“It’s total wish-fulfillment. I, as a woman, want Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time – the same way men want Superman to have huge pecs and an impractically big body. That makes them feel like the hero they want to be. And my hero, in my head, has really long legs.”
That’s director Patty Jenkins talking about the high-heeled, legs-out designs you see in the Wonder Woman costume designs above in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. It’s possible that she and the suits at Warner Bros. are trying to head off any controversy, a la the criticisms of Bryce Dallas Howard’s Jurassic World character running from a T-Rex in high heels. It’s also a really honest assessment of how one might create exceptionalism — that otherworldly heroic figure necessary to make you believe that Wonder Woman is from a world unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
That world is Themyscira, a hidden island where mythical Amazon women live in harmony away from the rest of the world (and the men who inhabit it). It’s a world we’re going to visit in June 2017 when Wonder Woman debuts on screens all over the world. And while Gal Gadot made her debut in this week’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the reviews have been loud and clear: the movie isn’t great, but we want more Wonder Woman.
The woman we meet in Batman v Superman is a fully formed version of Wonder Woman, living in the Metropolis/Gotham Bay Area as Diana Prince. She’s as accomplished an operator as Bruce Wayne, doing some fun spy stuff and for the most part, working on her own agenda. Until the big bad Doomsday shows up, forcing her into action, shield, sword, bracelets, lasso and all. When we next see her on screen, we’ll be working backwards, as Jenkins’ movie will bring to life the origin story of Wonder Woman, her tribe on Themyscira and what exactly has brought her out into the rest of the world.
In this new image, we see the women who will be her greatest influences: Diana’s mother, Queen Hippolyta (Gladiator’s Connie Nielsen), and her two military aunts – General Antiope (Robin Wright) and Antiope’s lieutenant, Menalippe (Force Majeure’s Lisa Loven Kongsli). “She is the only child they raised together,” Jenkins tells EW. “And their love for her manifests in a different way for each of them.”
Good casting is one thing — but the look they are pulling off here is another. If we add up what we know so far: the way Wonder Woman rocks her limited screen time in Batman v Superman, the powerhouse prestige of these three other women, and Jenkins’ own proven track record, we have so many reasons to be excited for Wonder Woman. We can finally put to rest many of the fears of WW’s fans: that Gadot doesn’t have that big, tough, Amazonian figure (she’s got plenty of everything she needs for this role); and that Warner Bros. might not give this character enough room to breathe and become not just a great hero, but a feminist icon. It feels like they’re moving in the right direction. And I for one can’t wait to see these women in motion, kicking ass, delivering some next level eternal #squadgoals unto the world.
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