What Could Result From Wonder Woman?
The word ‘revolution’ might smack of hysteria when used in this discussion, but the nature of the Wonder Woman character, combined with the fact that we have waited seven decades for her first live-action film, certainly lends itself to a revolutionary expectation. But, in order to fully appreciate that, we need to look at the release of the film in context – not only of her 76 year DC comic book history, but of the superhero film genre as a whole.
We can probably all agree that, while superhero movies have been produced and enjoyed since 1939 (with the arrival of comic-book based Saturday film serials), the past decade has seen a marked rise in their prevalence and popularity – thanks largely to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, in looking at the last ten years (January 2007 to May 2017), we see that there have been 45 superhero films released to audiences. These have ranged from big budget studio films – such as the two Spider-Man franchises, the X-Men series, the Dark Knight franchise, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle series – to smaller, independent productions – such as Chronicle, and All Superheroes Must Die. Many have been based on comic book characters – such as Watchmen, or Ghost Rider – while others are original creations – such as Hancock.
What’s important to note is that, of those 45 films, only one was directed by a woman – and that’s 2008’s Punisher: War Zone, helmed by Academy Award nominee Lexi Alexander. One, single, solitary movie, in a list of 45. It’s also important to note that, while films such as those involving the Fantastic Four or any combination of the Avengers do include female superheroes in supporting roles, none of the 45 superhero films released in the past 10 years have an actual female lead around whom the story is based.
Now, let’s take a look at the currently confirmed future of superhero movies – meaning titled films with a specific, scheduled release date set for May 2017 or later (with the exception of Wonder Woman). There are, at the moment, 17 superhero films in the pipeline fitting those criteria. Justice League, Ant-Man And The Wasp, and the two planned Avengers sequels will have female superheroes as part of their respective, titular teams. Only one film will be truly led by a female character, though – and that’s Captain Marvel, releasing in 2019. While there are four scheduled superhero films (Shazam!, Spider-Man 2: Homecoming, Cyborg, and Green Lantern Corps) that have yet to confirm their directors, we know that only one of the 13 films that officially have a filmmaker attached will see a woman at the helm – and that’s Captain Marvel, due to be co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
This is the cinematic landscape into which Wonder Woman will sweep on next month. The film centres on a woman raised outside of the inequality of our own society, and it is directed by a woman – Primetime Emmy nominee Patty Jenkins. To be clear, if the film achieves any degree of critical and commercial success at all, the fact will be inescapable: this iconic character – deemed “the trickiest” to adapt into live-action by generations of male-dominated movie studios and television networks – will have finally been delivered, to the delight of popular culture, guided by a female hand.
That would be a long overdue, watershed moment, upon which a new approach should be built. The summer of 2017 could well see the Dawn Of Justice give way to the dawn of cinematic equality – at least in terms of the way in which gender in film is approached, both in front of, and behind the camera. While the already scheduled 17 superhero movies make it clear that this evolution will not occur overnight, we can be sure that Wonder Woman will inspire positive change.
After all, that was the purpose of her invention.