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Whedon Off Wonder Woman

Started by Talavar, February 02, 2007, 08:07:20 PM

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Talavar

Well, that title pretty much sums up what I had to say, that Joss Whedon is no longer writing or directing the film version of Wonder Woman in production.  To be honest, as much as I do like Whedon's work, I think it's probably a good thing.  Whedon himself has been unable to cross-over into the mainstream, and Wonder Woman, well, I could honestly see a big-budget Wonder Woman movie flopping and being the kiss of death for the current crop of superhero movies.

stumpy

Wow! Where did you hear this? Last I heard the movie was still whedonesque...

If confirmed, I am really disappointed to hear this. The worst thing that could happen to a potential Wonder Woman movie franchise would be that it fell back on typical, uncreative Hollywood crutches: the foreign-princess-in-the-big-city crutch, the woman-who-has-never-met-a-man crutch, the girl-goes-shopping-and-"discovers"-fashion/shoes/whatever crutch, etc. All predictable, all likely to be poorly done, all unworthy of the character. I have occassional misgivings about Whedon, but I have more confidence in him than in anyone else that comes to mind that he could do justice to a strong, smart Wonder Woman without falling back into the standard template that so many movies do.

Good luck to the new writer/director. S/He has a big job ahead.

stumpy


Talavar

I think Whedon may have been the best writer for the job, but I'm also not sure that anyone could do it well.  Wonder Woman, for all her history and awareness in popular culture, is a pretty out there.  Most people know the character chiefly from the cheesy '70s show.  Once you start explaining her origin, with being made out of clay, and coming from a secret island super-advanced female-only culture, your average movie-goers' eyes would start to glaze over.  I know Wonder Woman's place among super-heroes is right up there with Batman, Superman and Spider-man, but compared to those three, or even the X-men, I would say she's a much harder sell. 

lugaru

See I totally dont see wonder woman as a hard movie to make, he probably just wanted to do the comics wonder woman (aka superman 2) with her warrior style and plenty of villains and they probably wanted something fun and light hearted... like catwoman.  :thumbdown:

Talavar

In an update, David Goyer is also off the Flash movie that was in development.

bredon7777

Wow, my interest in Wonder Woman just plummeted back to zero.  Big mistake on the part of the studio.

Ditto for taking Goyer off the Flash movie, though my interest in that was not quite as high due to the ridiculous casting of Ryan Reynolds.

konbiz

well... look at the brightside... atleast now he'll have more time for runaways  :thumbup:

BentonGrey


Mr. Hamrick

Personally, I'm glad to see Whedon off Wonder Woman as director and somewhat glad he's off as a writer.

He's been attached to the project for several years now (it's been a little over three years at least) and the story has moved nowhere near being out of the scripting phase.  Meanwhile, Joss has done Serenity and how many runs on the X-Men comic?

It's time to let someone else have a crack at it.  Preferably someone who is familiar with the character and will treat it fairly . . . and commit the time and effort to getting it done and done well.

Talavar

Quote from: Mr. Hamrick on February 03, 2007, 06:09:45 PM
Personally, I'm glad to see Whedon off Wonder Woman as director and somewhat glad he's off as a writer.

He's been attached to the project for several years now (it's been a little over three years at least) and the story has moved nowhere near being out of the scripting phase.  Meanwhile, Joss has done Serenity and how many runs on the X-Men comic?

It's time to let someone else have a crack at it.  Preferably someone who is familiar with the character and will treat it fairly . . . and commit the time and effort to getting it done and done well.

Actually, it was just 2 years of Whedon on the project, and his X-men comics are always late.  Still, I see your point. 

Courtnall6

My interest in this is still at zero since I'm not a fan of Whedon's work and Wonder Woman ranks pretty low on my cool super-hero list.

Regardless of whomever is set to direct this, he/she will have to contend with the studio execs demanding as many T and A shots as possible.

Midnight

Quote from: Courtnall6 on February 03, 2007, 07:55:43 PMRegardless of whomever is set to direct this, he/she will have to contend with the studio execs demanding as many T and A shots as possible.

