Wonder Woman Thread Reborn! - Part 6

[jaymes_e06]

Yes, everything from her facial features to her voice is not what I envisioned for Wonder Woman.

Take one of my picks -- Charlotte Sullivan, for example. Not only is Charlotte beautiful and talented but her facial features undoubtedly hold more Wonder Woman-esque attributes than Jennifer Lawrence does.

Spoiler

I'll give you that she does look like the more modern interpretation of how she is usually conveyed but JL looks like the original Diana very delicate features and less severe looking. I think both look like Diana it's just that your associations are different when you think of her.


PS,
I'm going to be putting my hat in and try my hand at a WW concept that I'll post tomorrow. I'll get more into it tomorrow but I basically wanted to honor the original design and give it more of a warrior motif and keep it as iconic, yet battle ready, and sexy as I could. These two looks where my main inspirations for the re-design.

Wish me luck.

 

[Project862006]

It's really sad to me how rarely acting skill is thrown in with these picks. It's like people just want a Wonder Woman to look at, and don't care if it's actually a great movie or not.

based on what i have seen the following suggestions lately

Haley Atwell
Lynn Collins
Gemma Artreton
Emily Blunt
Jamie Alexander

just to name a few

pretty sure all of them aren't just pretty to look at

 

[DrCosmic]

based on what i have seen the following suggestions lately

Haley Atwell
Lynn Collins
Gemma Artreton
Emily Blunt
Jamie Alexander

just to name a few

pretty sure all of them aren't just pretty to look at

I guess we're reading different threads. I see a lot more than those suggestions, and I don't see many (any) more of significant acting talent.

Yes, everything from her facial features to her voice is not what I envisioned for Wonder Woman.

Take one of my picks -- Charlotte Sullivan, for example. Not only is Charlotte beautiful and talented but her facial features undoubtedly hold more Wonder Woman-esque attributes than Jennifer Lawrence does.

I'm not talking about J-Law or Sullivan, I'm talking about all of your choices. They're too different to possibly all exhibit Diana features.

 

[jmc]

Charlotte's purrrty. That is all.

 

[mhenshaw]

Yes, everything from her facial features to her voice is not what I envisioned for Wonder Woman.

Take one of my picks -- Charlotte Sullivan, for example. Not only is Charlotte beautiful and talented but her facial features undoubtedly hold more Wonder Woman-esque attributes than Jennifer Lawrence does.

I love that people have their favorites, and it's fun to dream; but when the time comes, there will be other factors involved in the casting that have nothing to do with how much the chosen actress looks like the fans' idealized version of WW.

Hollywood, as a general rule, isn't going to care nearly as much as we do whether the chosen actress looks like the traditional version of Wonder Woman.

For Hollywood, an actress's "bankability" trumps virtually all other considerations. Possible fan backlash against an actress who is too far off the "WW look" will create some constraints, but, believe me, as far as Hollywood is concerned, if the actress is white, reasonably curvy, and looks pretty with dark hair, that'll be good enough for them if she's "bankable." Jennifer Lawrence meets those criteria, and given how blazing hot her career is right now, if it came down to a choice between JL and Charlotte Sullivan, Sullivan would have zero chance. "Oscar-nominated actress whose career is on fire with two major franchises under her belt, or a C-list actress who's been on some TV shows, none of which was ever a major hit. Hmmm...which to choose?"

I think you know how that will end. The only way around this is if the WW movie ended up in the hands of a big name producer and/or director (a la Christopher Nolan) who had carte blanche to make the movie however he wanted. If WB trusted the producer, he'd have a free hand to pick his leading lady. If it's some lesser producer/director, his choice would have to meet the studio's approval; and the bigger the movie's budget (and potential profits/losses), the more influence WB will bring to bear.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

1.) C- actress? Whew, thank god you're not a decision-making executive. She was just recently nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Canadian version of The Oscars.

