DC Should Just Announce A Wonder Woman Movie Already

[OrokuSaki]

So here's the 2 cents of a pessimist: People need to stop pushing for a Wonder Woman movie. Not because she isn't a worthwhile character, and not because I'm some he-man woman-hater, they need to stop pushing for it because it's been proven on multiple occasions that the DC cinematic universe is a no-go.

Remember Green Lantern? Or Man of Steel? Do you really want one of those to star Wonder Woman? I can see the internet exploding with feminist rage already.

One thing that I noticed by reading the first page is that a lot of references are being made to the MCU, which has been going strong so far. But these aren't fair comparisons because they're actually going strong. So far everything that DC has thrown out there that wasn't Batman has been wildly disappointing and I think that's because the art direction is summarized as "Like Batman but".

So that's what you're basically asking for by bringing up Wonder Woman, you're asking DC to make a movie that's like Batman but a woman with the powers of Superman. You're not going to get a faithful depiction of the amazon warrior-woman, you're going to get a morally questionable stripper/brawler who goes around punching mythological creatures in dark alleys.

 

[mjharper]

"making DC Superheroes look like they're standing in the rain blasting Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". "

Are you sure that's really the Peter Gabriel song you mean? The big, uplifting number he usually ends the main part of gigs with, often having Africans in brightly coloured clothes come on stage to chant throughout?

I'd have though "No Self-Control", or even "Red Rain" would have been more fitting Gabriel songs...

You haven't seen Say Anything, have you?

Nope. It's a rom-com isn't it? I know the song is used in it, but I don't understand how that fits with Sad Batman...

It's a dramedy, not a Romcom, but yeah. In brief: in the summer after he graduates high school, the main character Lloyd Dobbler (played by John Cusack) starts dating one of his (now former) classmates, an honor student named Diane Court (played by Ione Skye). They hit it off, clearly have a really special connection, fall in love, lose their virginity to one another, etc. But her dad (played by John Mahoney!) doesn't approve - he thinks Lloyd isn't good enough to date his daughter basically because Lloyd isn't as academically minded and, so dad, fears, will drag her down. So he pressures Diane and eventually convinces her to break up with Lloyd in a really casual way that suggests "sorry I never really liked you that much, lol sorr kthxbye". Lloyd kind of goes into a depression spiral, since obviously an 18 year old is perfectly equipped to know they've met The One for the rest of time (sarcasm). He tries a few times to win her back, which the viewer is meant to find sincere and touching but kind of comes off as sad and pathetic. Eventually, Diane's dad turns out to have been defrauding the government by claiming taxes for residents of the assisted living facility he runs long after they had died, and goes to jail. Diane previously hero-worshipped her father and this completely sends her into a spiral of her own. But, she goes to Lloyd for support, they get back together, she basically breaks up with her father in the same way he convinced her to break up with Lloyd (IRONY), and Lloyd and Diane fly to England together (she is moving there for college). THE END.

ANYWAY, The film's most iconic scene has him show up at her house during one of his unsuccessful attempts to win her back. It's rainy, and he stands in front of his car holding up a boombox blasting In Your Eyes, which is the song they lost their virginity to. It's such a super serious, unintentionally hilarious scene, especially as the years go on and the film does not age well at all.

Okay, thanks. I get it now

Still not convinced it was the best way to communicate the angst-sodden images of the BvSoJ, though. Perhaps something a little more, um, contemporary would have worked better

 

[anthony87]

Making a movie as a middle finger to a rival company or just to have a female lead are terrible reasons to make a film though...

 

[RossaLincoln]

"making DC Superheroes look like they're standing in the rain blasting Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". "

Are you sure that's really the Peter Gabriel song you mean? The big, uplifting number he usually ends the main part of gigs with, often having Africans in brightly coloured clothes come on stage to chant throughout?

I'd have though "No Self-Control", or even "Red Rain" would have been more fitting Gabriel songs...

You haven't seen Say Anything, have you?

Nope. It's a rom-com isn't it? I know the song is used in it, but I don't understand how that fits with Sad Batman...