Well, jeez, the costume is pretty conducive to that. If the director can handle "frontal shot" and "rear shot" they'll have "T" and "A" :P

Mr. Hamrick

it just seems longer than two years, I guess . . . 

Anyway, I was thinking about it.  This is the person who needs to be directing Wonder Woman.  HER name is Lexi Alexander.  She directed and co-wrote a film I had the pleasure of seeing at The Atlanta Film Festival a few years ago called "Hooligans".  It was released in limited markets here as "Green Street Hooligans".

Unfortunately, she is in pre-production on two films right now that she is attached to direct.   My only concern with her would be that she might be familiar enough with the character. 

However, how many directors and writers in Hollywood are going to be THAT familiar with Wonder Woman aside from the 70s/early 80s series with Linda Carter? 

Warner Brothers has a lot on their plate with this movie.

Protomorph

Oh well.


I don't give Hollywood any credit at all for making Comics Movies. I'm always shocked when they pull them off well. I don't think I've ever seen one where I've been 100% satisfied, but the Spidey's have come closest.

hopefully, they will curtail the "big city/shopping spree" crap. It's old and stupid. Do you REALLY want to see a Wonder Woman montage set to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"?

My vision of Wonder Woman would start out Clash of the Titans, and switch to Dark Angel with an army base maybe thrown in.



and I just thought of a question I'm shocked to have never thought of before. On Themescria, they performed the Bullets and bracelets thing as one of their tests...where would they have gotten a gun? just wondering.



Who should her enemy be? A Sorcerer? Cheetah? Ares? Felix Faust? Giganta?

stumpy

I'll have to say, I admire Joss Whedon's ability to put strong women on the screen in a way that doesn't imply that "strong"=="female canine" or that "smart"=="can match shoes with bag". But, Mr. Hamrick's comment above really does justify the studio's actions, and as much was implied by Joss himself in the announcement I linked above. Realistically, a studio cannot stay with someone who, for whatever reason, can't get the project out the door. The movie-making business doesn't work if the movie never gets made.

And I echo Protomorph's comment that Hollywood's ability to put iconic comic book characters on the screen is questionable at best. Spider-Man II was very good, IMO and Batman Begins was pretty close, although somewhat offbeat for the genre. Superman Returns was disappointing, Fantastic 4 pretty bad and the third X-Men movie was fun but kinda marginal in parts.

Wonder Woman isn't my favorite character, but that's part of why the character could be the basis for a great movie franchise. If I were a WW zombie, quoting facts and history from sixty years of comics and fanzine interviews (as I might for certain other characters), then there would be no way the movie could work for me. But, as someone casually acquainted with the character, mostly from team comics like JLA, I will be happy if they capture the flavor of the character, even if they miss some details. And I think most potential fans of the movie are in a similar boat. I mean, my issues with Superman Returns weren't with things like "he was never really gone for five years" but with things like Superman spying on Lois' private conversations with her effective husband and working to disrupt the stable home she had set up for her son. Things that show the writers don't understand the nature of the character they are writing will kill the movie.

BTW, as an aside, guns are relatively simple devices. A machinist could make one in our world, so it doesn't seem like too big a stretch that whoever does the blacksmithing/gem cutting/clockmaking/etc. among the amazons could come up with a reasonable facsimile. I haven't kept up with her comics, so is the problem that they don't have access to any technology, in the current DCU?

Talavar

It shouldn't be hard for the amazons to get a gun, considering that they have technology superior to that in the rest of the world, at least in some reboots.  That invisible jet isn't magic, after all, though thematically, it would make more sense if it were.

BentonGrey

I've always hated that stupid jet.  Never made any sense to me.  My wife HATES WW with an unreasoning passion, ha.  I don't have anything against her, but I do have to say that there isn't a lot about her that makes sense.  The Amazon armor just happening to be red, white, and blue, the inisible jet, etc., etc.  They could have at least made the armor look more like something from a product of the culture it's supposed to descend from.  Ha, sorry, I guess I've gotten a bit distracted.  Anyway, I think Whedon could have done a good job, and I fear for this movie now that it is in limbo.  Any wack-job might get assigned to it now.  If one of the big three at DC has a movie that completely bombs, it could concievably break the flow of new projects.

