In the weeks leading up to WonderCon, we saw many billboards going up with images of Wonder Woman. As you arrived at the Anaheim Convention Center, the doors were all decorated with more Wonder Woman decals. The movie is exactly two months away and after last night’s Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, I couldn’t be more excited.
Wonder Woman was definitey the theme of DC’s presence at WonderCon, as the center of their booth featured Wonder Woman’s costume. Yesterday also featured a cosplay meet-up for guests dressed as Wonder Woman at their booth. As the many cosplayers posed for photos, the moment was crashed by the film’s director, Patty Jenkins, and a bit later was joined by the man who has his hands on everything DC, Chief Creating Officer Geoff Johns. That excitement carried over into the Anaheim Convention Center Arena where a full house awaited the Warner Bros. Pictures presentation. That positive mood was quickly flamed out by the opening of their presentation, Annabelle: Creation, which was terrifying, but that is a separate article. The stage soon was set for Patty Jenkins and Geoff Johns.
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Here are some of the points I took away from their time on stage:
First of all, Jenkins is definitely a fan first of super heroes. She talked about how Richard Donner’s Superman starring Christopher Reeves was such an inspiration. She said that, “I was 7 years old…I was Superman. I was that character who ripped his shirt open.” These words were backed up by the presentation of an exclusive clip, where Diana, played by Gal Gadot and Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine, are cornered into an alley by some thugs. There Steve attempts to protect Diana but the roles are reversed as Diana saves the day. The end of that clip brought a lot of excitement as one of the men try to get away. Diana whips out the Lasso of Truth to bring him down. Jenkins hopes that the arms crossed as Wonder Woman often does can one day become as synonymous as the Superman pose. This quote from her really sums up her feelings toward the project
“I am a huge Wonder Woman fan, and the aspiration comes totally naturally to me. Nothing about DC or nothing about the world or nothing about anything could change that pressure. I want to make great films in my lifetime, and I really want to make a great film about Wonder Woman…Who should make a great movie about Wonder Woman? It should be somebody who loves Wonder Woman. And I know that I’m that. So let’s go and try.â€
Jenkins and Johns made it clear that the character would stay true to her classic origins. Although some things have been tweaked to make more sense in our day an age, the classic back story that we all know and love will stay the same. Johns mentioned a lot of things in her mythos that are unchangeable, like her being from an island called Themyscira and her back story with Steve Trevor. At the end of the day he said that you need to be able to squint and still recognize the character, but reminded everyone that they still need to make some adjustments from comics to big screen.
The second clip that the audience was treated to was a fight scene where Wonder Woman takes on several soldiers. The scene does a a fantastic job at displaying Wonder Woman’s fighting ability, to which Johns said that she is the best fighter in the DC Universe. The clip ends with Wonder Woman bursting threw a window, and the audience went nuts. One thing that Jenkins pointed out about the scene was that Wonder Woman does not use her sword to strike, but instead uses it defensively because she is not looking to kill, which I thought was very interesting.
Besides all the amazing visuals and feelings towards the project, something that stood out the most was their description of Wonder Woman’s most important trait, love. Jenkins said this about Wonder Woman:
“She’s one of the very few who believes in goodness and kindness and justice and love, who comes to our world hoping to instill that in other people, but is
willing to use force if that’s what she must do, to keep mankind safe”.
What separates her from the rest is the fact that although she is one of the most skilled warriors in the universe, she is also the most loving and compassionate.
To sum it all up, Johns said the film is about “Heart, Humor and Heroics”. Although I left the presentation excited an optimistic, the faults in the previous films still lurk in the back of my mind. I am very hopeful that the passion that Patty Jenkins and her creative team put in the film can come to life on the big screen in two months. Are you excited for Wonder Woman?
Wonder Woman slams into theaters June 2nd, 2017