Is WONDER WOMAN the Superman of the DCEU?

[Darth Knox]

Like it or not, the fledgling DCEU has not got off to the greatest of starts. When you compare the first three movies, neither did the MCU, but times and the reception of superhero movies at the box office has changed drastically in the past 10 years. One of the biggest complaints levelled at DC is about the current portrayal of Superman.

For many people, Christopher Reeve IS and forever will be Superman, and whether unfair or not, his portrayal of the character is so iconic that it is the barometer by which all subsequent actors in the role have been judged by. However, with the new Wonder Woman movie due out for release soon, director Patty Jenkins has some interesting things to say about Reeve's Superman, it's lasting legacy almost 40 years on and how she used it to inform how she made the Wonder Woman movie.

Those fine people at Screen Junkies discuss her quote as well as the current incarnation of Superman.

What do y'all think? Are you looking forward to the new Wonder Woman movie? Do you like the current version of Superman? Post your comments below.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxqn_lFB6qk" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxqn_lFB6qk</a>

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

I certainly hope not.

I'd prefer it if Wonder Woman, were Wonder Woman, and not viewed as the "female" version of Superman.

But what do I know? I'm just another man with an opinion about a woman on International Women's Day.

[Darth Knox]

I certainly hope not.

I'd prefer it if Wonder Woman, were Wonder Woman, and not viewed as the "female" version of Superman.

But what do I know? I'm just another man with an opinion about a woman on International Women's Day.

I assume you haven't watched the video?

WB has flown out journalists to the UK to see some footage of the movie being edited. While being questioned, Patty Jenkins told the story of watching the 1978 Superman with her son. At the part in the movie when baby Clark lifts up the back of the car her son stood up on the sofa and did the Superman hands-on-the-hips pose.

She went on to say:

"Oh my god! All these years later and look. That's how pure that is. I'm Superman -- that's what (the film) did to me when i was 7, and then watching it with him, all these years later, still -- I'm Superman. I could be Superman. That's the movie I wanted to make for everybody but for little girls too."

So, it's not about WW being a "female Superman" and more WW inspiring hope and "I want to be like that" in people, the way Superman 1978 did.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

I watched 5 minutes of the video, but I read the quote on Screenrant.

My reply was in response to the question asked in the title. #Notmysuperman 

[Darth Knox]

I watched 5 minutes of the video, but I read the quote on Screenrant.

My reply was in response to the question asked in the title.  

#Notmysuperman

Interpretation of language can be an odd thing at times (cos that's not how I viewed the title at all).

However, would it be so bad if the Wonder Woman in the new film had many qualities that Superman 1978 had? It doesn't change who the character is. And especially given the darker outsider portrayal of Superman in MoS and BvS, surely the DCEU needs a character that inspires hope (but who will keep your ass if necessary).

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

However, would it be so bad if the Wonder Woman in the new film had many qualities that Superman 1978 had? It doesn't change who the character is. And especially given the darker outsider portrayal of Superman in MoS and BvS, surely the DCEU needs a character that inspires hope (but who will keep your ass if necessary).

No, not at all. 

[Darth Knox]

When you have the time, I highly suggest watching all the video. They really raise and discuss something interesting points about Superman 1978, current Superman and Wonder Woman herself.

[scifidude79]

Yeah, like Knox said, they want the movie to be **that** movie for this generation, not for the character to literally be Superman.  After all, Wonder Woman is only three years younger than Superman, and she's held her own alongside both him and Batman for all that time.  As a character, they don't have to try to make her be like Superman, she just has to be true to the character.  That's what they're seemingly hoping to accomplish here, to have that defining film.  THIS is Wonder Woman.  All previous versions are just imitators, because that's what Superman (1978) did for his character.  They want to have one of those moments.  WB/DC needs this film to be that.

For many people, Christopher Reeve IS and forever will be Superman, and whether unfair or not, his portrayal of the character is so iconic that it is the barometer by which all subsequent actors in the role have been judged by.

That's because Christopher Reeve played the role so ingeniously, he brought believability to both the role of Superman and Clark Kent.  In fact, it was his portrayal of Kent that got him the role.  He played the role so well that you could see why most people wouldn't suspect he was Superman.  And, he was the best Superman too.  He had the height, the looks and a dye job on his hair made it the right color.  Add to the fact that he was working out so much to fill that suit that they had to re-shoot some of the stuff they filmed earlier for continuity's sake.  The way he acted embodied everything about the character.  And, last but not least, his hang gliding experience made him a natural in the wired flight harness.  He brought a believability to the flying that was never there before.

His look was so popular that the rebooted Superman comics in the '80s and '90s often had the character drawn in a likeness of Reeve.