Who Should Play Wonder Woman?

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

Curiously, I find a question so burning that it consumed the cover of “Wizard” holds no curiosity for me at all. I absolutely don’t care who plays Wonder Woman in the scheduled Joss Whedon film…

…as long as Lynda Carter plays Hippolyta.

Seriously. If they cast her as Diana’s mom, then I’ll take whoever handles the title role in stride.

PAD

130 comments on “Who Should Play Wonder Woman?”

  1. I’m right there with you. I can’t think of anyone who’s a better choice.

  2. 100% agreed. I haven’t seen a photo of her in years, but her features strike me as those that would age very well. Talk about a potentially attractive mom. Steve Rogers wouldn’t look twice at Diana if Lynda was her mother. Hubba, hubba. 🙂

    Fred

  3. I’ve long thought the same thing. For a while, I was dreaming of a Terry Farrell/Lynda Carter team as Diana/Hippolyte.

  5. I’ll go with Linda for the pure rightness of it. But Monica Belluci would be better.

    I hope they go with an unknown. My fear is that we will see some horrible studio imposed idea– “Sandra Bullock IS Wonder Woman!” and it will be terrible.

    I like the character, I’ve enjoyed the comic, the TV show got me through puberty…but I am SO not looking forward to this movie.

  7. Or Lynda Carter has RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL. If she turns down the role then someone else can play the role of Hippolyta.

    Fred, Lynda is in the upcoming DUKES OF HAZARD movie and is a scene in the trailer talking to Burt Reynolds who’s playing “Boss Hogg”.

    — Ken from Chicago

  8. Bill:
    >I like the character, I’ve enjoyed the comic, the TV show got me through puberty…

    Puberty..? Heck, I was prepubescent and loved her. That’s a true love, my friend. 😉

    Ken:
    >Fred, Lynda is in the upcoming DUKES OF HAZARD movie and is a scene in the trailer talking to Burt Reynolds who’s playing “Boss Hogg”.

    Hmmm, nostalgia alone had me considering a visit to the theatre for the flick, but Lynda may just tip the scales..

  9. I know Whedon made the comment that he didn’t want this to be a Buffyverse reunion, but honestly wouldn’t Eliza Dushku be an ideal Diana?

  10. My vote goes for getting an unknown or little known actress. Most of the big names I’ve heard being thrown about in the press just leave me scratching my head. Most are either(to me) too bland for the part or so young looking that you would think that they’re planning Wonder Woman: The Saved by the Bell Years.

  11. Whoever it is, they may need to revise the costume somewhat. If not, the crooks she stops may throw singles at her.

    Catherine-Zeta Jones or Karen McDougal, are my picks at the extremes.

  12. Lynda Carter also has a role in the Kurt Russell/Kelly Preston superhero family flick Disney is pushing this summer, “Sky High.”

  13. Are you saying there are too many høøkërš who dress like Wonder Woman?

    In all seriousness, this is always a struggle with creating a strong woman character — for a mass audience. There will always be a sector of the audience who won’t care if she’s strong as long as she’s extra “hot,” and would complain about the exact same character if she had more clothes on.

  14. This IS a Joss Whedon production we’re talking about. Meaning you can count on a Wonder Woman that is too young, too thin, too short, and too annoying. Of course, this is why the man is the most overrated sci-fi dude ever. He realized that bad actors, derivative scripts, formulaic plots, horrible fight choreography, and too many guys with the same haircut mean nothing so long as you capitalize on the borderline pedophiliac fantasies of the post-teen geek population who can’t get over the girl in 7th grade that they never talked to.

    Take Buffy for example: the original actress was voluptuous, strong, tall, and mature. The movie tanks. Replace her with someone that looks like a 12 year old, BAM! Geekdom rejoices!

    It’s the same mental illness that allows anime to thrive with it’s teenage school girls running around in skimpy outfits and giggling incessantly with voices that are one pitch below a dog whistle.

