The origin of Wonder Woman

[Primal Slayer]

This movie takes a lot of influence from various origins of Wonder Woman throughout the characters run in comics/media. Thoughts on how they portrayed her origins?

The classic origin had Diana being molded from clay, Steve Trevor crash landing on Themyscira culminating in bullets and bracelets to determine who would bring Steve back to mans world.

The movie takes inspiration from TheNew52's WW origin wit her being molded from clay being a lie in order to protect her. In the comics it was to protect her from Hera's wrath while in the movie it seemingly was to keep her safe from the wrath of Ares.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I liked the way they did it. Origin stories can be boring in CBMs, especially if you already know the character well. But I felt Jenkins pulled it off as well as Nolan did with Batman Begins - in neither film did I find myself growing impatient. Great job.

 

[Willi Berg]

While WW fans including myself wanted to see more Amazon culture, the origin in this movie is very much in line with George Perez's more "warrior" culture Post-Crisis origin story.

I didn't mind the change from the clay origin as much as I thought I would, tbh, because it does open up the 'gods as family' angle for WW and makes her a demigoddess, with more of a direct line to those powers (as opposed to being bestowed various powers by different gods.) I was glad that they mentioned the clay origin at all, really.

A lot of the classic origin elements are very Pre-Crisis anyway, and we saw them in the TV show: the Contest, other aspects of Amazon life...though I still would like to see more origin- of both the Amazons and Diana. Now that we/she knows the truth about her origin, that (and what it means) can be explored/explained further in sequels.

 

[haephestus]

It's fine. For me, her origin is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. Sure, Zeus and Hippolyta created her, but that doesn't mean they created Diana the old fashioned way.

Zeus had children in any number of bizarre ways in mythology. Or he may have simply magically impregnated Hippolyta. It certainly seemed like more of a practical decision between two people concerned about the return of Ares than one between two lovers.

I think they balanced it well. For people like myself who favour the clay origin, it's not completely dismissed, although it seems as though there was more to it then Zeus breathing life into a clay golem. And for people who like the idea of Hippolyta and Zeus having a wild love affair during the fall of the Olympians, then that is a viable possibility too.

 

[Matt.S99]

Unlike some, I really enjoyed the Azzarello run. I liked that it took influence from past story lines (Perez's run etc) but added something new. At the end of the day, the character was still true to herself.

I quite enjoyed the way they handled her origin in the film. Her being the daughter of Zeus and having that 'gods as family' angle just feels more cinematic compared to her just being formed from clay.

 

[C. Lee]

I really liked how they did it in the movie.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I think they balanced it well. For people like myself who favour the clay origin, it's not completely dismissed, although it seems as though there was more to it then Zeus breathing life into a clay golem. And for people who like the idea of Hippolyta and Zeus having a wild love affair during the fall of the Olympians, then that is a viable possibility too.

 

[Dark Raven]

I wanted to see the contest. But I also wanted to see Diana discovering her powers like Clark Kent did in Superman the movie. It almost seemed she took her powers as given. They could've had a whole scene showing the thrill and exhilaration of suddenly discovering she has super strength, can leap tall buildings in a single bound etc. It was something that audiences even liked about the first Spider-Man film. I think they could've had this all before she found Steve Trevor after he crash landed.

I preferred how they tackled her origin in this film to the animated movie though, with him washed up on the beach. This was more similar to the Lynda Carter pilot. In the animated movie however, Steve Trevor crash lands but is not unconscious. He spies on some Amazons bathing in the river and then is chased by a bunch of Amazons for being a peeping Tom. Then he is finally hunted down by Diana herself and engages in a fight with her before being beaten.

I just watched the animated film again the other day and found I didn't really like it now compared to the live action film. I'm glad Patty Jenkins didn't use it as a template for her own movie, because hers is much better in almost every way. The only good things that the animated movie has are the contest and showing more of Amazon life and culture. Oh, and it has Artemis as well.

One thing the animated movie does do though is explain why Steve Trevor was able to penetrate through the invisible barrier of Themysicra. In that film, Hippolyta is occasionally curious about the outside world from which she has been shielded for so long, and gazes into a mirror which, when she touches it, brings down the invisible barrier. She happens to do that at the moment when Steve Trevor is being shot down by an enemy aircraft.

As for the clay origin, it gives the best of both worlds by allowing that to stand and possibly allow the New 52 to be applicable as well. It's all a bit ambiguous.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I just watched the animated film again the other day and found I didn't really like it now compared to the live action film. I'm glad Patty Jenkins didn't use it as a template for her own movie, because hers is much better in almost every way.

The Wonder Woman animated film is my top DC animation of all, even over Mask of the Phantasm and Under the Red Hood. I'll have to dig it out and give it another watch and see how it compares.

 

[Dark Raven]

The Wonder Woman animated film is my top DC animation of all, even over Mask of the Phantasm and Under the Red Hood. I'll have to dig it out and give it another watch and see how it compares.

Well, it was good before, but I don't really like it anymore now. I feel that Diana is portrayed as too tough and self sufficient without any of the innocence and charm of Gal Gadot. She's more the typical tough female who doesn't need men. It's all a bit cliched. I even preferred Susan Eisenberg's version to Keri Russell's. Susan's WW was more approachable. Keri Russell's WW seems more two-dimensional to Gal's and rather stern.

Plus I don't like Nathan Fillion's portrayal of Steve Trevor at all. Apart from him just seeming completely like Richard Castle (with all the same kinds of arguments he would've had with Kate Beckett), he plays Steve more as a womaniser. Pine was far more honorable and seemed like a decent guy.

And the plot isn't really all that interesting. Plus people might criticise the end battle of the live action movie, but the animated one was all a bit overblown, especially with all the Amazons showing up. If that end battle had been in the live action movie, it would've seemed like overkill.