Talavar

Oh, I totally hate the invisible jet too.  Everything Benton Grey said about Wonder Woman just adds on to my problems with Wonder Woman as a character, particularly as one to sell to mainstream audiences.  She has a weird origin, what with being made of clay and all, the secret amazon island society, magic, Greek gods, and high technology all playing a part, not readily definable motives on being a super-hero, a costume and appearance totally at odds with her supposedly 'feminist' message of female empowerment and a weaker villain line-up.  I like a lot of Whedon's work, but I don't think even he was up to this task.  My interest and faith in this project was at zero when he was attached, now it's at negative levels.  To make Wonder Woman work in a movie, I think you'd have to jettison a great deal of the established comic book material, which would automatically poison Wonder Woman fans against the movie.

I think a Flash or even a Green Lantern film has a much better chance of being a big hit over Wonder Woman, provided a Flash movie doesn't get bogged down in the Flash legacy or time travel, and a potential GL one doesn't get too silly with unnecessary ring constructs.

JKCarrier

Pre-Crisis, the Amazons had all kinds of advanced technology, so having guns was no surprise. Post-Crisis, they only had one gun -- it was left over from when pilot Diana Trevor (Steve's mom) crash-landed on the island years before.

As for the movie, I try to be optimistic, but WW has got to be one of the toughest characters to translate (heck, it's tough enough to do anything with her in the comics!). Will a mainstream audience swallow all that crazy magic and mythology? It might actually work better as a period piece -- set it in World War II, and film it in a very stylized, slightly surreal way (ala Sky Captain or Sin City). Putting Wonder Woman in a realistic setting is just going to make her look ridiculous.

stumpy

I guess there's no chance for a Thor movie then.   :P

Seriously, all the detail issues with clay, Greek mythology, et cetera: forget about them. There is no reason for a movie to explain, for example, that WW was made from clay. It isn't a factor.

BTW, I agree that she is a tough character to put on the screen. But, the trouble, IMHO, in this sort of movie, is that Hollywood isn't very imaginitive when it comes to portraying female characters. There is a tendency to fall back into tried-and-true stereotypes which, apparantly, writers have been taught "work" on film. (And I am not saying that they never do, just that they aren't right for Wonder Woman.) That is where I think someone like Joss Whedon has an edge that his resume backs up.

Meanwhile, I am not sure that Wonder Woman's costume is at odds in any way with female empowerment, except in the antiquated PC view of women as creatures who need to be functionally indistinct from men, lest they embolden their oppressors. Keep in mind that Wonder Woman isn't physically weaker than men (quite the opposite) and so the old notion of a woman as a person sexually vulnerable to men is totally invalid for her and so are all of the notions derived from that. E.g., WW doesn't have an "immodest" costume because she thinks has nothing to offer other than an alluring body. She isn't using counting on her exposed skin to win her battles by evoking a protective empathy for the "weaker sex" from her male opponents. She goes toe-to-toe with anyone, wearing what she wants, and if they are dumb enough to underestimate her based on clothing, that is their mistake. But, it is not their only mistake, because she is Wonder Woman and she would have kicked their butts whether or not they were drooling. She is smart and strong because that is her nature, not because she needs to show she is equal to men. And, if she shows fury in battle it is because she fights with passion for what is right, not because she is "PMSing". When she battles women, she isn't competing for a man's attention (or a woman's) and she is not deterred by her opponent pulling her hair or scratching her face; she isn't a beauty contestant and she won't fight battles on cosmetic terms.

In my view, of course.

Talavar

Look at Wonder Woman's costume vs. almost every male super-heroes: the men are covered from head to toe, hell many even wear boots, gloves and full head coverings.  Almost every version of WW's shows significant cleavage, and for most she'd need fairly regular bikini waxes.  Something that would require double-sided tape to avoid accidentally flashing people during a fight doesn't make much sense.  There's no good in-character reason for WW to want to dress like that; simply put, her costume is revealing because cheesecake sells comics, and it always has.  The character doesn't use her sexuality, but the artists & writers clearly do. 

