INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Patty Jenkins Reveals Which Movies And Comics She Drew Inspiration From For ‘Wonder Woman’

By Pea Kriengkraisakul
Published on: 02:27 PST, Jun 11, 2017

Not only has Patty Jenkins’s Wonder Woman been a massive success at the box office, it is also the first film within the DC Extended Universe to be universally hailed by fans and critics alike. Wonder Woman, which stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot as the iconic Amazonian warrior, brought in a whopping $100 million during its domestic debut last week. As a result of this impressive opening weekend, Jenkins has now broken a record previously held by Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson, making Wonder Woman the biggest US opening by a female director ever. Recently, Jenkins, who is also known for directing the critically acclaimed Monster, hosted an AMA on Reddit in which she answered various questions from fans.

Among other things, Jenkins revealed which movies and comic books she drew inspiration from for Wonder Woman, after being asked by a fan what works had influenced her first superhero film other than Richard Donner’s Superman. The fan was, of course, referring to a scene in which Wonder Woman, otherwise known as Diana Prince, saved Steve Trevor from being shot by an assailant. This was done as a tribute to a similar scene in the original 1978 Superman movie.

In response to the question, Jenkins named two movies that influenced her film, namely Casablanca and Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Clearly, the director drew inspiration from the adventurous tone of these two classics.

  • Casablanca

  • the original Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

  • the original Wonder Woman comic book

  • the Lynda Carter show

  • George Perez’s comic strips of Wonder Woman

What’s more, Jenkins also named the 1970s Wonder Woman television show, which starred Lynda Carter as the titular heroine, as another big influence. In a recent interview with CBS, the director named Carter as a personal childhood hero of hers, claiming that the actress’s portrayal of Wonder Woman inspired her to want to be a justice fighter herself. Carter also seems to be a big fan of Jenkin’s Wonder Woman and even took to Twitter to congratulate the director, as well as the film’s two stars, Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, on its massive success.

As for the comics that inspired Wonder Woman, Jenkins cited “the original Wonder Woman comic book” and “George Perez’s comic strips” as inspiration. Seeing as how the film tells the origin story of Wonder Woman, it is no surprise that Jenkins would delve into the source material in preparation and study the original comics in the process. The inclusion of George Perez’s comic books isn’t really a huge surprise either, considering how the comic book veteran helped reboot the character of Wonder Woman in the late 1980s. In an interview with Syfy Wire, Perez revealed that while he had yet to see Jenkins’s Wonder Woman, he had heard that “it’s going to be a worthy film.” He was also delighted and flattered by Jenkins’s decision “to encompass a lot of the stuff that [he] did on the Wonder Woman series when [he] was writing and drawing it.”

Furthermore, Jenkins also revealed Zack Snyder’s role in the film. Snyder, of course, directed two of the four DCEU films, namely Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. For Wonder Woman, Snyder served as a producer and “mostly had an influence in getting things back in order to be a good origin story,” according to Jenkins. Jenkins further claimed that Snyder was a great producer who gave her artistic freedom. She also revealed that she “worked super closely” with comic book writer Geoff Johns on the script of Wonder Woman. Furthermore, Jenkins admitted that she was open to the idea of working on other projects within the DCEU, but would “mainly love making Wonder Woman[films].” Considering the success of her first ever superhero film, fans could surely get behind the idea of Jenkins directing other DCEU films.

[Featured Image by Faye Sadou/AP Images]

Share this article: Patty Jenkins Reveals Which Movies And Comics She Drew Inspiration From For ‘Wonder Woman’
wonder woman Lynda Carter
More from Inquisitr