2.) The studios and/or directors will weigh their options but you can't honestly sit there and say they make the 'right' selections every time. For instance, DeNiro was nearly Odin, Duchovny and Tatum were mere heartbeats away from becoming Hulk and Captain America.

While Lawrance is a great young actress, there is absolutely nothing about her that radiates of Diana Prince, other than her curves. It's the equivalent of suggesting Efron (a young actor everyone seems to love on this site) for Bruce Wayne.

 

[mhenshaw]

1.) C- actress? Whew, thank god you're not a decision-making executive. She was just recently nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Canadian version of The Oscars.

Apologies to our Canadian friends, but that nomination won't carry much weight with American Hollywood studio executives. While it shows the girl can act--I'm not saying she's not talented--you can probably count the number of American moviegoers who even know what the Canadian Oscars are called on one hand. So, nomination aside, Sullivan is still effectively an unknown to US moviegoing audiences and the US audience typically accounts for ~50% of an action movie's box office receipts. Until she has a large role in a movie or show that is a US hit, that will weigh heavily on studio execs' perceptions of her bankability.

2.) The studios and/or directors will weigh their options but you can't honestly sit there and say they make the 'right' selections every time. For instance, DeNiro was nearly Odin, Duchovny and Tatum were mere heartbeats away from becoming Hulk and Captain America.

I'm not saying that they make the right decisions--quite the opposite. I am saying that the criteria by which they make casting choices aren't the same criteria by which we fans wish they would make casting choices; and those criteria explain why Hollywood makes so many crap casting choices.

We fans are looking at things like resemblance to the character, acting ability, physicality, etc. They're going to be looking at stuff like, "how many hit movies and TV shows has she been in? How many magazine covers has she been on? What's been the financial performance of the movies she's starred in? What do the critics think about her acting?" This is a business to them. It's all about money, so they're going to give preference to actors who've proven they can sell tickets and everything else is secondary. We'll be lucky if physical resemblance to the character, talent, and physicality even make the top ten on their lists.

How do you think Halle Berry got cast as Catwoman?

While Lawrance is a great young actress, there is absolutely nothing about her that radiates of Diana Prince, other than her curves. It's the equivalent of suggesting Efron (a young actor everyone seems to love on this site) for Bruce Wayne.

I wouldn't compare her to Efron--Lawrence has ten times the acting talent of Efron--but I do understand your point. I even sympathize with it. But Hollywood execs won't sympathize with it and that's the point. Lawrence's latest role as an action star is putting people's butts in theater seats and that would trump most other considerations in the studio execs' minds.

Face it--if you were going to be personally on the hook for the success or failure of a comic book movie with a $100 million+ budget, you too would be thinking about whether a hot actress with a track record of hit movies wouldn't improve your chances of the movie becoming a profitable. And if you didn't really understand the comic book character's appeal in the first place...

 

[jaymes_e06]

1.) C- actress? Whew, thank god you're not a decision-making executive. She was just recently nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Canadian version of The Oscars.

2.) The studios and/or directors will weigh their options but you can't honestly sit there and say they make the 'right' selections every time. For instance, DeNiro was nearly Odin, Duchovny and Tatum were mere heartbeats away from becoming Hulk and Captain America.

While Lawrance is a great young actress, there is absolutely nothing about her that radiates of Diana Prince, other than her curves. It's the equivalent of suggesting Efron (a young actor everyone seems to love on this site) for Bruce Wayne.

1) Who gives a crap? No one but the people who esoterically follow her career would know that. Nor do people look at the "Canadian Oscars" to scout for talent in Hollywood.

2) Did you not read the post? His points were valid no one in there right mind would give a franchise to a virtual unknown.

Dude your exaggerating immensly. At the end of the day the producers will go with someone who will sell the movie rather than one who fits Diana's visage to a t.

 

[ЯɘvlveR]

I love that people have their favorites, and it's fun to dream; but when the time comes, there will be other factors involved in the casting that have nothing to do with how much the chosen actress looks like the fans' idealized version of WW.

