Wonder Woman TV Series Shelved

[Nerys Myk]

How can superheroes like Green Lantern/Elektra/Green Hornet get movies and no one wants to make a series about the most iconic of superheroines?

Because she is not iconic.

The reason that she was even published at first was a role model for girls. Then because of legal obligations.

Honesty Robin, is more iconic than Wonder Woman.

Of course she's iconic. Being iconic has nothing to do with why she was created or published. It about "brand" recognition. Between the 70s TV show, Super Friends and the various Justice League cartoons she's well ensconced in the collective consciousness of several generations.

Robin was a pretty poor choice to make your point. As the character is well known, even to people who dont read comics. Being the poster boy/archtype/punchline for kid sidekicks will do that.

How can superheroes like Green Lantern/Elektra/Green Hornet get movies and no one wants to make a series about the most iconic of superheroines?

this isnt meant to be sexist, but the problem with some female charcters, is that they are dated compared to the modern world, male characters are more timeless, whilst female characters are more products of there time.

so reviving Wonder Woman for the general public on TV in the movies, is always going to require changes so she fits the modern world, almost making it a pointless excerise.

Times have changed for women, WonderWoman runs the vey real risk of looking hopelessly dated.

Then update the parts that dont work. They did it in the 80s with the Perez reboot. She doesnt have to be a secretary or a plain jane as Diana Prince.

I think they mythological aspects of the character would be fertile ground for characters and plots.

 

[Christopher]

How can superheroes like Green Lantern/Elektra/Green Hornet get movies and no one wants to make a series about the most iconic of superheroines?

Because she is not iconic.

The reason that she was even published at first was a role model for girls. Then because of legal obligations.

Honesty Robin, is more iconic than Wonder Woman.

I think you're misunderstanding what the word "iconic" actually means. Despite the way it tends to be abused, it doesn't just mean famous or important. It means symbolic. An icon is a symbol that represents a concept. An iconic character, therefore, is a character who is seen as the embodiment of an entire idea. Superman is iconic for truth, justice, and the American way. Hitler is iconic for the evils of racism. Captain Kirk is iconic for womanizing action heroes (a simplification of his true personality, but it's the public perception, the fact that he's seen as a symbol of a broader thing, that makes him iconic rather than merely well-known). It has nothing to do with how famous a character is. Among online gamers (and those who absorb Internet memes through osmosis), "Leeroy Jenkins" has become iconic for foolishly overconfident players or self-absorbed jerks who screw up their teams' plans, even though he's obscure to the rest of civilization. And someone like, say, Seth Rogen is famous, surely more famous than "Leeroy," but not iconic, because he's not seen as a single figure who symbolizes a whole class or concept.

Is Robin iconic? Yes, he's iconic for teen sidekicks, because he's the first and most famous of the breed, the exemplar of the class. But Wonder Woman is absolutely iconic for the same reason -- she's the archetype for female superheroes, and by your own admission is a symbol for female empowerment. By virtue of her costume, her image is also iconic for American patriotism in a very literal sense.

 

[Greg Cox]

Bleeding Cool has more on the shelving of the project -- Fox wasn't interested, CW couldn't afford it, and ABC has their own superheroine series in development (the Alias adaptation).

.

It's also been observed that ABC is owned by Disney, which also owns Marvel, which may have made them think twice about getting in bed with DC . . . .

 

[God Magnus]

I tried to embed this, but couldn't get it to work, so go here to view Maggie Lawson (from Psyche) as WW:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/47980

pretty funny, and nice costume!

That was funny. And yes, nice costume, she fills it out well.

 

[Greg Cox]

It's probably worth remembering that "iconic" does not necessarily equal "big ratings." Sure, everyone has heard of Wonder Woman, but that doesn't guarantee success. Name-recognition is important, but it's not a magic bullet (or lasso). If that was the case, then SUPERMAN and HULK movies would be much more successful than IRON MAN or WOLVERINE. And BLADE and THE MASK should have tanked at the box office.

George Washington is iconic, too, but I'm not sure a tv show about the French-Indian Wars would be a guaranteed hit . . . although I'd probabl watch it!

 

[davejames]

I'd love to see a WW movie or series, but I have to admit coming up with a way to make her work DOES seem pretty hard. Starting with the fact that I've never found her Amazon origin remotely interesting. Or the fact most of the characterizations I see in the comics (and cartoons) nowadays, with her as this tough, humorless warrior chick, just don't seem to work either.

 

[Captaindemotion]

The one thing that occurs is that if WB rejected it for being too expensive, at least it appears that Kelley was thinking big - presumably expensive meant lots of SFX, epic vistas, etc. That would certainly be preferable to the Ally McBeal with a Lasso some of us feared.

While the project could still have been expensive and crap, I wonder if it had enough potential to be reworked into big budget movie.