It's a dramedy, not a Romcom, but yeah. In brief: in the summer after he graduates high school, the main character Lloyd Dobbler (played by John Cusack) starts dating one of his (now former) classmates, an honor student named Diane Court (played by Ione Skye). They hit it off, clearly have a really special connection, fall in love, lose their virginity to one another, etc. But her dad (played by John Mahoney!) doesn't approve - he thinks Lloyd isn't good enough to date his daughter basically because Lloyd isn't as academically minded and, so dad, fears, will drag her down. So he pressures Diane and eventually convinces her to break up with Lloyd in a really casual way that suggests "sorry I never really liked you that much, lol sorr kthxbye". Lloyd kind of goes into a depression spiral, since obviously an 18 year old is perfectly equipped to know they've met The One for the rest of time (sarcasm). He tries a few times to win her back, which the viewer is meant to find sincere and touching but kind of comes off as sad and pathetic. Eventually, Diane's dad turns out to have been defrauding the government by claiming taxes for residents of the assisted living facility he runs long after they had died, and goes to jail. Diane previously hero-worshipped her father and this completely sends her into a spiral of her own. But, she goes to Lloyd for support, they get back together, she basically breaks up with her father in the same way he convinced her to break up with Lloyd (IRONY), and Lloyd and Diane fly to England together (she is moving there for college). THE END.

ANYWAY, The film's most iconic scene has him show up at her house during one of his unsuccessful attempts to win her back. It's rainy, and he stands in front of his car holding up a boombox blasting In Your Eyes, which is the song they lost their virginity to. It's such a super serious, unintentionally hilarious scene, especially as the years go on and the film does not age well at all.

Okay, thanks. I get it now

Still not convinced it was the best way to communicate the angst-sodden images of the BvSoJ, though. Perhaps something a little more, um, contemporary would have worked better

Yeah, I realize now that I pulled the equivalent of expecting people to instantly get a reference to Stephen Foster. I AM NOT ACTUALLY 70 YEARS OLD!

 

[Verlander]

*sigh*

First off, on the most basic and elemental point, I agree. There should be a Wonder Woman movie, sooner rather than later. I think Gal Gadot is a good enough actress and a strong enough presence that she could definitely pull off being the lead of a movie, and DC is in a good position to make that movie happen. At the very least, it would put something on their release schedule that fans could look forward to with interest and curiosity, rather than the mild dread and possible eagerness to pull things down that BvSoJ seems to have engendered in that same base.

So, look at that! I want to agree!

...And then the editorial had to throw in "Xena meets bondage costume" (what?!), "stripperific", "mansplaining unimaginative losers", "unimaginative and dickish", and calling a perfectly reasonable explanation "full of shit" because it was only viewed through a narrow lens that was pre-ordained to come to the conclusion that supported the hypothesis.

And, yes, I read the footnoted editorial... And I'm beginning to wish the Escapist as a whole would get out of the habit of using editorials to "support" other editorials.

I would like to see a Black Widow movie, too, and I'm hoping that if the (rumored!) budget concerns are an issue, they can be overcome; I would hardly be surprised if Scarlett Johansson was perfectly capable of negotiating a hefty salary at this point, with or without a headliner title.

But the amount of care Marvel has put into crafting a universe that works has earned them the right to be taken with a shred of credulity if they say that their arc doesn't fit in a female-led movie right now. Ten movies in a row that were all above average, all of which seemed to be building and expanding their collective universe: that hasn't been done before. And it suggests to me that maybe we shouldn't congratulate ourselves for our willingness to lean over the engineer's shoulder, poke them in their tool-using arm, and yell "YOU SHOULD PUT A GEAR RIGHT HERE! GEARS ARE GREAT!"

...And I'm beginning to think no one who writes for the Escapist actually understands what "mansplaining" means. "Mansplaining" isn't when a man explains something, or even explains something to a woman, or even explains it to a woman condescendingly. It's when a man presumes to explain something to a woman that she already knows.

That's not behavior that's unique or necessarily common to men, and the term is ridiculously sexist to boot. It is asshole behavior which I have seen both sexes participate in, and the term should die.

A little more to say, but I think that's it for steam venting; I'll be back in a bit (I'm sure everyone will wait with bated breath (said jokingly.))