Hollywood, as a general rule, isn't going to care nearly as much as we do whether the chosen actress looks like the traditional version of Wonder Woman.

For Hollywood, an actress's "bankability" trumps virtually all other considerations. Possible fan backlash against an actress who is too far off the "WW look" will create some constraints, but, believe me, as far as Hollywood is concerned, if the actress is white, reasonably curvy, and looks pretty with dark hair, that'll be good enough for them if she's "bankable." Jennifer Lawrence meets those criteria, and given how blazing hot her career is right now, if it came down to a choice between JL and Charlotte Sullivan, Sullivan would have zero chance. "Oscar-nominated actress whose career is on fire with two major franchises under her belt, or a C-list actress who's been on some TV shows, none of which was ever a major hit. Hmmm...which to choose?"

I think you know how that will end. The only way around this is if the WW movie ended up in the hands of a big name producer and/or director (a la Christopher Nolan) who had carte blanche to make the movie however he wanted. If WB trusted the producer, he'd have a free hand to pick his leading lady. If it's some lesser producer/director, his choice would have to meet the studio's approval; and the bigger the movie's budget (and potential profits/losses), the more influence WB will bring to bear.

*starts slow clap*

 

[ЯɘvlveR]

I'll give you that she does look like the more modern interpretation of how she is usually conveyed but JL looks like the original Diana very delicate features and less severe looking. I think both look like Diana it's just that your associations are different when you think of her.


PS,
I'm going to be putting my hat in and try my hand at a WW concept that I'll post tomorrow. I'll get more into it tomorrow but I basically wanted to honor the original design and give it more of a warrior motif and keep it as iconic, yet battle ready, and sexy as I could. These two looks where my main inspirations for the re-design.

Wish me luck.

what kind of a face will you give her? I'd like to see J-law's face in those if you don't mind that suggestion.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

1.) Yes, then who gives a flying s**t about the Oscars then?

The point is she can act and has proven it on more than occasion.

2.) Ahem... Chris Hemsworth, Brandon Routh, Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman, Hayden Christenson, Daniel Craig, Christian Bale, Sam Worthington were all virtually unknown to the general audience as well when they nabbed their leading roles. Point?

Your logic here cites that studios would only be looking towards one direction when selecting a lead. That's just not true though.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

@mhenshaw:

I don't disagree with your points. In fact, I concede to several of them, especially when arriving to the studio selection process. Hollywood sometimes tends to go for an actor/actress that resembles a figure or character, and sometimes it goes in the opposite direction. So, it's arduous to try and predict which way WB would go with selecting a Wonder Woman candidate. JenLaw could very well be an actress that WB would consider just because of accomplishments and current popularity levels.

 

[jaymes_e06]

1.) Yes, then who gives a flying s**t about the Oscars then?

The point is she can act and has proven it on more than occasion.

2.) Ahem... Chris Hemsworth, Brandon Routh, Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman, Hayden Christenson, Daniel Craig, Christian Bale, Sam Worthington were all virtually unknown to the general audience as well when they nabbed their leading roles. Point?

Your logic here cites that studios would only be looking towards one direction when selecting a lead. That's just not true though.

1) No me but Hollywood execs do. I could give a flying **** about who gets a rigged Oscar anyway. I don't dissagree she can act just your logic was lacking IMO.

2) You realize you only shown men here. Female led films seem destined to fail that's why a fail safe is someone who has proven that they could open a movie by themselves. J Law is virtually the only one who has done this in recen history who is not over 30.

I agree. As mhenshaw has stated. It could be situational too. Like if a really prolific producer a la Chris Nolan put his 100% faith in an unknown no one would bat an eyelash but we don't hav that situation at the moment.

 

[jaymes_e06]

what kind of a face will you give her? I'd like to see J-law's face in those if you don't mind that suggestion.

It's already done but I realized after I drew it that it looked like Jen Law without me purposfully trying to use her as refrence.

I'll post it in about 30 minutes if the scanner at my school works right today.

