There’s a reason why Superman and Wonder Woman being in a romantic relationship has only happened in Elesworld stories–since it was an alternate world story, there wouldn’t be any lasting repercussions that could be potentially detrimental in the long run. That and also providing fan-service. But with this being in-continuity for the foreseeable future, not only do I believe what little novelty in the potential for a Superman and Wonder Woman pairing will quickly wear-off, it’s going to be harmful to both characters, although moreso to one than the other.
The only time a romantic pairing between two superheroes works is if both characters are exclusively part of a team book and do not have any solo series of their own, and both Superman and Wonder Woman have their own series–two in Supes case–apart from the Justice League. Normally, this is due to the heroes coming from widely different backgrounds and set-ups, which means they tend to have different kinds of stories that wouldn’t usually fit with one another outside of the team book. In Superman and Wonder Woman’s case, they’re both similar kinds of heroes with similar kinds of stories, at least on the surface: Superman is more sci-fi, while Wonder Woman is more fantasy. In this case, however, it’s more on how the pairing will affect what each character represents.
One of the reasons why Superman’s relationship with Lois Lane has worked so well is because she plays to both his role as Superman AND Clark Kent. Wonder Woman, on the other hand, exclusively plays to Superman’s role as Superman and keeps him distant from his role as Clark Kent. And Superman needs to have a proper balance of being Superman and Clark to work effectively. But Superman is going to be comparatively find compared to what will happen to Wonder Woman. She’s supposed to the embodiment of female empowerment, that woman can be just as good as men. Now with this–and make no mistake–Wonder Woman has been relegated to being “Superman’s girlfriend” and has essentially been co-opted into the Superman
franchise. Because the Superman franchise, by comparison, is larger, more widespread, and has better brand recognition.
I say
file this one under “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.”