Wonder Woman

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Wonder Woman art by fan art by Gerry

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1 Wonder Woman Fast Facts
2 Wonder Woman Summary
3 Wonder Woman Collectibles
- 3.1 Weapons
4 Wonder Woman Movie
5 See also
6 Links

Wonder Woman Fast Facts

Real name: Diana

Occupation: Ambassador, teacher, super-hero

Base of Operations: New York City and Themyscira

Marital Status: Single

Height: 5' 11"

Weight: 140

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Black

First Appearance: (historical) ALL STAR COMICS #8 (Winter, 1941)

WONDER WOMAN (2nd series) #1 (February, 1987)

Wonder Woman Summary

Wonder Woman is a fictional character, a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston and one of the three characters to be continuously published by DC Comics since the company's inception in 1944. Wonder Woman first appeared in All Star Comics #8, published in December 1941. She is a founding member of the Justice League.

In addition to comic books, the character was featured in the 1975 to 1979 television adaptation starring Lynda Carter, as well as the Super Friends and Justice League animated series, and a forthcoming animated feature.

Princess Diana is an Amazon from Greek mythology. Her name is reflective of the mythological character, Diana or Artemis. Her mother is Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. When Diana leaves the Amazons to travel to the world outside, she is known as both Wonder Woman, and as Princess Diana. As Wonder Woman, she was awarded several gifts by the Olympian gods, including the Lasso of Truth created from the Golden Girdle of Gaea and indestructible bracelets formed from the shield Aegis. For several years she was described in the splash page of each story, as "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules."

Wonder Woman Collectibles

Wonder Woman along with DC Comics other main tent pole characters Superman and Batman has created a ton of merchandise over the years including DVD sets, posters, books, t-shirts, and toys. To see all the latest Wonder Woman collectibles currently on the market see the

Weapons

Diana has numerous powerful weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Magic Lasso. The Bracelets of the Aegis (in Pre Crisis: Silver Bracelets of Victory) were formed from the remnants of Zeus's legendary Aegis shield, and were created for her by Hephaestus. Diana's superhuman reflexes and senses allow her to deflect projectiles and bullets, including automatic weapons fire, as well as energy blasts and lasers from beings such as Ares and Darkseid. She is fast enough to protect herself from multi-vector attacks. At close-range the indestructible bracelets block blades, weaponry, and punches. Diana has used the bracelets as a dual defensive/offensive weapon, redirecting energy blasts back to their point of origin or at other targets. When crossed, the bracelets generate a larger remnant of the Aegis itself, forming an impenetrable barrier which allows Diana to protect herself and those behind her from area attacks.

The Lasso of Truth (also known as the Lariat of Hestia), forged from her aunt Antiope's Golden Girdle of Gaea, is perhaps Diana's greatest and most versatile weapon. The divine Lasso is absolutely unbreakable and has restrained beings as powerful as Superman, Captain Marvel, and the gods Ares and Hades. The Lasso burns with a magical aura called the Fires of Hestia, forcing anyone within the Lasso's confines to be truthful. This extends past mere speaking as illustrated by when Wonder Woman forced Martian Manhunter to shapeshift by demanding to see his true form. The Fires can restore lost memories, dispel illusions, renew the wielder's body, protect those encircled by it from magical and nonmagical attacks, and even cure insanity. Additionally, Wonder Woman has used the fire to create impenetrable barriers. Although some writers established that no one but Diana can wield the Lasso due to its divine nature, Donna Troy used it during her tenure as Wonder Girl and Wonder Woman. (Donna was created from a portion of Diana's own soul). In recent years, artists and inkers have depicted the Lasso as a fiery weapon, coursing with power. (This is due, in part, to advances in the coloring processes now used in comics.) During Grant Morrison's run on JLA, artist Howard Porter frequently drew Diana wielding the flaming Lasso, with absolute control, in elaborate and serpentine configurations.

Wonder Woman's golden tiara has also doubled as a throwing weapon, used for long-distance attack or defense. Hurled with Diana's superhuman strength, the razor-edged crown can cut through most substances before returning to her. She decapitated Deimos with it during their first meeting, and during the "Sacrifice" storyline she used the tiara to injure Superman's throat and impede his attack on her.

Diana used the Sandals of Hermes to cross the dimensional impasse between Themyscira and the outside world, but they were passed on first to Artemis, and later to Wonder Girl. Diana also once wielded the Gauntlet of Atlas, which magnifies the physical strength and stamina of the wearer by a factor of ten. Diana used the Gauntlet several times, most notably to destroy a clone of the Superman-killer Doomsday, but it raised her already superhuman strength to a level that she found difficult to control.

Wonder Woman has at her disposal a small lightweight disc of alien (Lansinar) technology that, when triggered by her thoughts, transforms into a transparent version of whatever object or vehicle is appropriate for her needs. The device has been used for several purposes, including a communication device, but is most frequently used by Diana in the form of an invisible jet plane, thus reintroducing this vehicle for the first time in post-Crisis continuity. She has also used the amorphous disc in partnership with Green Lantern's power ring to hold Earth's moon together while shifting its orbit. However, following the One Year Later continuity jump, Diana was given a new invisible plane, created by Wayne Industries.

