It has been reported that the actress recently cast in the role of Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot, has signed a three movie contract deal to play the Amazonian warrior. The movies are said to be the upcoming Batman vs Superman film, a Justice League film, and *le gasp* a Wonder Woman stand alone film. Excuse me as I die in shock at that last one. In addition, sources say Gadot will be making $300,000 per film.
Despite the popularity of Wonder Woman and the rest of the members of the Justice League, it is difficult to say how these films will do in theaters. Man of Steel was met with much criticism and the fan base remains divided over it. Because of the first film’s split reception, Batman vs Superman and the future Justice League film are facing waves of early skepticism. In addition, Gadot’s Wonder Woman is not immune from the public’s criticism, even though we have yet to see any photos or footage of her in action.
While I am thrilled with the long overdue announcement of a Wonder Woman film, I’ll admit I have my concerns. This is because the few times when a woman has been the headliner of a super hero movie, the results have been less than stellar. We have only gotten three movies starring a female hero from both Marvel and DC and they are all terrible. Marvel released Elektra, and DC released Catwoman and Supergirl. This is not because of the characters. Each one of these heroines has been involved in at least one compelling story at some point in her history. The material for a good movie is there, studio support is the missing factor.
I want people to think about this for a minute. There have been 47 Marvel live action movies and only one of them has featured a super heroine as the star. There have 9 animated Marvel films and none of them have starred a super heroine. DC has had 43 live action movies. Two of those starred super heroines. There are 36 animated DC films and only one of those are staring a super heroine films. Between Marvel and DC there are 135 live action/animated films. Only 4 of those have starred a super heroine, and only one of those have been good. Interestingly enough, it was the Wonder Woman animated movie.
These numbers and the quality of the previous films make me wonder how well the upcoming Wonder Woman movie will fare. DC’s track record indicates that they handle their super heroines very poorly and so far there is not one little bit of news that gives me faith in this film. The fact that we got our first Superman movie in 1951, our first Batman movie in 1966, and are JUST NOW getting our first Wonder Woman movie is beyond sad. Wonder Woman is the third part of DC’s holy trinity and it’s taken this long for us to even cast her for the big screen. DC, I applaud you for finally giving us the Wonder Woman movie we have wanted for so long. NOW MAKE IT A GOOD MOVIE!
What are your thoughts on the upcoming Wonder Woman movie? What storylines should DC and Warner Bros. pull from for the film? Let us know in the comment section!
Source: Variety