And I really think Thor's odds are long indeed, unless he was done in a more Ultimates fashion, where his sanity was in question for claiming to be a Norse god.

Mr. Hamrick

As I stated earlier, I don't envy whatever writer in Hollywood (or whereever) gets the nod to write the script.  

First of all, what everyone has said about portraying the character and getting all of her history in that one can into the flick that will make sense for the viewer.

Second, while the stereotypes are present in films (for men and women), there is a bigger problem with presenting Wonder Woman on film.  Films with female leads are not perceived generally as doing well at the box office.  There are rare exceptions to that rule (first Tomb Raider movie, comes to mind as does Charlie's Angels) but generally, those kinds of movies are not generally looked at as being bankable.  Of course, one of the biggest reasons for this would be the writing, directing, or the acting (Halle Berry, I am looking at you and Catwoman).  Another reason would be  studios generally don't know how to market those kinds of movies past the T&A approach.  

Third, you can ask every fan of the comic or the character what they want to see but you can only get so much in a roughly 2 - 2 1/2 hour movie.  Additionally, you want to be able to attract audiences who don't read comics and get their ticket.  And make no bones about it, the studios want to make their money back on this and preferrably a profit.  

stumpy

Quote from: Talavar on February 04, 2007, 05:49:42 PMLook at Wonder Woman's costume vs. almost every male super-heroes: the men are covered from head to toe, hell many even wear boots, gloves and full head coverings.  Almost every version of WW's shows significant cleavage, and for most she'd need fairly regular bikini waxes.  Something that would require double-sided tape to avoid accidentally flashing people during a fight doesn't make much sense.  There's no good in-character reason for WW to want to dress like that; simply put, her costume is revealing because cheesecake sells comics, and it always has.  The character doesn't use her sexuality, but the artists & writers clearly do.

No one is denying she has a sexy costume. Obviously, the fourth wall reason for the costume is that it sells comics. And, if DC thought they could sell more comics with Krypto the Superdog by giving him a smaller cape, they would do it. So I agree on that. But, the comparison with male superhero costumes isn't entirely fair. The male costumes typically show the musculature that is the hallmark of male cheesecake artistry. It isn't only that the (mostly male) artists have shown less sexism in designing the men's costumes, but that there is less visual appeal in seeing some guy's hairy gut or veiny arms, whether or not he has a six-pack.

But, the in-character reasons aren't really relevant. You could find practical deficiencies in many characters' costumes. How many characters really need a cape to getting caught on things, getting burned, getting pulled out, etc? I don't recall any real-world police, fire fighters, martial artists, soldiers or others who are involved in combat or sundry heroics running around in spandex or capes. The vast majority of comic book character costumes have little in-character justification that would stand up to serious scrutiny. Even the old saw that they want to be "easily recognizable" is kinda weak when you realize that most costumes also make them "easily impersonated". I have to think Wonder Woman deserves the same pass on that as anyone else.


Quote from: Mr. Hamrick on February 04, 2007, 05:57:56 PMSecond, while the stereotypes are present in films (for men and women), there is a bigger problem with presenting Wonder Woman on film.  Films with female leads are not perceived generally as doing well at the box office.  There are rare exceptions to that rule (first Tomb Raider movie, comes to mind as does Charlie's Angels) but generally, those kinds of movies are not generally looked at as being bankable.  Of course, one of the biggest reasons for this would be the writing, directing, or the acting (Halle Berry, I am looking at you and Catwoman).  Another reason would be  studios generally don't know how to market those kinds of movies past the T&A approach.

Yep. And I have to imagine that the nightmare that anyone involved with the Wonder Woman project will have involves WW morphing into Catwoman or Elektra.

BTW, I am not some snooty prude when it comes to films having "visual appeal" in that >ahem< sense. I have respect (as I have mentioned) for Joss Whedon's ability to put strong women on the screen and make them compelling characters, but I have no illusions that part of the success of BtVS (for example) was that there were good looking people in front of the camera, often engaged in pretty sexy behavior.

