Skip to main content

Why Wonder Woman Doesn't Need an Origin Movie

Rileah Vanderbilt as Wonder Woman.
Rainfall films.
In the wake of the recent announcement at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con that the sequel to Man of Steel will feature Batman I've kind of got superhero movies on the brain.

Consensus among comic film watchers is that a Superman/Batman movie is definitely another step towards the Justice League film that Warner Bros has been trying to get off the ground - since before anyone believed an Avengers film would even work, let alone make more than a billion at the box office.

Inevitably that leads to questions about the introduction of other Justice League members, particularly Wonder Woman, who is arguably the most iconic superhero on the planet to not yet have a modern make-over, kick ass film for today's generation. Not through lack of trying. Even Avengers mastermind, Joss Whedon, had a Wonder Woman script ready to go before moving to Marvel.

If you're like me, you may be getting a bit tired of superhero origin films. Especially for iconic characters like Wonder Woman (Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Hulk) who already have mainstream familiarity. Most mainstream audiences even have some idea who the Flash is through his TV series but may not be as familiar with his alter ego(s).

Main stream audiences, if they do know Wonder Woman's origin story are more likely to know the the seventies TV show version. I've tried to follow the origin story of the latest incarnation of the character in DC comic's New 52 universe and, quite frankly, it's a dog's breakfast of ideas linked to Greek Gods and mythology, with no explanation of her first contact with the modern world and how that all went down.

Getting around to the point of this article (finally), until recently (after doing research as I don't read comics at all), I didn't have clue about Wonder Woman's origin story but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying the character or wanting to see her finally get her own big screen, live action film. Which leads me to wonder, why does her first film need to be a detailed origin story? Especially when it has been shown that they're not essential.

If you look at past DC films, Batman  '89 wasn't a Batman origin story even though it was the first live action Batman on film since Adam West and was a complete redesign of the live action version of the character.

At most it was a year one story, as Batman seemed to be just at the beginning of spreading the word about himself. His origin was addressed in flashbacks and through other characters investigations, but they weren't the focus of the film.

If anything it was a Joker origin story. Batman was pretty well established with his suit, car, tech and cave. All that was left was to introduce himself as a crime fighter to Gotham.

Coincidentally, the Joker, who is a hugely iconic Batman villain, was given no origin story at all in The Dark Knight. Everything you needed to know about him was told by his cohorts in the film's opening scene. Everything else you learned from the Joker himself as the movie progresses.

Even when you think you're learning the back story of his scars, the Joker later retells it differently, and you realize the first story is probably not how he got them either. By the end of the film you know as much about the Joker's origin as you did at the beginning of the film.

I'm not saying Wonder Woman's origin should not be addressed. I just don't see why that has to be such a big part of the movie? Can't Wonder Woman just show up to some major crisis, wow the socks off everybody, then we gradually get to learn about her origin as the movie progresses.

Man of Steel and The Dark Knight Trilogy both were far more interesting films when they started to explore how the military, government, local law and wider community reacted to having to deal with the introduction of a superhero into those worlds. Why not use that angle with Wonder Woman right from the get go, whilst she deals with whatever the wider threat is that brought her to the public's attention in the first place?

By the time Wonder Woman is introduced into the DC cinematic universe, people in that universe will have started to come to terms with superheroes, particularly one as powerful as Superman. The appearance of Wonder Woman would still be major news and potentially still one for government concern. However just like the end of Man of Steel, there's no reason why Wonder Woman couldn't be welcomed into that uneasy alliance Earth has already established with Superman.

There's also quite a lot of potential future plot lines in that alliance for future movies. Yes we treat superheroes as allies but that doesn't stop the military and other organisations from keeping a wary eye on their activities should they become a threat.

All of these superhero movies are intended to be franchise films. This means that we could be learning about their origins over multiple films.

How about a plot line where Wonder Woman doesn't actually reveal her origin? If you go with her original origin she probably wouldn't want to disclose the existence of an undiscovered island of female Amazon warriors on Earth. There could be a character (Lois Lane perhaps?) that spends their time trying to discover the origins of such a fantastical being over several movies.

There's so many ways to introduce mainstream audiences to superhero characters without starting with an origin story. Why do we need to know everything about them before they save the planet? When you make a new friend it can take years to discover their history and even then you'll probably never know all of it.

That's actually why I think Wonder Woman doesn't need an origin movie. She would be a much more intriguing character if you didn't know her back story. People are always saying Wonder Woman needs to be sexy. What's sexier than a woman who's a total mystery to begin with?

