Joss Whedon perhaps came the closest to bringing Wonder Woman to the big screen, but Warner Brothers apparently didn’t care for his approach. As Whedon tells it, the studio just stopped communicating with him on the project. Recently, ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘The Heat’ director, Paul Feig discussed a pitch he made to the studio for the trouble super hero.
According to IGN:
The idea for Feig’s film would’ve involved a Wonder Woman who “keeps hitting the glass ceiling” of the superhero world. Conceived as a lighter action-comedy, this Princess Diana of Themyscira has to contend with male heroes like Batman and Superman who are perhaps not as forward-thinking regarding their female counterpart as they should be. (I think the word “jerks” might’ve come up.) Feig compared this Wonder Woman to the suffragist Cicely Hamilton (who wrote the 1908 “feminist” play Diana of Dobson’s).
Well, that’s certainly a different take on the character. When asked, he stated that the tone of ‘Iron Man’ was “basically” what he was aiming for, but admits that fans can be very protective of their favorite characters and resistant to major changes like these.
In addition to the lighter tone Feig came up with, another problem I can see with the concept is Batman and Superman being in it. There might have been conflicts with those heroes’ personal movie franchises. (Warner Brothers is just now starting to integrate their characters into the same universe.)
Then again, look at the Marvel movies, most of which do have something of a more comedic “fun” feel to them, as opposed to the incredibly dark DC films. Maybe DC and Warner Brothers should actually consider following suit. It probably won’t happen with the next movie ‘Batman Vs. Superman’ (or whatever they end up calling it). ‘Man of Steel’ was a decidedly darker spin on the lead hero and of course Batman is always cynical. But maybe down the line, they could take a few chances. After all, characters like The Flash and Green Lantern have a much brighter, casual feel to them.
Do you think Feig’s take would have worked? Or would it have been a farce? Comment below!