Quote from: Mr. Hamrick on February 04, 2007, 05:57:56 PMThird, you can ask every fan of the comic or the character what they want to see but you can only get so much in a roughly 2 - 2 1/2 hour movie.  Additionally, you want to be able to attract audiences who don't read comics and get their ticket.  And make no bones about it, the studios want to make their money back on this and preferrably a profit.

Totally. And they should. This is part of why I say the writers can't be concerned about getting all the details right or shoehorning them all into the movie. Get the nature of the character right. Have some well-done defining moments and don't spend the rest of the movie contradicting them. The fans will deal with it and, if they are at all realistic, will appreciate that one of their heroes has found success in a new medium and be able to overlook some bits of canon that didn't make the crossing. By way of example, I am thinking that Spider-Man (I) did well, despite fairly significant deviations, like his (lack of) web-shooters. A movie like this should never start out trying to put everything the fans want into the script.

Mr. Hamrick

here is what was reported about the matter on IMDB.com:
QuoteBuffy The Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon has quit as writer and director of the forthcoming Wonder Woman movie over "creative differences." Whedon signed up to adapt the popular comic book and 1970s TV show for the big screen in May, but has severed ties with the project after failing to agree to a script with the film's producers. He writes on his website, "You (hopefully) heard it here first: I'm no longer slated to make Wonder Woman...I had a take on the film that, well, nobody liked. Let me stress first that everybody at the studio and Silver Pictures were cool and professional. We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that's never gonna work. It happens all the time. I don't think any of us expected it to this time, but it did."

I'm equally curious as to what his take was vs. what the studio wanted.

MJB

Oh well, I look forward to his next project.

As far as the Flash movie is concerned, as long as they still cast Ryan Reynolds as the hero I'll be happy. :)

-MJB

Shogunn2517

I knew something was up when I heard about this:

http://www.mania.com/53492.html

This was a couple of days ago, before it was known he was off the project.  Now, it seems like more than a few people aren't actually broke up that Whedon is off the project, but my concern is WWII?  What are they trying to do?  Recreate the TV show?

stumpy

Hmm. A WWII story was not the direction I was imagining either. But, it could work. Maybe add a touch of noir to the film...

BTW, the author of that article seems a little lost on the legal aspects of WB buying the other story. Even if DC/WB own the character, that doesn't make every story involving her theirs. If you write a story and that story shows up in their film without your permission, they have some 'spainin' to do, no matter who owns the character.

Panther_Gunn

If done properly (there's the rub), a WWII angle for the first Wonder Woman film could work, and it would be something that both the TV audiences and the older comic fans could relate to.  The newer, casual reader might have trouble understanding why it's set so far in the past, though.  It could then be followed by a second movie (assuming the first was successful enough) more in present day, either still following Diana, or with her "daughter", or some other angle.

What I think would work better, though, would be for the (presumably) first movie to start out with some insanely powerful sorcerous (with some ties to Greek myths & legends) doing her thing in some major city, enslaving people, building a power base, etc, etc, etc.  Enter Amazon warrior-princess, who proceeds to kick [expletive deleted] & take names.  Introduce her in the film the way that Perez introduced her to the general public when her title got restarted Post-Crisis.  Origin bits can then be done via flashbacks, dialogue sections, and such.  This early into the game, there's no real need to get into the whole "made from clay" thing, if/how the Amazons had any guns to train with, how much technology they actually have, or even much about the island at all.  Leave it a mystery.  I think this is one of the few characters that there doesn't need to be *that* much back story done first.  Seriously, do we really *need* to have the first half of a new super-hero movie be origin story?  I think this style worked well for the first Batman and, even though it's not a great example, Daredevil.

EDIT:  I can't believe I spelled sorceress wrong.   :doh:

Revenant

Well the producer Joel Silver said he doesn't want to make a period movie... I think they bought the second script so they could use its plot, rewritten to take place in modern times, and maybe use some of Joss' ideas.  there is a review of the script here:
http://www.latinoreview.com/scriptreview.php?id=48

[spoiler]Anyway, in regards to Wonder Woman – the spec that Silver picked up ROCKS!
A fun filled adventure packed girl power action movie in the 1940s!

