Wonder Woman Movie Trailer Drops

I don’t cover San Diego Comic Con like I did in the old days in part because unlike its New York counterpart it’s no longer about the comics. All they care about are the TV shows and movies, some of which just happen to be based on comics. Sure, I don’t just review comics so if some piece of news or trailer comes out that interests me I’ll discuss it. However, why continue to call it Comic Con when comics are the least cared about part?

DC dropped three of them at this year’s SDCC, while all I’ve heard about from Marvel is the Doctor Strange movie. I don’t care about Doctor Strange, possibly less than the Fantastic Four, so I won’t be bothering with that. DC’s offerings is a different story.

We’re starting with Wonder Woman, a movie fans of the character, as well as those female things comics don’t seem to remember, have been waiting for. But are they getting the full experience? DC’s Diana now carries a sword and only fights gods and monsters and acting like the ancient Amazons instead of the original DC take because somebody is obsessed with writing about Greek mythology and not the Wonder Woman we all remember and love. Where does the movie go?

Let’s start with what I like. I like that Etta Candy is a proper merger of her pre- and post-Crisis versions. She’s still a bit overweight but she’s not shouting “woo woo” when we see her. She’s also Steve’s secretary (and I’m assuming Diana Prince won’t be seen in this so he needs one). She may be fun. I also like how the lasso glows when wrapped around someone. Whether she can use it to compel people to tell the truth, or if we’ll at least see it, is unknown according to this trailer but if not the glowing seems pointless if she’s not using the magic of the magic lasso. Also, it makes sense that her first appearance in “man’s world” would lead to humorous moments as Diana gets used to a new culture. And males.

I’ve heard there are complaints that she has the usual normal-looking arms instead of being muscular. I’m not going to say that muscles would make her look too manly. The 90s did that for me. Personally, I find it more interesting that she shows super-strength and isn’t built like Grace Jones. (I don’t follow women’s bodybuilding, or men’s either, so I don’t know who else to point to.) I don’t have a problem with this. Gal Gadot really looks the part, if she only had the right look on the costume and hair end. (Although she has worn it that way in the comics, so I’ll get over it. Nobody looked more like Diana than Linda Carter.) Also, the parts on her outfit that are supposed to be gold ARE gold, and not silver like modern DC designs. This makes me happy.

Then there’s the stuff I don’t like. Why is it set in World War ONE instead of World War TWO? I mean, if we’re going with Diana being immortal (since she also exists in the modern DC movies like Batman Versus Superman: Dawn Of Personal Disgust and the upcoming Justice League (we’ll look at that trailer tomorrow)) then why not debut her in the same war she was created during? Because you don’t want it compared to the first Captain America movie in the MCU? Yeah, that ship sailed, came back, and went out again so why not go for accura…wait, this hastily thrown together continuity is actively trying to avoid accuracy. I almost forgot. I mean, you gave her a shield, which isn’t as cool as her bracelets, to stop bullets. Sure, I understand using it against mortars and machine guns (although I’m not sure who she’s attacking) but the bracelets look cooler.

Also she has her New 52 sword, which she wears on her back. That would be cool if she wasn’t supposed to be Wonder Woman. I also have one question.

How would YOU represent the clay origin?

Are they going with the original origin that she is clay brought to life (which would explain her powers since she isn’t built like a male pro wrestler–because now that I think about it female wrestlers has some muscle on them but probably still not enough for that branch of naysayers) or are they going with the New 52 version that she’s another one of Zeus’s many, many, many (insert a ton more “many”s) illegitimate children? Or are they leaving it ambiguous so the fans can choose their own version? That might be a way to go if they weren’t already sticking with Wonder Woman 52.

As for seeing this in theaters, I probably won’t. I’m sick of DC movies being afraid of sunlight (the old joke about geeks and sunlight has been disproved, another win for Pokemon Go), it’s the New 52 version trying to play classic Wonder Woman in the wrong war, but there are some potentially good moments that I might rent or watch it on TV. It might be good but that doesn’t mean it’s what I want.

Tomorrow and Thursday we’ll be checking out two different versions of the Justice League, the new movie and the new cartoon. Will either of them be any good? Stay tuned, kids.