of lost heroines of the Golden Age.
The still untitled Man of Steel sequel with Batman and Wonder Woman soars into cinemas in Summer 2015.
Here’s my op/ed on what having Wonder Woman in the film could mean for the future of the DC film franchise.
By Editor
Here’s a link to show your support of the Amazon Princess with Wonder Woman gear & gifts for the holidays and comicons in 2014!