will wonder woman ever come to life on screen?

There are lots of reasons to love Wonder Woman. For me, she is an idol not only because of the simple things such as the fact that she is a powerful woman, a positive role model and just plain cool, but also that her character has sustained itself since its creation in a 1942 comic, even though comics and their respective movies and TV series are still a male-dominated environment.

However, her image has remained largely in print version, save for Lynda Carter’s portrayal in the 1970s TV series and the 2009 flop animation version, Wonder Woman. Recently, there’s been a lot of hype on the inter-webs pressuring Hollywood to make a Wonder Woman film – not only a film, but also a GREAT film, which is of course making filmmakers nervous as hell. However, I agree that there really does need to be a film made about Wonder Woman – as superhero movies such as The Amazing Spiderman, Man of Steel, and Batman – The Dark Knight Rises (note the word ‘man’ in all of those titles), just to name a few recent movies, are all focused on male heroes.

Feminists and comic book fans alike are teaming up to pressure for a film, but from Hollywood we are seeing a growing concern about whether a Wonder Woman film would make any money or have better success than Catwoman and Elektra. Filmmakers are afraid of another flop, and of course they would be. But I can’t help think of the phrase ‘no risk, no reward’ here.

There is of course a huge risk in making such a film, because Wonder Woman is not just any superhero – like I mentioned earlier, she has been considered a feminist icon for decades. However, the pressure from fans to have a film that is perfect (is anything in this world really perfect?) is creating more problems than it’s worth. The head of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson, is now caught on the wrong side of the Wonder Woman battle “perfectionism vs. let’s-just-make-this-happen-because-we’ve been-waiting-forever”,  as she stated earlier this year that to make such a film ‘We have to get her right, we have to.’ Why is there an obsession with getting her right? Why can’t we just put our creative heads together and make something worthwhile without fussing over the politics and stressing over the little things? Maybe this has something to do with the fact that this is not just any film, it’s a film with a leading female role, and our culture still struggles with making females leaders.

So really, the pressure is being felt quite strongly, and fans may be making it harder for Hollywood to just sit back, relax and do what they are actually good at – making great films. Either way, the recent debate has probably gotten a lot more people talking about making a Wonder Woman flick, so maybe in the next few years we’ll see a pay-off. In 2011, a Wonder Woman TV series at Warner Bros. Television was given the green light, but alas the project ‘failed to find a home at the network.’ Also, Joss Whedon was unsuccessful in getting a WW film off the ground a few years back, but maybe now, someone else can step up. Perhaps, a female director?! Wow, now wouldn’t that be cool!

To see evidence of comic book fans who really want a Wonder Woman film made and believe that her character can actually kick some butt so deserves a spot in the limelight, check out Rainfall Films’ short on YouTube, ‘Wonder Woman.’ The short was made on a very small budget by die-hard fans, and since September has clocked in over 4 million views! Maybe a number that high will soon catch Hollywood’s attention … we can only hope.

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