Hall H at Comic-Con exploded Saturday with the first image of Wonder Woman and a teaser trailer for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice . While Batman’s look is showing definite signs of influence from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns , the image of Gal Gadot as the super-powered Amazon princess doesn’t have as obvious an influence. So, let’s examine what the first image does tell us.
Great time at #SDCC this year! #WonderWoman #DCTrinity http://t.co/iPhukjD0F3 pic.twitter.com/JobeSzwfH4
— ZackSnyder (@ZackSnyder) July 26, 2014
1) Gal Gadot trained hard for the role.
The hiring of the 5’10 Israeli actress as Wonder Woman was criticized routinely on message boards and social networks because figure wasn’t Amazon-like enough based on her Fast & Furious roles. She’s obviously hit the gym hard in preparation to play Diana and, based on looks alone, will be more than capable to stand toe-to-toe with Henry Caville’s Superman and Ben Afflecks’ Batman.
2) Snyder has his own take on Wonder Woman’s costume.
Wonder Woman’s costume has undergone significant redesigns over the last few years in attempts to make it more modern and something less sexist. Jim Lee’s redesign as part of DC Comic’s New 52 reboot initially gave the character pants before DC moved back to the traditional short shorts.
Snyder’s redesign appears to be a compromise between the two by going with a short skirt and thigh high boots.
Most interesting though is the decision to go with darker leather colors in Wonder Woman’s movie outfit versus the more garish red, blue and silver or gold. The eagle design at the top of her chest still remains, but the overall look is even darker than anticipated and the stars are completely gone.
3) All of Wonder Woman’s weapons are there.
Wonder Woman’s bullet deflecting gauntlets (Aegis of Athena)? Check
Her Lasso of Truth (Lariat of Hestia)? Also check but it doesn’t look as golden as in the comics.
Tiara? Also check but it is unknown if it is merely decorative for Batman V Superman or will be used like a boomerang as she does occasionally in the comics.
Sword? Yes, sword. Wonder Woman has used a sword created by Hephaestus off and on through the years but more frequently since the New 52 reboot.
The Wonder Woman image also creates a couple of open questions.
1) What will Wonder Woman’s powers be?
Super strength and speed is a given with Wonder Woman. She’s one of the few characters in the DC universe that can stand with Superman (depending on how powerful the writers decide to make them both at the time) but has also had the power of flight. The general public is more familiar with the famed invisible plane, however. Which way will Snyder go here?
2) What’s going on around Wonder Woman?
The image of Wonder Woman depicts a vast amount of destruction. There’s rubble, fire and smoke all around, but from what? The rebar sticking out in the foreground suggest the Amazon is standing in the ruins of a fallen building.
Man of Steel did not short change the audience on the amount of destruction created during the fight between Superman and Zod. This image of Gadot suggests that there will be at least an equal heaping of devastation brought to some city, but which one? Metropolis or Gotham?