 

[Christopher]

The one thing that occurs is that if WB rejected it for being too expensive, at least it appears that Kelley was thinking big - presumably expensive meant lots of SFX, epic vistas, etc.

It was the CW television network, not the Warner Bros. studio, that rejected it as too expensive. The CW is the smallest of the broadcast networks (if that term still has any meaning these days) and thus doesn't have a lot of money to spend. So what's too expensive for the CW wouldn't necessarily be much bigger in scope than something you'd get on NBC or ABC.

For all we know, it was too expensive because Kelley intended to give it a large ensemble cast of big-name actors. Look at the CW's Smallville -- they've slashed its budget so much that it's down to only four regular cast members.

 

[Gaith]

How can superheroes like Green Lantern/Elektra/Green Hornet get movies and no one wants to make a series about the most iconic of superheroines?

Because no one has yet had the balls to make her a lesbian, not even DC Comics.

I'm disappointed at this news, but eh, whatever.

 

[Deckerd]

How can superheroes like Green Lantern/Elektra/Green Hornet get movies and no one wants to make a series about the most iconic of superheroines?

Because no one has yet had the balls to make her a lesbian, not even DC Comics.

I'm disappointed at this news, but eh, whatever.

Also, since when were one-off (so far) movies comparable with television series?

 

[Reverend]

Am I the only one who thought that the premise of JMS's new take on WW smacked of a TV series pitch? Not saying that was the intention on his part or anything, but the whole set-up of the Amazons being hunted and in hiding, the island long since lost to them and Diana being more of an outsider in her own culture and more at home in "man's world" (does anyone else really hate that term?), an underlying conspiracy, a shadowy antagonist and the promise of a full story and character arc, it really sounded to me like a budget conscious TV approach.

Of course if it ever came to that then the "changed history" angle should be dropped since there's no need for a continuity link into the rest of the DC universe and could exist all on it's won.

 

[Dick Whitman]

It's probably worth remembering that "iconic" does not necessarily equal "big ratings." Sure, everyone has heard of Wonder Woman, but that doesn't guarantee success. Name-recognition is important, but it's not a magic bullet (or lasso). If that was the case, then SUPERMAN and HULK movies would be much more successful than IRON MAN or WOLVERINE. And BLADE and THE MASK should have tanked at the box office.

George Washington is iconic, too, but I'm not sure a tv show about the French-Indian Wars would be a guaranteed hit . . . although I'd probably watch it!

Excellent point. Though one that is often lost on the core fandom of these iconic characters. There are millions of people walking around with Superman t-shirts and tattoos. But that does not mean they have much interest in watching him in movies or tv shows.

 

[Christopher]

I think the point is also that movies and shows about less-famous characters can succeed too -- which should be axiomatic, since shows and movies about entirely original characters often succeed as well. One of the most successful superhero films of the past decade is The Incredibles, which featured entirely original characters. So it isn't prior audience interest in a character that determines the success of a film about that character.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I don't think Diana's a good fit for TV, at least live action, though I'm obviously disappointed that it fell through since she could use any sort of broader exposure.

 

[Guy Gardener]

How can superheroes like Green Lantern/Elektra/Green Hornet get movies and no one wants to make a series about the most iconic of superheroines?

Because no one has yet had the balls to make her a lesbian, not even DC Comics.

I'm disappointed at this news, but eh, whatever.

Also, since when were one-off (so far) movies comparable with television series?

They made all the Amazons lesbians in Justice League Taskforce during the 90s.

 

[Trent Roman]

Wonder Woman is such a hoary concept that I don't see why anybody would bother with it. Modernizing it would create something so different from the original that you're better off creating something new and not being bound by her mythos, or as much of it as could be preserved without being incredibly tacky.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Guy Gardener]

Because the outfit is hot.

It's also very difficult to justify a woman fighting crime in her underwear.

This is one of those few justifications.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Wonder Woman is such a hoary concept that I don't see why anybody would bother with it. Modernizing it would create something so different from the original that you're better off creating something new and not being bound by her mythos, or as much of it as could be preserved without being incredibly tacky.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

Wouldn't be the first time.

Because the outfit is hot.

It's also very difficult to justify a woman fighting crime in her underwear.

This is one of those few justifications.

Its not underwear.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Yes it is.

There's over wear, like coats and sweaters, scarfs.

There's wear, like shirts and trousers.

Then there's under like singlets jockeys and teddys.

Wonder Woman's wear is Diana Prince's underwear even if those togs she wears are hidden in some sort of magical underspace rather than under Di's casual formalwear.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yes it is.

There's over wear, like coats and sweaters, scarfs.

There's wear, like shirts and trousers.

Then there's under like singlets jockeys and teddys.

Wonder Woman's wear is Diana Prince's underwear even if those togs she wears are hidden in some sort of magical underspace rather than under Di's casual formalwear.

Nope.