Wonder Woman

The movie doesn't have a script yet, but it seems everyone has someone in mind for the Wonder Woman role, usually for the wrong reasons. In Beyoncé's case, that would be, well, Beyoncé. As for Megan Fox, she fits the costume so amply, to the mind of one fanboy anyway, that a fake poster was created to convince fans that she had already been picked for the part.

A quote from Beyoncé captures the spirit nicely:

I would definitely have to keep it right for that costume. The way that Lynda Carter wore it, she was sooo fine. She was amazing. I saw her costume at the Met. Her waist was unbelievable. It was pretty crazy, actually, her proportions. But I love Wonder Woman and it'd be a dream come true to be that character. It sure would be handy to have that lasso. To make everybody tell the truth? I need that. It would come in very handy.

Is this really the best way to go about picking our heroines?

There has been no other actress more tailor-made for the role of a superheroine than Brooke Shields. At six feet, Brooke's stature alone affords her a commanding screen presence. That she also has a powerful physique makes her an even more formidable heroine. (No stranger to the gym, she is a fitness buff and has mighty arms to show for it.) Indeed, her Amazonian frame overwhelms the camera in a mere car commercial:



Thus it's a pity that we've not seen Brooke kicking ass on television or the big screen. This is no fault of hers, though—blame Hollywood for not making enough superheroine roles available. Consider Wonder Woman, for instance. Brooke seems like an obvious candidate for the role (if not now because of her age, then certainly in the past). But we are still waiting for a movie to materialize, despite years of talk.

Perhaps we will yet see Brooke, her muscles flexed, pummeling bad guys and saving the world. But so far all we have is her turn as Brenda Starr:

Still no word on a live-action film, but here is a trailer for the upcoming animated movie:



Wonder Woman is slated for release on DVD in February 2009. The voice is Keri Russell's. (Visit wonderwomanmovie.com for more information.)

Unfortunately, this year's Comic-Con didn't provide much news for those of us hoping to see more female superheroes on the big screen; male characters continue to dominate the genre—surprise.

There are, however, three superheroine films in the works: Magdalena, Red Sonja, and The Witchblade. (Wikipedia can help if you're not familiar with the Magdalena, Red Sonja, or Witchblade comics.) I suspect all three films were motivated by the hotness factor with little consideration for much else, and casting splintery Rose McGowan as Red Sonja is probably a recipe for box-office disaster (see: "The subtle sexism behind bad female action films"). I'll try to remain optimistic, though.

On another front, a recent summit between Warner Bros. and DC Comics may be a sign that we're finally getting close to seeing a Wonder Woman movie. Time Warner shareholders have no doubt been happy with Dark Knight's box-office receipts, but they must be asking themselves, How much more are we missing out on? And there is no better comic-book character to discover that with than Wonder Woman, easily the most identifiable, and thus bankable, superhero still without a feature film.

Playing with Hulu (I love new toys) has given me an idea: virtual Wonder Woman auditions. True, Joel Silver and the ninnies at Warner Bros. do not have a movie ready for production yet, but it can't hurt to get an early start on casting; besides, Silver and company need all the help they can get.

First up, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe. You would be hard-pressed to find an actress who fits the traditional Wonder Woman image better than this athletic, blue-eyed, raven-haired Amazon. This clip (use link if you cannot view the clip on the page) is from season three of Prison Break. Jodi is in her evil mode here, but she can do nice, too:



And here is Jodi explaining her role on Prison Break:

The Incredible Hulk opens today, and according to Trey June (I've lost track), this is the 17th live-action film featuring a Marvel character in the past eight years. Sadly, though, we won't be seeing a superheroine on the big screen this summer, or next for that matter (unless she is part of an ensemble cast), largely because our best known and most popular superheroine, Wonder Woman, who should have at least one feature film by now, is being held captive by the handwringing bunglers at Warner Bros.

Oh well, it's only a matter of time before Marvel gets around to making a She-Hulk movie. Casting ideas anyone?