1943 to be exact. Just where this character belongs.

Now I know ya'll are not here to hear my rants in colloquial Spanglish so let's get to it and preview the first act.

We open with QUEEN HIPPOLYTE and her THREE THOUSAND AMAZON WARRIORS all clad in battle armor and bracelets.

We pull back even further and FIFTY THOUSAND MEN, all armed for war, advance on the Amazon.

In VOICEOVER HIPPOLYTE tells us that they were created to guard against the evils of the world. Strong, wise, and compassionate, Hera gave breath to the AMAZON. In the ancient days, they lived among Mankind...but Man fears what it cannot control. Man sought to take the power of the Amazon but doing so would have destroyed Man's World.

Hippolyte erupts in a battle cry and the Amazon charge forward, meeting the army of man head on.

The action is fierce. The Amazon are superior warriors, but the numbers of Man's army are too great and the Amazon take heavy casualties.

Hippolyte further tell us that to protect the world from such devastation they would do anything. Even flee.

We next see Hippolyte leading twenty Amazon ships into the open ocean. An Armada is in hot pursuit. She further tells us that they sailed forth without a destination, guided only by their faith.

Hera heard her prayers.

Hippolyte steers her ships toward a Heavenly star and the Amazon make it past the storm, which engulfs man's ships towards – THEMYSCIRA. Hippolyte finishes her voiceover by telling us that Themyscira has been The Amazon's home for three thousand years, a place where they could live in peace, hidden from the world of man.

After the credit sequence over a montage of military imagery showing the history of mankind's warfare growing even deadlier, we open in 1943 Germany and meet

STEVE TREVOR (30)

A tall, handsome son of a senator but made it on his own American in a Nazi SS disguise, snaps photos of Nazi Jet blueprints that look incredibly advanced for the 1940s.
The words "AMERIKA BOMBER" and FLEISCHER GESELLSCHAFT" appear on the bottom of each design. Steve discovers that the Nazis are going to bomb Washington D.C. and New York.

Steve's cover is blown and gets chased by the Nazis. He makes it to the Nazi hangar and steals a Nazi jet, which looks more like a stealth bomber than a WWII era plane. It's the Amerika Bomber from the blueprints.

He navigates it out of there as the Nazis open fire on the jet. He flies over the Ocean and is leaking fuel. He makes it through the clouds and head towards a tropical island.

THEMYSCIRA.

A majestic city hugs the coastline and stretches up into the mountains. Its architecture is a mix of Greek Temples and Elaborate Towers standing watch over the gleaming streets.

A huge coliseum stands in the center of the city, its rim decorated with statues of the Grecian gods.

We descend into a long street-level tunnel that empties into the arena floor. At the end of the tunnel we see the silhouette of a young woman – DIANA.

She takes a deep breath and places a helmet overhead obscuring her face before we see it. She enters the coliseum and wears a black skirt of leather strips and a GOLDEN BREASTPLATE with the form of an eagle, wings spread. Her bodice and leather boots are both DARK RED.

Thousands of Amazons in colorful robes fill the stands. A cheer rises as the red Amazon warrior moves to the center of the ring, where another masked Amazon waits, and this one in dark green – she is PHILLIPUS.

Four challengers remain to determine the strongest and best suited to find their sister, GALINA. Hera's choice will soon be revealed.

We then get some super cool girl on girl gladiator action – DIANA VS PHILLIPUS.

It is no secret who wins. Then we get WHITE (ARTEMIS) vs BLUE (ODIA).

Artemis wins, then gets disqualified from the final round and doesn't fight Diana.

Diana, her face still covered, kneels before Hippolyte on the coliseum floor and has proven herself the greatest warrior of the Amazon. Now it is her duty to return to Man's world and find Galina.

She removes her helmet and for the first time we see her. She is barely twenty; she's beautiful, with long black hair and just like her mother – HIPPOLYTE.
Hippolyte has a fit. She forbade Diana from partaking in the contest. Hippolyte orders her to go to the palace.