  16. I don’t particularly care who plays wonder woman, as long as she is a good actress (which tosses out Eliza Dushku, a shame cause she’d look so good in the er, “uniform”). Depending for what age Mr. Wheadon is looking: on the younger end of the spectrum I’d say Shelly Cole (she was a regular guest in the gilmore girls when Rory was in High school, also in the drummer in the film “Prey for Rock and Roll”. On the more mature end of the specture I’d say Jill Hennessey (From Crossing Jordan). With Evangeline Lilly (from Lost) being in the middle.

    But it is of course, completely arbitrary at this point.

  18. There’s too many girls in movies these days. Very rarely do you se an actress looks and acts like a woman. So, Catherine Zeta-Jones by default.

    Mark

  19. Wouldn’t Lynda Carter be too old (she’s in her mid-50s)? I didn’t think the Amazons aged like mortals, so she shouldn’t look much older than Diana.

  20. I like the Terry Farrell/Lynda Carter idea. But Terry might be considered ‘too old’ by the Hollywood elite.

  21. Angelina Jolie would have to be my first choice-
    She’s beautiful, a little exotic, athletic and a talented actress, too. Charlize Theron would be my second choice.
    Of course, genre fans will say Jolene Blalock.
    Famke Janssen and Jennifer Garner are connected to other superheroes so we’ll rule them out for now.

  23. Charlize Theron is out too on the “other hero” thing. She’ll be Aon Flux (I believe it’s her)before this thing shoots the first scene.

  24. Terry Farrell, I hadn’t thought about her. And for the movie’s climactic scene, Wonder Woman can cheer on her geeky boyfriend as he proves his manhood at the college diving championships.

    Seriously, ‘though: Terry Farrell is good casting.

    Mark

  25. As PAD said, I don’t care who plays Wonder Woman. However, she does need to be at least 5’10” (she is an Amazon after all), well built (please not Charisma Carpenter or of a similar skinny shape) and young (early 20’s).

    And I wholeheartedly agree Lynda Carter needs to be involved in this movie in some way!

  27. Take Buffy for example: the original actress was voluptuous, strong, tall, and mature.

    Which, of course, is entirely wrong for the character.

    The whole point of Buffy was to cast against type…it’s Casting 101.

  28. I’ve been saying for years (literally) that the perfect Wonder Woman would be Catherine Zeta-Jones. She has the regal bearing for a princess, the build (dare I say it? I dare: the Amazonian physique) for a warrior, and the voice that sounds royal. She would be abso-frickin’-lutely perfect for the role.

    Conversely, I am scared by rumors that Sandra Bullock would be up for the lead roll. Bullock is pretty, but she is one of our most bland actors today. Let her stick with MISS CONGENIALITY 3: FLOGGING A DEAD HORSE.

  29. You need a Jew.

    Whoops – wrong thread.

    I dig the suggestions of Terry Farrell and Monica Bellucci. A few years ago I might have suggested Catherine Zeta Jones, but I would prefer someone slightly less-known in the role. I’d also like to see the costume from Kingdom Come – it’s a little more regal and modest.

    And OF COURSE Lynda Carter as Hippolyta. I for one think Tim Burton missed the boat in not casting Adam West as Bruce’s father in the flashback…

  31. I’m hoping for a young unknown, myself. (“Unknown” in the sense that they don’t have a strong pre-existing image they have to overcome; Christopher Reeve brought this quality to Superman, for example.)

    I say “young” because of the central themes of Wonder Woman’s origin. Hippolyta asks the gods for a child and is miraculously granted one; she cherishes the child but overprotects her. Diana longs to break free from this and goes against her wishes to win a chance to leave home and see the wider world. Her mother reluctantly agrees to let her go with her blessing.

    That’s a coming-of age story. It’s about parenting and adolescent rebellion; it’s about growing up, leaving the nest and finding your way as a young adult. Any casting of the movie that doesn’t take these themes into account is going to have a tremendously hard time selling the origin.