This piece at Huffington Post is generally spot on. But it does get one thing wrong: Wonder Woman is A-list. She ranks right up there with Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man. She's just as recognizable, and every bit as marketable. The severe bout of incompetence that Warner Bros. is experiencing right now is to blame for her not having her own movie yet (although sexism may be a factor as well).

True, no Wonder Woman movie is a loss for all of us, but Time Warner shareholders should be especially unhappy about this state of affairs; they are the ones missing out on untold millions in potential revenue.

See if you can make sense of this. Wonder Woman is completely stalled; but it's still in development—indeed, writers are working on a new script now. So which is it? I don't know; sadly, Joel Silver apparently doesn't either.

Oh, and since Justice League now seems done for, it will be a long while before we get to see Wonder Woman on the big screen—that is, unless Silver gets his act together soon.

Doomsday hasn't made much of a splash at the box office, and reviews for the movie have generally been mixed at best (though some, like SciFi.com's, have been unabashedly positive). But people are talking about Rhona Mitra nonetheless.

For example, Cynthia Fuchs, in an interesting review at PopMatters, starts off by saying:

Rhona Mitra’s back. If there’s a single image worth contemplating in Doomsday, it’s her strapping lats and shoulders. Whatever else she did to prepare for her work as Major Eden Sinclair, Mitra and her trainers spent serious time hardening her body.

Then later on:

While Eden draws obvious inspiration from precursors (Linda Hamilton, Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich, even Buffy), she’s also a vaguely new kind of mad girl. Her intimidating back is one indication of the shift she embodies, legible as a sign of her multiple rejections, as well as her resilience and strength. Her morality is practical, her motives conditional.

Jason of icongeek makes this point:

As of late we have seen a lot of female protagonists heading up action movies. Milla Jovovich, Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckinsale, etc… but after seeing Doomsday I’m hoping to see Rhona Mitra leading the way. She was not just the requisite eye candy, but actually gave a sense of real strength to her role. She’s in awesome condition conjuring Linda Hamilton in her Terminator 2 days. When this woman hits some thundering lug, you believe it will hurt. This is in stark contrast to the too lady-like and dainty approach of many other actresses. She’s tough and fit enough to make it believable, yet still remains feminine and sexy even when battered, bruised and dirty.

Which dovetails with what I said after seeing Doomsday.

But perhaps saloprix best captures the lasting impression Mitra makes with her comment at AfterEllen:

i had no idea who she was before i saw this, but my god; i love action films and women kicking ass, and this movie was the best birthday present that i could have given myself.

So what next for Rhona Mitra, our newly crowned queen of action? Actually, I can partly answer that: expect to see her in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which is set for release some time in 2009. But what then? And is there an iconic role ready-made for her? Based on my perusal of the Internet, I can give three suggestions which are repeated quite often: Catwoman, Lara Croft, and Wonder Woman. I don't have a strong preference here. (Although I'm not a big Catwoman fan, I'm more than willing to give the character a chance with Mitra at the helm.) I just want to see her in something worthy of her talent, preferably soon.

I am, however, curious to know what you think; hence, I'm trying something new for this blog: a poll. You should see it over on the left, so please take the time to vote. And if you pick "Other" be sure to post a comment and let us know what role, if any, you have in mind.

According to Megan Gale, that is. (The rumor, by the way, has been around for a while. I reported on it last month.)

I'm a bit underwhelmed by the choice. But it is good that Megan has "stepped up her fitness regimen" and will "learn how to fight and wield deadly weapons" (whatever that means), because merely being a Lynda Carter lookalike isn't enough.

This, of course, is contingent on the JLA movie ever getting made. Considering WB's track record, that's not a given either.

Well, Playboy has posted their response to the brouhaha over their February cover. Since much of the criticism was misguided to begin with, their riposte is, for the most part, immaterial. So make of it what you will.

I did, however, run across one snippet, something Playboy got essentially correct, that is worth repeating here:

Is Wonder Woman a feminist icon? If you say so. Is she a sex symbol? Without a doubt. Are the two mutually exclusive? Creator William Moulton Marston would have found the question laughable. The false dichotomy that separates female sex appeal from female intellect and strength of character hobbles feminism, and that’s been Playboy’s view for over 50 years.

