Amph Waiting For Superman: Gunnverse DCU/Elseworlds

That would be mostly fine with me. Particularly the name. I've gotten to where I don't even refer to most comic book characters by their "superhero" names. When talking about the movies, I mean. It's not Magneto, it's Eric. It's not Captain America, it's Steve. Etc. I'm doing this because it feels right, what with the more human versions of these characters we've been getting. It would just feel stupid to me to call Charles "Professor X" at this point. So, let's call her Diana. There are a few exceptions. For some reason, I still call them Hawkeye and Black Widow for some reason. Clint & Natasha doesn't feel right to me yet. Maybe later. Maybe it's partly because Natasha is the most stereotypical, cartoonish Russian name imaginable.

 

Except that would only work for a flashback scene or if some final battle took place on Paradise Island, because it would absolutely not work as part of the DC movieverse or Diana as a modern character.

Besides that, could you imagine the practical considerations?

(Scene-offices of the Daily Planet)
(Pan out to the desk of Lois Lane.)
Receptionist- "Ms. Lane, there's a woman here to see you but she can't fit through the door, and is too heavy for the elevator. Can you meet her down on the sidewalk? She says it's important..."
Lois Lane- "Say what?"
(cut to sidewalk)
Diana-"Thank you for coming, Lois. I would have met you at Starbucks, but I keep turning around and banging people in the head with my spear."

If they are going to put her costume, and not have her be an intelligence officer or similar, she needs the tiara because that's wonder woman. The black pants/jacket combo mentioned before is the best way to go along with this.

 

Could she have some other kind of headgear that, when manipulated in a certain way and squinted at with the head slightly turned, looks, in silhouette, vaguely like a tiara?

You know, like Catwoman's ears.

No, but seriously, I don't think I'd mind something fairly minimal, maybe some kind of glorified headband. She could even use it in some way to hold her hair back; long hair really doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you're going to be in combat. By minimal, I mean something not jeweled out the wazoo.

 

You mean something like Geordi LaForge's visor, but then it flips up to become a headband?

This:



Becomes this:



And as a bonus, Wonder Woman could use it to see in darkness and detect Kryptonite radiation signatures.

 

I remember that Frank Miller drew her with a tiara with a sharp noseguard that heavily resembled that ^ for that lousy Dark Knight sequel. But count me in as another fan of the hoplite armor look. It'll be quite another thing though for the producers to actually go for it.

 

I don't think you want to go where Miller went for Wonder Woman in Dark Knight Strikes Again. The "Conan-esque" tiara was the best part, and only good thing of that outfit:



Superman didn't seem to mind it so much though:

 

The Lasso of Bondage in that last pic, really...

 

Agreed: only good part of that outfit.

 

Although here's another view of the comic outfit that Danthe and dp provided earlier, but without the jakcket:

​

I like the addition of the gladiator-derived shoulder pads, not so crazy about the gold stirrups, but this excellent.

 

Superman is probably thinking of Batman anyway...

 

I don't think we want to go where Miller went for anything in TDKSA.

 

Mr44 what doesn't fit? DC films try for realism. The most realistic wardrobe choices for a person who has spent their entire life in a (culturally) Ancient Greek city-state is to dress like an ancient Greek. What we find trendy, appropriate or appealing should have no impact on how someone from an isolated, distant culture sees the world.

 

Well, we don't know the extent of Wonder Woman's origin for the movie. Not too long ago in the comics, Diana Prince became a non-powered "Agent Scully" type of operative and wore a full leather bodysuit like what the Black Widow wears over in the Marvel movies. (except Diana's was white)

But it's just one of those things that I don't think translates well to the movie screen. Practically, how is an actress going to emote in a full helmet? Wearing full armor (and no, it wouldn't actually be bronze, but even if plastic made to look like metal armor) how would Wonder Woman be able to move around or jump, etc..She would have to move like a tank. Because if she was in hoplite armor, her tactics would be derived from the phalanx formation. And while I made a joke about Starbucks, where would she put her spear, shield, sword, etc.. when not using them? I like the idea of her greek style skirt, I always have. Not so much a full breastplate and helmet. But audience expectations are different than when that was first drawn. Any contemporary Wonder Woman is going to have to move gracefully and athletically, not standing there flatfooted swinging a sword in full armor.

And not only that, but the audience has a certain preconception about what Wonder Woman looks like. I'm not saying that Gal Gadot is going to channel full on Lynda Carter Wonder Woman, but there is going to have to be some version of the tiara and lasso, and those things that define Wonder Woman in the audience's mind, just like the distinct but muted colors of Superman's suit, or the Dark Knight versions of Batman's, or the Flash's lightning bolt, etc...

The Hoplite armored Wonder Woman would be perfect for a specific Paradise Island flashback or battle scene, not suitable for walking down the streets of Metropolis.

 

That's exactly it, which was a beacon of success.

Discounting the box office, I wouldn't say Karl Urban was the poster child for emotive acting in that..... But that's exactly my point. Gal Gadot wouldn't be needed to play Wonder Woman then. Get a surly, stand-in who just fills the helmet and could scowl a lot.

Or is that the Stallone version? Either way, it's po-ta-to vs. po-tah-to.