 

[Majik1387]

I saw her in Chuck. She was playing Volkov's daughter. She was pretty hot. Not sure she really looked like Wonder Woman in that series though. I'd have to see her with black hair.

The closest she's come to having black hair has been in Vampire Diaries, it has shades of brunette in this pic, but it looked more black throughout her run on the show.

 

[jaymes_e06]

Sorry it took so long. Here it is plus a rundown of why I made my choices for the look.

First lets start off by saying I hate the stars in the armor it serves no purpose other than to relate it to america and I always saw Diana as a embassador of all people not just to the US. So I ditched that entirely. I went instead with the symbol of the bird on her chest and took it further.

I always felt the bird/ was a very important part of her armor before the more modern interpretations that are more like two w's sitting on top of each other. Also I thought it feminized the bodice a bit more by how round it was as opposed to the harder edges the more modern takes have made. I felt that, in the story in my head, a bird, simular to a phoenix was a native animal and they don't worship it or anything but it is a mark of their people in general.

So that is where my inspiration of the gladiatoresque look of the golden bird look comes in. Also her classic look with the more rounded edges took was somthing I wanted to look at. Making the breast plate kind of have the basic shape but kind of injoining with her arm armor became the focus of the look and kind of made everything else flow better.

Also I wanted to try to keep it as iconic as possible by keeping things that look like WW but might be taken a bit more seriously on a warrior of her calibre. I wanted something that covered her and was acutally armor but was kind of sexy too. I'm not sure if I accomplished that part you'll have to be the judges of that but yeah.


The new things I intergrated was probably the crown and how it seems a bit more jagged. I liked how it felt like it was broken and war torn yet still royal. The choker I wanted the bird not the star to be there and for it to agian have a jagged feel to give that warrior vibe. I went with the gauntlets that were from JMS's run, again keeping with the bird theme.

How it would look in action:

I was also going to ask, because I cant make up my mind, which boots do you think fit this look the most?

 

[mhenshaw]

2.) Ahem... Chris Hemsworth, Brandon Routh, Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman, Hayden Christenson, Daniel Craig, Christian Bale, Sam Worthington were all virtually unknown to the general audience as well when they nabbed their leading roles. Point?

Your logic here cites that studios would only be looking towards one direction when selecting a lead. That's just not true though.

I think that most of your examples reinforce the idea that whoever the producer and director are will go a long way to determining whether the lead actress in a WW movie ends up being an actress chosen primarily for "bankability" or one chosen because she actually a good fit for the role.

In 2006, Christian Bale was not an unknown. He had a long resume and was highly regarded in Hollywood as a great actor who was ripe for a big break. Christopher Nolan was equally well regarded as a fine director who was ready to take on a major franchise which gave him some leeway in casting Bale.

Hemsworth got Thor because Kenneth Branaugh was the director and Branaugh has carte blanche in Hollywood to do what he wants. A guy who can make a hit out of an original Shakespeare play without changing the dialogue is a guy you don't second guess on anything.

Brandon Routh is cited in Hollywood as one of the reasons why you *don't* cast an unknown in a leading role in a major franchise. He did a great job, but in the aftermath a lot of Hollywood execs were thinking, "might Superman Returns have performed better if Singer had cast someone better known in the lead?"

Hayden Christensen—picked because George Lucas was self-financing the Star Wars prequels and could cast whoever he wanted with no studio pressure whatsoever.

Etc etc etc. I'm much more worried about who the producer and director will be. Get the right producer and director and we'll end up with a great actress. Get the wrong ones, and we'll end up with Lady Gaga as WW.

 

[Artistsean]

After seeing her on Law and Order, I think she could play Wonder Woman:

I think she has the looks, and since she was good enough for Law and Order I think she would be good enough for Wonder Woman.
I know she is 36, and maybe considered too old, but I think DC's characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman can be cast a bit older since they seem older in the comics. And, and, Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Iron Man and he is older than that and it worked.