That's why Wonder Woman doesn't need an origin movie. There's already precedent for other iconic DC characters not to be given an origin story as their first film. It means you can get right into putting the character on screen sooner and allows the audience to discover the origin as the main story is told.

Buy Gifts and Apparel featuring art by TET.

Popular posts from this blog

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

Review: FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes

FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes I first saw FP's FINO skate shoes in a video by YouTube channel, Braille Skateboarding, titled, THE FIRST EVER NON NEWTONIAN FLUID SKATE SHOES!? As someone whose feet hurt and bruise relatively easily just from the basic tricks of skateboarding (Ollies, Pop Shuv-its etc.) the 90% absorption of impact energy selling point seemed like an ideal solution for minimizing my injuries. A day later I placed an order through FP's website . ​​ Ordinarily I wouldn't mention Customer Service but I can't let the lack of communication on my order slide. FP's website says to expect delivery within 7-14 days of your order. After close to two weeks, my order was still marked as being processed. I sent an email asking for any kind of update, to no response. A day or two later my order was marked as completed but still no signs of shoes in my mail? About two weeks later (just over a full month of placing my order) the shoes arrived. I'm sur

Why Your Backside 180 Ollies Suck (Probably, if they're like mine)

Backside 180 Ollie by TET I've been doing backside 180 ollies on my skateboard for almost as long as I've been skateboarding. It's not really that hard a trick to learn, except it is, if you want to do them well. Usually, when I'm practicing my backside 180 ollies on flat, my first attempt will be my best, and then my technique will kind of deteriorate from there. Except for that one jaggy attempt where I successfully land the backside 180 ollie then continue to pivot on my back truck another 180 degrees. Which is only a cool trick if you actually meant to do it. Recently I spent an entire driveway skate session working on my backside 180 ollies. My goal was to get them higher, rotate my body more effectively, and to bend my back leg more (a common problem for most people is not really bending the back leg as you ollie). You can watch my session and decide if I made any progress in the video below. The thing is, I know everything I'm doing wrong with my backside 180

Can You Learn Skateboarding Basics on a Cheap Skateboard?

$20, Mambo 31" x 8", Department Store Skateboard. Over the years I've watched many high profile YouTube skateboarders repeatedly create videos where they purchase a cheap, department store skateboard, ride it like they would their regular professional skateboard, until it breaks (usually within an hour or so), and claim that as a reason for steering clear of these products. ​Inadvertently what they're doing is creating less demand for cheap skateboards, meaning it's less likely department stores will stock them, resulting in no easy way for first time skaters to 'test the waters' to see if skating is really for them. Even worse, parents looking to get their children into a new sport, may not even see skateboarding as an option as they browse through the department store sports section. At the time of writing, Australian department stores have shelves filled with many different brands of scooters, alongside a small shelf or two of skateboards (and

Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (2023) *No Spoilers*

If you've enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 1 and Volume 2 then  Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3  will not disappoint. I would almost go so far as to call it the best in the series... except seeing the first movie for the first time is still one of my best memories of the MCU. While it's not essential to the story if you didn't see the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+ it does kind of lead into and set up where the Guardians are at in Volume 3 quite nicely. In this installment Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is still not coping with the loss of his timeline's Gamora (Zoe Saldada) when suddenly the team is attacked leaving Rocket (Bradley Cooper) in a very bad way. From then on it's a race to save Rocket as we learn quite a bit about his origin in the process. This movie is slightly darker than the first two and, if you're concerned about the animal cruelty that is causing some people to not want to see the film again, keep in mind, it's j

Movie Review: Bullet Train (2022) *No Spoilers*

I honestly don't understand why Bullet Train didn't do well in theaters? It's basically a live action, bonkers, cartoon but it's fun, has witty dialogue, quirky characters, and plenty of action. It's definitely underrated as something that very much reminds me of a cross between a Guy Ritchie and Edgar Wright film in terms of how it's written, filmed, and edited. The plot centers around unlucky assassin, Ladybug (Brad Pitt) who is hired to retrieve a briefcase containing a ransom from on board a Japanese Bullet Train. Unfortunately he's not the only one after the case. Confusion and mayhem ensues. The only thing that really bothered me is that the movie seems almost devoid of regular people on the train and at any of the stations. Those that are present, including the staff of the train, seem to be blissfully unaware of what is happening around them despite the interior of the train becoming increasingly more damaged and the body count climbing. The further