A classic warrior, Diana occasionally uses additional weaponry in formal battle. She uses ceremonial golden armor complete with golden wings, war-skirt and chest-plate, and a golden helmet in the shape of an Eagle's head. In warfare, she may wield a bow & arrow, a spear, or a labrys (a doubled-bladed axe). Owing to the honored self-sacrifice of Diana Trevor, Wonder Woman uses many American themes such as an American Flag sort of cape/sword holster. Moreover, she uses a golden shield with American symbols and themes. Her deadliest piece of battle-gear is a magically forged sword (again a gift from Hephaestus), so sharp that it can carve the electrons off an atom. In the Elseworlds story Kingdom Come, Superman was cut by this sword while running his fingers down the blade.

Wonder Woman Movie

In January 2001, producer Joel Silver approached Todd Alcott to write a Wonder Woman screenplay, with Silver Pictures backing the project. Early gossip linked actresses such as Mariah Carey, Sandra Bullock, and Catherine Zeta-Jones to the role of Wonder Woman. Leonard Goldberg, speaking in a May 2001 interview, named Sandra Bullock as a strong candidate for the project. Bullock claimed that she was approached for the role, while Lucy Lawless and Chyna both expressed interest. Lawless indicated that she would be more interested if Wonder Woman was portrayed as a "flawed hero." The screenplay then went through various drafts written by Alcott, Jon Cohen, Becky Johnston, and Philip Levens.[32] By August 2003, Levens was replaced by screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis. "Besides [Wonder Woman's] great origin story, there's nothing from the comics that felt right 100 percent, no iconic canon story that must be told. Batman has it made — he's got the greatest rogues gallery ever, he's got Gotham City. The Bat writes himself. With Wonder Woman, you're writing from whole cloth, but trying to make it feel like you didn't. To make it feel like it's existed for 60 years, even though you're making it up as you go along. But who she, and what the movie, is about, thematically, has never been a problem for me. But the steps along the way, it could be so easy for them to feel wrong. I won't settle. She wouldn't let me settle." — Joss Whedon in November 2006, explaining the delay in developing a proper script.

In March 2005, Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures announced that Joss Whedon would write and direct the film adaptation of Wonder Woman. Whedon's salary was reported to be between $2 to $3 million. Since Whedon was directing Serenity at the time, and required time to research Wonder Woman's background, he did not begin the screenplay until late 2005. According to Joel Silver, the script would cover Wonder Woman's origin and include Steve Trevor: "Trevor crashes on the island and they go back to Man's World." Silver wanted to film Wonder Woman in Australia once the script was completed. While Whedon stated in May 2005 that he would not cast Wonder Woman until he finished the script, Charisma Carpenter and Morena Baccarin expressed interest in the role.

In February 2007, Whedon departed from the project, citing script differences with the studio. Whedon reiterated: "I never had an actress picked out, or even a consistent [sic] front-runner. I didn't have time to waste on casting when I was so busy air-balling on the script." Whedon stated that with the Wonder Woman project left behind, he would focus on making his film Goners.

"I would go back in a heartbeat if I believed that anybody believed in what I was doing. The lack of enthusiasm was overwhelming."

A day before Whedon's departure from Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. Pictures and Silver Pictures purchased a spec script written by Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland. Set during World War II, the script impressed executives at Silver Pictures. However, Silver has made clear that he purchased the script because he didn't want it floating around in the industry; although it has good ideas, he doesn't wish for the Wonder Woman film to be a period piece.

Ten months after Whedon's departure from Wonder Woman, producer Joel Silver shelved the movie indefinitely.

On 05 October 2007, Nikki Finke wrote in her column that three producers had told her that Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov had stated that, "we are no longer doing movies with women in the lead." Anne Thompson responded in a 09 October 2007 Variety article which stated that, "despite the failure of three femme-centered actioners produced by Joel Silver [...] Jeff Robinov insists he is moving forward with several movies with women in the lead." Thompson further noted that Wonder Woman will be appearing in the upcoming Justice League film and that,

Robinov is still seeking the right script and star for a "Wonder Woman" feature, which has been in development for a decade action features starring women remain a hard sell for many moviegoers. But Robinov said he is still willing to put a femme star into an action role. 'But, like any other movie, it has to be the right movie with the right actor and the right filmmaker at the right time,' he said.

The film Justice League of America is slated for a 2010 release. It is based upon the DC Comics publication, the Justice League which has included a number of superheroes in the past including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, and Captain Marvel. An 29 October 2007 article quoted Joel Silver as stating that due to the impending release of Justice League, the Wonder Woman film will be placed on moratorium:

'They're going to make the Justice League movie, and we're kind of pausing on Wonder Woman now [...] Let them go ahead and do that picture [first]' The Amazon superhero from the DC Comics series will be a major part of the upcoming JLA. 'And if that comes together, Wonder Woman will be a part of that story,' Silver said. 'And then we'll see where we go from there. But we struggled with it for a while. I hope that we can solve it and make it one day.'

A number of actresses have been reported to be under consideration for the role of Wonder Woman in the Justice League film. Jessica Biel was approached for the role, but passed on it, while Missy Peregrym, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Teresa Palmer, Shannyn Sossamon and Christina Milan expressed interest. It has been reported that supermodel Megan Gale has been cast as the heroine. In early January 2008, it was reported that production of the JLA film has been delayed due to the Writers Guild of America strike.