The growing call for a female superhero movie has long featured Wonder Woman at its heart. As the third of DC’s most iconic, successful and recognizable superheroes, her absence from mainstream culture has been increasingly noticeable. While Batman and Superman have both enjoyed reboot upon reboot in popular TV and film, the Amazon Princess has been restricted to the pages of her comic books – save for an all-too-brief 1970s TV show and appearances in relatively obscure animation.
Consequently, we know all about the tragic end of Bruce Wayne’s parents, and the heartwarming adoption story of Kryptonian Kal-El. Few are as familiar with the origins of Wonder Woman – but her upcoming appearance in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice looks set to change all that, as producer Charles Roven has confirmed that this Wonder Woman will be taken from the most recent comic book reboot.
Now, apart from the fact that this latest snippet from Zack Snyder’s production highlights the way in which the character of Wonder Woman has been mishandled within DC’s comic books over the course of seven decades (the origins of Batman and Superman have remained largely the same for 75 years, but Wonder Woman needs a drastic reboot?), the confirmation that this Wonder Woman will be of the ‘New 52’ era actually tells us a lot about this film, and possible plans for the character beyond these closing credits. For the uninitiated, when we refer to the ‘New 52’ era of comic books, we are talking about the September 2011 re-launch of DC’s entire publication line – including Wonder Woman – which brought major changes to the character.
As a character, Wonder Woman is depicted as a Warrior Princess of the Amazons – also known as Princess Diana of Themiscyra – and daughter of Hippolyta. The premise of her story is based in Greek mythology and the classical era of the Greco-Roman world, in which the Amazons were a nation of all-female warriors. Hippolyta was known to have been a notable Amazon Queen and sister of Penthesilea, who participated in the Trojan War. Hippolyta was considered the daughter of Ares, who was said to have gifted her with a magical girdle. It is believed that the Amazon nation moved throughout the region that is modern-day Turkey – supposedly founding many towns as they went. They are thought to have later moved to the ancient city of Themiscyra, which is now the District of Terme. The District is famed for its annual festival celebrating the history of the Amazons.
