As is true to her mythology, many men have tried and failed to get a grip on Wonder Woman. Well, at least when it comes to adapting her story to the screen that is. Not even a Geek God (that’s “geek” not “greek”) like Joss Whedon could pull it off, and the less said about David E. Kelley’s aborted Wonder Woman TV series the better.
But if the latest rumours turn out to be true, it looks like director Zack Snyder is going to be the next man to give the Amazonian princess her big movie break in his upcoming Man of Steel sequel.
These rumours come courtesy of Bleeding Cool, who picked up that Warner Bros has sent out a casting call to agents for the still officially untitled Batman VS Superman film, that could potentially be for the role of Wonder Woman. The call is apparently pretty vague, saying in between smoke-screen-speak that the actress must be “somewhere between twenty five and thirty three – or at least leave the impression of a woman in that age range”, and most specifically, that “she needs to be physically strong.”
Understandably, just being in your late-twenties to early-thirties and looking kind of buff is not exactly what you would call being a spot-on doppelganger for Princess Diana of Themyscira, but word around the casting agent water cooler is that this is indeed for the role of Wonder Woman, and they are sending through candidates to Warner Bros with that expectation in mind. Thus far Warner Bros are declining to confirm enquiries that this is indeed in the case, but they also don’t want to come out and deny it either, and I, for one, just can’t think of a single other potential female role which matches that admittedly brief description that warrants this level of secrecy.
And introducing Wonder Woman, whose muddled history has proven a problem for potential filmmakers for ages now, in a smaller role in Batman VS Superman before her screen presence gets expanded in Justice League – just like Marvel did with Black Widow in Iron Man 2 and then The Avengers – makes perfect sense. And as the third member of DC Comic’s vaunted Trinity, if any Justice League characters were being introduced early, her name should definitely be at the top of the list.
So now of course the question comes: Who would you want to see in the star spangled underoos and golden brazier? As the perfect combination of beauty, brawn and talent, John Carter‘s Lynn Collins is still my top choice, but if she could just up her acting game, Gina Carano would also be a worthy contender. The fact that Ms Carano just broke up with Superman himself, Henry Cavill, just a few months ago, might sour her chances a bit though.
What do you guys think?
Last Updated: September 27, 2013
Lauren Allen
October 8, 2013 at 21:00
This begins and ends with Phoebe Tonkin. — Right exoticism, right height (5’10), right age, and WBnetwork already loves her for the role. Hopefully she’s adding about 8 lbs of muscle mass as we speak. 🙂
Kervyn Cloete
October 8, 2013 at 21:34
I don’t know, though she certainly is a looker, she’s lacking a certain seasoned maturity that Wonder Woman brings to the table. And it’s something that’s missing from a lot of fan picks for the role, and yet the clue is right there in the name: It’s Wonder Woman not Wonder Girl.
Lauren Allen
October 9, 2013 at 00:01
You should probably explain that to DC and to Wonder Woman history ,-) Phoebe is 24 now, the same age as Lynda Carter in her first Wonder Woman series, the same age Warner is looking for, and they’re both a year older than the 23 years old that DC says Wonder Woman is in New52.
Being iconically perfect for the role (minus some easily gained physical size .. and she’s already like a fitness athlete for mass) is a heck of alot more important for this almost-uncastable role than other factors.
The iconicism, nailing the genotype, is the hardest factor .. and Phoebe has that in spades.
If “seasoned maturity” is the only benchmark then cast Judi Dench and call it a day ,-)
Kervyn Cloete
October 9, 2013 at 06:39
No, you misunderstand. Or maybe I’m just not explaining myself properly :). By “maturity”, I just don’t mean age. Lynda Carter is a great example of this, she appeared much more “mature” than her 24 yrs of age.
Maybe its just my personal preference. I’ve never liked a younger WW, which is why I wasn’t a fan of JMS’ pre-New52 reboot making her a teenage girl again
But even in the New52, DC may say that she’s 23, but she’s portrayed as much older, at least in her late 20’s early 30’s. Most importantly though, and I think this is probably where my point of contention comes from, she’s drawn to be built like somebody who could physically go toe to toe with the musclebound characters around her. She looks like a warrior that’s been fighting her whole life, is what I’m saying,and that’s something that’s just missing from Tonkin, if you ask me,
If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s still learning this acting thing, Gina Carano would be the perfect living example of that combination of beauty and Amazonian strength.
Either way, we’re probably just going to go round and round here, arguing about all of this, and DC/Warner Bros won’t give a flying tiara what we think and hire somebody totally out of left field whom we both will have issues with. It’s the traditional fanboy/fangirl way :D.