Indeed, feminism's worst enemy may well be the sexual puritans who masquerade as feminists.

I should say something about the February 2008 Playboy cover, which features a nude Tiffany Fallon recast as Wonder Woman with the help of some body paint (NSFW link). Much has been said about it already, but the view presented here is often missed, and thus merits repeating.

There is, namely, nothing wrong with seeing Wonder Woman as a sex symbol—so long as her role as a symbol of strength isn't forgotten in the process. She can happily be both. The two things, in fact, are inextricably joined together.

So the question becomes, What qualifies Ms. Fallon to be Wonder Woman? Put another way, Where are the muscles? the athletic accomplishments? the fighting skills? Alas, they are not to be found; Tiffany Fallon is no Amazon: beautiful yes, perhaps a good person too, but not a symbol of strength, not by any stretch of the imagination.

That's where Playboy got it wrong, and where the outrage, if any, should lie.

This New York Sun article about Wonder Woman brings something to light that is often overlooked, "To Marston, it was always very clear: Women weren't simply as good as men — they were better than men." I see plenty of support for that in this interview with Dr. Marston; and it seems reasonable to conclude that Wonder Woman, rather than being a mere symbol of equality, was meant to symbolize, and usher in an era of, dominant female strength.

Conversely, too much is made of Marston's polyamorous relationship and interest in bondage and submission. Those things no doubt were, along with the two women Marston shared that relationship with (especially his wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston), important to the development of Wonder Woman. But this is nothing to be troubled by unless you're a wowser (and don't be fooled into thinking so by those who market sexual puritanism under a guise like feminism); indeed, there is substantive meaning behind many of the "sexual" images found in his stories.

When, for example, a bound Wonder Woman silently articulates Aphrodite's Law, "When an amazon girl permits a MAN to chain her bracelets of submission together she becomes as weak as other women in a man-ruled world!" the not-so-hidden meaning seems clear enough. But just in case, here is Marston in his own words (from the interview linked above): "The Amazons once surrendered to the charm of some handsome Greeks and what a mess they got themselves into. The Greeks put them in chains of the Hitler type, beat them, and made them work like horses in the fields. Aphrodite, goddess of love, finally freed these unhappy girls. But she laid down the rule that they must never surrender to a man for any reason. I know of no better advice to give modern women than this rule that Aphrodite gave the Amazon girls."

William Moulton Marston was, at least to some extent, ahead of his time, and just as the New York Sun article says, his ideas went beyond plain feminism—affirming, instead, the superior strength (in all senses of that word) of women. Those views were personified in Wonder Woman, and perhaps that is the secret to her lasting appeal.

Additional sources: "Suffering Sappho! A Look At The Creator & Creation of Wonder Woman."

Megan Gale, a fashion model who apparently does some of her work sans clothes, is the new Wonder Woman (also here), at least that is this week's casting rumor.

Megan is 5'11", generally has the right features, and doesn't look like a light breeze would get the best of her (pics: 1, 2), which, to her credit, does put her ahead of a few Wonder Woman wannabes. On the other hand, she isn't especially athletic and there are better candidates for the role who are.

Then we have all the nude photos floating around. I, of course, don't have a problem with them, but some people might and that could pose a problem for Warner Brothers—something to consider when judging the veracity of the rumor anyway.

Gina Carano, our favorite fight girl, has been having her name thrown in the mix quite a bit lately. First, Gina was a candidate to be Wonder Woman in the upcoming JLA movie (partly thanks to yours truly). And now, she is rumored to be an American Gladiator.

Gina, of course, deserves all the attention she's getting, and then some. While I'm not convinced yet that there is anything to the American Gladiators rumor, I'm fairly certain that somehow we're going to be seeing a lot more of Gina soon. She is simply too exceptional to remain in relative obscurity for very long.

American Gladiator or Wonder Woman? Methinks we win either way.


Photo by Tom Casino/EliteXC