    Therefore, the actress playing Hippolyta has to be someone we can accept as a mother, immortality or no immortality; and the actress playing Diana needs to be believable as someone who can commit an act of adolescent rebellion (and mature during the rest of the movie). I don’t necessarily think that the actress has to be young so long as she can play youthful convincingly; but the key word is “convincingly,” because if it looks like Hippolyta is telling her middle-aged daughter to move out of the basement and get a job already the whole thing will fall apart.

    (The above comments presume that the movie will follow the “character-origin-and-first-adventure” model of superhero movies. If it turns out that the bulk of the story is set late in her career–more like “The Incredibles” than “Spider-Man”–then a different set of concerns apply, of course.)

  32. I think the most obvious choice, assuming Joss has control over the choice, is Morena Baccarin. She plays Inara on Firefly. With its less than stellar ratings, she is basically an unknown to the general public. Even if Serenity does incredibly well, she will be a background character.

    She is beautiful, she has the right look, she is beautiful, she can act, oh, and did I mention how beautiful she is?

  33. Already thought of the Lynda Carter as Hippolyta bit. And for what it’s worth, the pictures/video I’ve seen of Carter the last few years indicate that she’s still quite good looking.

  34. I think the most obvious choice, assuming Joss has control over the choice, is Morena Baccarin

    Well, Joss did (half-?) jokingly made the same suggestion at a Serenity panel recently, when the audience Q&A brought up Wonder Woman casting. He responded with, “Now, where on Earth would I be able to find a strong, stunning, olive-skinned beauty?” followed by a turn to look at Morena. 🙂

  36. If Wonder Woman’s mom doesn’t age either, then Carter would be wrong for the part.

  37. Lynda Carter as Hippolyta would be nice.

    Maybe the mother of Wonder Woman spent some time away from Paradise Island in her younger days?

    If not, give her a cameo in the movie as “Diana Prince”.

  38. ELISHA CUTHBERT

    Yeah, probably too short and too small for the role.

    But I love her. I really, really do.

  41. I’m sorry, but Lynda Carter is just too old to play an immortal amazon queen.

    She deserves to be on the screen somewhere, it wouldn’t be right to do to her what was done to Adam West.

    Perhaps as Diana’s publicist Myndi Mayer or Diana’s friend archaeologist Julia Kapatelis, the mother of the Silver Swan.

    But not as Hippolyta. Amazons don’t get that old. It’s a nice nostalgic thought, it just doesn’t fit into the story. MrE

  43. As PAD said, I don’t care who plays Wonder Woman. However, she does need to be at least 5’10” (she is an Amazon after all), well built (please not Charisma Carpenter or of a similar skinny shape) and young (early 20’s).

    And olive-skinned. Amazons from a tropical island who live primarily outdoors aren’t going to have lily-white skin.

  44. Sorry, but I think they *really* need to cut all ties with the TV series. This needs to be to the WW TV series what the 1989 Batman movie was to the 60s series.

  47. Who should play Wonder Woman? Submitted for your approval: TANYA MEMME! Who? She’s the host of A&E’s “Sell This House”. She is beautiful, talented, not anorexic, mediterrainian looking, and has a loving upbeat demeanor and voice. (Voice is very important; remember Ms. Carter’s soothing sound, or for you oldies like me, Noel Neil’s Lois Lane?)

  49. Good luck with this movie. I can’t imagine how it can be any good no matter who they cast. To make it work, I’d think they’d have to go so far from the source material that it wouldn’t be Wonder Woman.

    And for what it’s worth, I think gimmicky casting like the wonderful Lynda Carter or the *ahem* memorable Adam West draws people out of the movie (with the exception of Frank Gorshin playing Gordon when the first Burton fiasco came out. He LOOKED like Gordon).

    On that note, perhaps – just perhaps – we’ll finally have a good Batman movie with this summer’s movie.

    Superman may possibly be interesting, but the guy cast as Superman is too skinny.

  50. The heck with who plays Wondy! The HECK with who plays Hippy! What we all really wanna know is…who’s gonna play Etta Candy???

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