 

Except the film clearly demonstrates that Zod is cracked in the head from the get go. He's single-minded in his goals and his methods of achieving those goals. He shows no signs of accepting alternatives, which is why he's angry at Jor-El for his heresy and ultimately kills him. It is why he is willingly to eliminate all humans in service of restoring Krypton. He doesn't view alternatives as an option.

ZOD: "This ends only one way, Kal. Either you die, or I die."

It was. That was in the press release for Wonder Woman #600, which was then followed by the pilot for the television series.

The overall plot was that Lex was growing old and didn't want to die before Superman did, so he concocted a plan to kill Superman without relying on Kryptonite. The story then follows Clark over the course of a year, as he tries to put his affairs in order before he kicks off. Telling Lois that he's Superman, giving her one last memorable birthday together and completing the twelve labors that will define his legacy. Samson and Atlas, the prison sequence with Lex and the Parasite, the Kryptonians, restoring Kandor and Solaris were all part of his labors and legacy. At the end, though, he isn't dying, but evolving into this...

That was pretty much the argument four years ago.

Hell, people die during Superman's battles despite his efforts to prevent casualties. A lot of people did during the events of "Doomsday" alone. They were still finding bodies as far forward as "Zero Hour".

Last I read, he wasn't going to be as involved in this one as he was with MOS. And that was before the crossover was announced.

Which was based on the late 60's, early 70's era stories by Denny O'Neil where Diana lost her powers and had to learn martial arts from I-Ching in order to compensate. Though in the Post "Infinite Crisis" revival, Diana did retain her powers. She just changed from the white body suit where she was Diana Prince and powerless and into Wonder Woman. That didn't last long because of Alan Heinberg's run was cut short and after Jodi Picoult's short run, Gail Simone took over and abandoned the white outfit and costume change.

 

Why would she be emoting while fighting at all? If it comes up, she can remove the helmet, just like the X-Men and Raimi Spider-Man (notably, the only films where this scenario ever happens). If she's not fighting she wouldn't 't be in battle armor.

As for moving around, she throws tanks at people's heads. She can shot put a refrigerator the length of a football field. The weight of bronze armor isn't a meaningful impediment. And again, the overwhelming majority of the film should see her wearing the layered series of tunics any normal person would.

 

I'm wearing a series of layered tunics as I type.

 

That beats wearing a series of layered Tunicks as you type...

 

Thanks, I just threw up and need a brain bleaching.

 

The main problem in all that armor is that it goes against the core of the character, which is more peaceful solutions than just fighting. She'll fight when she has to, but it should be a truly war like situation to pull out battle armor. Like we saw in "Kingdom Come" and "Injustice: Gods Among Us" versus her more traditional outfit or her Pre-"Flashpoint" outfit. She doesn't need armor because she's durable. She's not completely invulnerable, but she can take a licking. The armor should be representative of her warrior heritage more than the ambassador to man's world.

 

Sinister, that's true and something I didn't think about. Although I'm not sure on how much the current WB subscribes to the whole "Wonder Woman-Make a hawk a dove, Stop a war with love, Make a liar tell the truth...." persona.

Wocky, I was thinking more in terms of general expectation and logistics for the movie, not so much "in-universe." The majority of Wonder Woman's screen time isn't going to be fighting. Yeah, I get what you saying about just taking off the helmet. But if that's the case, then she would just be seen with it one time for effect, would take it off, and then it won't be seen again, because no character is going to be constantly taking off and putting back on a helmet. Not unless you want your Wonder Woman to sound like Bane, who couldn't be understood half of the time. Or you could look to Magneto in any of the X-Men movies, who wears this type of helmet by design, but the production finds any way it can to get rid of the helmet as quickly as possible.

As for armor, there's an aesthetic involved. I guess Xena would be the best one would hope for, because Xena was practically Wonder Woman already, but Xena's armor was flexible and built for movement as well (And might look a bit dated now)

You seem to recognize this limitation as well, or you wouldn't say "if she's not fighting, she won't be in battle armor..." I agree with that statement, but then the obvious question still remains what should she wear when not in armor? She needs a regular uniform. She can't very well walk around in bra and panties and then put on her armor for a fight scene. The Hoplite/Battle armor idea works best for a specific scene or dramatic flashback, not general "walk around wear."

Even in Man of Steel, which I know is one of your favorite movies, the Kryptonians had battle armor, but the characters like Zod, who had a lot of dialog, spent most of the movie in their flexible onesy. There are in-universe explanations for that, (which we don't have to get into) but the main reason is that chunky armor and face masks interfere with the actors ability to deliver their lines.

Xena for comparison:

standard outfit:


later in series:

 

I imagine she would wear her normal clothes for the overwhelming majority of the movie. As we've already reviewed, for her that would mean a whole series of layered tunics: in particular, the strophion an peplos perhaps with a veil over top. When King Abdullah comes to visit the President, he doesn't put on some crazy costume, he wears something in line with his standard attire. Wonder Woman should follow the same principle. As a woman from an ancient Greek culture, she should dress in the style of an ancient Greek woman. She would probably have objections to anything else. She should stay in these "civilian" clothes for the majority of the movie, and then only on the specific occasion of an actual battle should she put on battle garb. It seems quite straightforward to me.