Thomas Roach on whether Wonder Woman is impossible to get right…
There has been several attempts to bring Wonder Woman to the big screen over the years. Joss Whedon even wrote a screenplay for a standalone Wonder Woman movie but it never got the green light. However, we are due to see the Amazon Princess appear on the big screen in 2016 in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with Wonder Woman played by Gal Gadot, but she has already received a great deal of criticism despite the fact we’ve not seen any footage yet.
At Comic-Con an image of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman was revealed to a mixed reception. One of the issues that keeps coming up for fans is Wonder Woman’s physique. They say that she should be able to give Superman a run for his money and frankly Gal Gadot is no nearly big enough. As much as this is a fair criticism the alternative may not be popular either.
Would fans really want a butch Wonder Woman instead? Personally I think people would moan even more. If Gal Gadot had a similar build to that of Henry Cavill in Man of Steel it would not be well received at all. Finding the right balance of beautiful and muscular would be ideal but surely it would be too difficult. Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey were said to have both been up for Wonder Woman, and they would have been a more muscular version of the character. If either these actresses had been cast I assume the argument would be that their Diana is not lady-like enough.
It is an issue in Hollywood that women are expected to be skinny and beautiful and not have big muscles. It is easy to get Wonder Woman right in an animated movie as animators are able to draw the ideal woman. Finding that balance on screen would be too difficult. If a beautiful actress puts on a lot of weight in order to get muscles then their appearance will change drastically. Gal Gadot may be skinnier and not as muscular for some people but she is certainly pretty enough.
The filmmakers had to make a decision early on whether to go for beautiful or muscular (just as a disclaimer here – I do not find muscular women ugly and am merely saying that the stereotype of female beauty still exists in Hollywood films). I feel that this is probably the best choice but obviously when the film comes out we can judge how she looks as Wonder Woman as well as her performance.
Do you think that Wonder Woman is too difficult to get right on screen? Or do you think Gal Gadot can pull off a great version of the characters? Let us know…
Thomas Roach
Originally published August 13, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