Wow, first time in a long time someone's written something that entirely captured how I feel. What this person said!

OT: I think that there's an unreasonable expectation on Wonder Woman. On all of DC's characters really, because they're all pretty iconic, but Wonder Woman more than most. Marvel won with their audience by not leading with the big characters and dragging the rest behind. DC are trying to force their most profitable characters down our throats and slide in a few more while we're gagging. What DC need to do is launch with a female lead that isn't Wonder Woman. Then you'll get our attention.

Except you won't, because you can't do it.

 

[Lightknight]

There are several female-led movies I would go watch. Wonder Woman is not one of them. From her sordid history of being created as a bondage character (look it up) to her laughably stupid gadgets (Invisible jet, lasso, boomerang tiara, and bullet proof bracelets despite her now being all bullet proof anyways) to her occasionally militant anti-male behavior depending on who is doing the writing, I have no interest in her whatsoever.

Zatanna, Power Woman, Jade, Starfire, Steel (Natasha Irons), Hawk, and Raven would all interest me before Wonder Woman.

Even the Batwoman, Superwoman, Mary Marvel, Hawk Girl and even Wonder Girl would be higher up on my list.

I wonder how a harlequin movie would do...

In any event, if I were a girl I'd be more than a little upset that Wonder Woman got shoehorned in as the female representative of DC. It just goes to illustrate how shitty their female lineup was for half a century.

Sorry, but DC needs to revisit their Triumvirate rather than pushing such a lame hero. I mean, at least she's not as lame as the Silver Surfer is on paper (come on, a dude that surfs in space? hardie har), but at least he's a cool chrome color.

 

[mjharper]

"making DC Superheroes look like they're standing in the rain blasting Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". "

Are you sure that's really the Peter Gabriel song you mean? The big, uplifting number he usually ends the main part of gigs with, often having Africans in brightly coloured clothes come on stage to chant throughout?

I'd have though "No Self-Control", or even "Red Rain" would have been more fitting Gabriel songs...

You haven't seen Say Anything, have you?

Nope. It's a rom-com isn't it? I know the song is used in it, but I don't understand how that fits with Sad Batman...

It's a dramedy, not a Romcom, but yeah. In brief: in the summer after he graduates high school, the main character Lloyd Dobbler (played by John Cusack) starts dating one of his (now former) classmates, an honor student named Diane Court (played by Ione Skye). They hit it off, clearly have a really special connection, fall in love, lose their virginity to one another, etc. But her dad (played by John Mahoney!) doesn't approve - he thinks Lloyd isn't good enough to date his daughter basically because Lloyd isn't as academically minded and, so dad, fears, will drag her down. So he pressures Diane and eventually convinces her to break up with Lloyd in a really casual way that suggests "sorry I never really liked you that much, lol sorr kthxbye". Lloyd kind of goes into a depression spiral, since obviously an 18 year old is perfectly equipped to know they've met The One for the rest of time (sarcasm). He tries a few times to win her back, which the viewer is meant to find sincere and touching but kind of comes off as sad and pathetic. Eventually, Diane's dad turns out to have been defrauding the government by claiming taxes for residents of the assisted living facility he runs long after they had died, and goes to jail. Diane previously hero-worshipped her father and this completely sends her into a spiral of her own. But, she goes to Lloyd for support, they get back together, she basically breaks up with her father in the same way he convinced her to break up with Lloyd (IRONY), and Lloyd and Diane fly to England together (she is moving there for college). THE END.

ANYWAY, The film's most iconic scene has him show up at her house during one of his unsuccessful attempts to win her back. It's rainy, and he stands in front of his car holding up a boombox blasting In Your Eyes, which is the song they lost their virginity to. It's such a super serious, unintentionally hilarious scene, especially as the years go on and the film does not age well at all.

Okay, thanks. I get it now

Still not convinced it was the best way to communicate the angst-sodden images of the BvSoJ, though. Perhaps something a little more, um, contemporary would have worked better

Yeah, I realize now that I pulled the equivalent of expecting people to instantly get a reference to Stephen Foster. I AM NOT ACTUALLY 70 YEARS OLD!

LOL. I am actually 40 years old, and a Gabriel fan, so maybe I should have known