 

[Majik1387]

Too waify for my liking.

 

[Rockstar]

We're back in 2005.

 

[Artistsean]

I just think she has the look, and the poise or whatever that Wonder Woman has (at least in most things I have seen her in) and like Hemsworth (spelling?) who played Thor she could build muscle and work out and stuff to be more physically fit to be Wonder Woman.

 

[BruceWanner]

After seeing her on Law and Order, I think she could play Wonder Woman:

I think she has the looks, and since she was good enough for Law and Order I think she would be good enough for Wonder Woman.
I know she is 36, and maybe considered too old, but I think DC's characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman can be cast a bit older since they seem older in the comics. And, and, Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Iron Man and he is older than that and it worked.

Speaking of Law & Order alumni, IMO Milena Govich is a very good template for how an actress cast as Wonder Woman should look.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1950996/

 

[The Guard]

In 2006, Christian Bale was not an unknown. He had a long resume and was highly regarded in Hollywood as a great actor who was ripe for a big break. Christopher Nolan was equally well regarded as a fine director who was ready to take on a major franchise which gave him some leeway in casting Bale.

He was a known entity in Hollywood. But Hollywood doesn't pay for the tickets to make Hollywood money. Christian Bale is something of an anomaly in my mind. Many people had seen films he was in, such as EMPIRE OF THE SUN and NEWSIES, which he gained a lot of recognition for, and AMERICAN PSYCHO, and he had a decent resume, but at the time he was cast, he was still something of an unknown to most people. He wasn't anything approaching a known star. I don't think THE MACHINEST had come out yet, had it?

 

[Artistsean]

He was a known entity in Hollywood. But Hollywood doesn't pay for the tickets to make Hollywood money. Christian Bale is something of an anomaly in my mind. Many people had seen films he was in, such as EMPIRE OF THE SUN and NEWSIES, which he gained a lot of recognition for, and AMERICAN PSYCHO, and he had a decent resume, but at the time he was cast, he was still something of an unknown to most people. He wasn't anything approaching a known star. I don't think THE MACHINEST had come out yet, had it?

But he had been in lots of movies ever since he was a little kid, and not just a bunch of kid movies or easy parts, these were like dramatic hardcore roles I think. So I think when Nolan cast him he wasn't worried about the box office draw but more about his acting ability and whether or not Bale could pull off the type of movie Nolan wanted probably.

 

[mhenshaw]

He was a known entity in Hollywood. But Hollywood doesn't pay for the tickets to make Hollywood money. Christian Bale is something of an anomaly in my mind. Many people had seen films he was in, such as EMPIRE OF THE SUN and NEWSIES, which he gained a lot of recognition for, and AMERICAN PSYCHO, and he had a decent resume, but at the time he was cast, he was still something of an unknown to most people. He wasn't anything approaching a known star.

Yeah, he definitely wasn't considered a star; but in Hollywood he was perceived as very much having paid his dues and having the talent to carry a movie (or franchise); he just needed that big break, which Batman Begins provided. And Nolan had the influence and cred to cast him in the role when other, bigger-name actors wanted it.

The problem here is that most of the actresses being talked about on this forum don't have half the resume Bale did in 2005 and certainly aren't perceived in Hollywood as having paid the dues to deserve a leading franchise role or having demonstrated sufficient talent to carry a big movie. Maybe they can, maybe they can't, but Hollywood execs usually aren't excited about giving the lead franchise role to someone who's resume is populated largely with guest-starring roles on mediocre sitcoms and short-lived TV dramas. And I'm always amazed how many fans here don't want to accept that reality. An unknown actress can certainly give a mind-blowing audition and get the part, but that's the rare exception, not the rule for big franchise movies with $100 million+ budgets.

I don't think THE MACHINEST had come out yet, had it?

It had come out the year before. It was the last movie Bale shot before moving on to Batman Begins. He went from 130 pounds to 230 pounds in less than a year. There's a guy who is willing to suffer for his art.