Steve meanwhile crashes into a forested park in Themyscira. Diana runs into Steve and they meet. Diana saves Steve's life and frees him the wreckage. Steve then gets arrested by the Amazon. Hippolyte and her entourage appear on a hover chariot.

Hippolyte takes Diana on the hover chariot. Here we learn that Galina was sent to Man's world to ensure that Pandora's Box is secure but she apparently went missing hence the contest for an Amazon warrior to go find Galina. Phillipus, who Diana beat in the contest, is going to man's world to find Galina much to the dismay of Diana. Mother and daughter get into an argument.

Steve is taken to the Senate Hall. Hippolyte puts the GOLDEN ROPE around Steve and he tells the truth. The Amazon doesn't believe him, they think man captured Galina and stole the Amazon technology. Steve is sentenced by the senate to death.

We then find out that the Amazons protect the key – a crystal that hangs on Hippolyte's neck. If man came into possession of Pandora's box and the key - it would be catastrophic.

Diana rescues Steve from his cell. She also steals a GOLDEN BELT – the belt of Aphrodite, which allows an Amazon to walk in disguise among men. Diana also steals a GOLDEN ROPE – Hestia's Golden Lasso, which is unbreakable and any whom it binds, must speak the truth.

Diana and Steve make their getaway from Themyscira on you guessed it – THE INVISBLE JET.

Diana controls the jet with the GOLD TIARA with RUBY STAR on it. It resembles Hippolyte's crown but is shaped to lie flat across the forehead.

On page 34 – Steve and Diana race out of Themyscira – cross the first threshold – and head back to Washington.

End Act 1

Like I said, the script rocks. We of course get Diana repelling Nazi bullets with her bracelets and she beats the dren out of Nazi bad guys by the dozens. She has the strength of ten men.

For those fans concerned about her outfit – no worries.

When she finally makes her debut as Wonder Woman on page 86, her Wonder Woman outfit is a combination of her Amazon battle gear and the American flag, the costume we all know as Wonder Woman but slightly more combat ready. SHE LOOKS HOT!
The first part of the 2nd half of Act 2 (the test, allies, and enemies stage) takes place in Washington and of course Nazi bad guys (to good effect in this script) and double agents – Threshold Guardians – keep Steve and Diana busy.

The 2nd part of Act 2 takes place in Berlin as Diana and Steve intensify their search for Galina.

The 3rd Act and battle royale finale takes place back on Themyscira as the Amazons and their hover chariots fight a fleet of the Nazi Amerika Bombers as the main villain, who is revealed late in the game (which I won't spoil) goes all out for the key on Hippolyte's neck. The 3rd act is wall-to-wall action.

Overall, a very great read. The writers did their homework. As a comic book character origin movie - it is just as good as Batman Begins.

I can see why Silver supposedly took it off the spec market. If I was a betting man, I figure this is the origin story that Warners might stick with. My note to the studio is to not touch the script, leave it intact, get yourself a good director and shoot this script. It is all there on the page.

Spec Screenwriting 101

My only beef with the script, which could have shaved 10-15 pages off the thing, is the overuse of CONTINUED at the top and bottom of the script, which is OFF LIMITS in a spec, and the use of German dialogue then it's subtitled English counterpart. When you write any language, either below the character's name, or as in vogue today, next to the character's name – use a parenthesis (in German, with English subtitles) then the English dialogue. It is a waste of space and lines and supremely redundant to include foreign dialogue, which a reader can't understand anyway only to translate it right after. Damn noobies. Read David Trottier's books! One of my pet peeves about specs. I $#% you not, I know readers who pass on bad screenplay format no matter how good the story is.


Personally, i hate the fact that she steals the lasso and gear like on the JLU cartoon.  She is supposed to earn them.  And also, her mother is supposed to be overly protective and willing to send another Amazon into danger to save her daughter.  Diana is supposed to decide to go into danger because she believes it is her destiny.  I don't like that the Amazons are willing to put Steve to death either, don't they trust their own magic lasso?  Where is the peaceful civilization?[/spoiler]