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| The third Wonder Woman TV costume (via Laura Hudson) |
Some reactions to the Wonder Woman TV series being passed over:
I don’t know if it’s cursed or what. I just have this one experience. They made a really fine pilot and Adrianne Palicki did a fantastic job. You look at what you have, what you need, and it just didn’t seem to fit in with what we were doing.
- NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt explaining the network's decision to pass on David E. Kelley’s high profile Wonder Woman pilot
Sure, an invisible airplane could look dopey if you do it one way, but I imagine it could be the coolest thing in the world if you do it another. I've said this before, but once you realize that Wonder Woman could absolutely get over if she were to crash that invisible airplane of hers into the front of Wayne Manor and beat the holy guano out of Batman for 15 minutes in the middle of his next movie, just punching him right down long hallways, it becomes clear that there are several ways for a character like that to work, you have just to stop fussing over the character and do one of them. Also, I figure once Thor gets over with audiences to the tune of a few hundred million, no one gets to complain about the impossible cross-adaptation task represented any other superhero character.
- Tom Spurgeon
...they overthought it. Those who followed the development of the pilot know that it was full of tweaks to the Wonder Woman concept in hopes of making her more applicable to modern culture. Joss Whedon’s failed script reportedly did the same thing. When you go down that road, you very much have to worry about “getting these things absolutely right.”
If there’s a curse, it’s the tendency of writers to “figure out” Wonder Woman to death. Why can’t she just be a strong, confident woman who beats the crap out of bad guys?
- Michael May
Wonder Woman’s a really good character, one that resonates with a lot of people, and I’d say no more fundamentally complicated or weird than Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Mr. Moto, James Bond or Tarzan. Her uniqueness isn’t impediment to be figured out; it’s rich source material waiting to be folded in. While I know nothing about making TV shows it seems weird to treat her like she’s uniquely problematic until she’s proven to be uniquely problematic.
- Tom Spurgeon
So what is it that causes this mental block to occur whenever they get around to WW? Why do they treat her as uniquely problematic? What is it about her that beffudles major studios while they have no problems releasing something equally unrealistic as Thor? Is Hollywood simply uncomfortable with a strong, independent, female superhero as the lead? Are they hung up on the paradox that she's both a popular feminist icon and a sex symbol? Is it because of the cheesiness associated with her costume or the last television series? Are they being overly-sensitive or overly-reverent with WW's legacy? Or is it a case of trying to balance out too many conflicting interests that have ossified around the character?
