Gal Gadot on Why Her Wonder Woman Is Inspiring and Grant Morrison on Why It's Not
Here are a couple of different opinions on Zack Snyder's version of Wonder Woman that I found interesting. The character is being portrayed by Gal Gadot, and she will make her first appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. We got to see a little bit of her in action already in the most recent trailer that was released. For the most part, fans seemed to like what they saw.
While talking to Interview Magazine, Gadot discussed her character, what she wanted to see from it, and why she feels this vision of the character is inspiring:
“I told them that I wanted to be able to show the stronger side of women. I didn’t want to do the obvious role that you see in Hollywood most of the time, which is the heartbroken girl who’s waiting to be rescued by the guy, blah, blah, blah.
I’m so excited about this role. I feel like I’ve been given a huge opportunity to inspire people, not only women. And not because of me but because of who Wonder Woman is and what she stands for. There’s a lot of responsibility. But I have the best team and the best people to work with. It’s going to be an amazing ride, knock on wood.”
It's awesome that she's so excited for the role, but comic book writer Grant Morrison seems to have a very different outlook on how the character is being handled. He wrote the upcoming Wonder Woman: Earth One, and while talking to Nerdist he expressed his concern that Gadot's portrayal will not be in line with Wonder Woman creator William Marston's original vision.
"[The warrior woman thing is] not what Marston wanted, that's not what he wanted at all. His original concept for Wonder Woman was an answer to comics that he thought were filled with images of blood-curdling masculinity, and you see the latest shots of Gal Gadot in the costume, and it's all sword and shield and her snarling at the camera. Marston's Diana [Prince, the character's real name] was a doctor, a healer, a scientist."
He went on to question whether Amazonian women in the society that brought up Wonder Woman would have even been interested in violence as some assume.
"What would a society of immortal women that's been around for 7,000 years have done? They wouldn't still be chopping men's heads off; they've got art and architecture and philosophy and poetry and it's got nothing to do with men."
He makes some really great points here. That's just not Zack Snyder's style, though. He's all about cool visuals and kicking ass. Wonder Woman was never a "heartbroken girl who’s waiting to be rescued by the guy," she was always a great strong female character in the comics, Snyder and Gadot are just taking her to the extreme.
Are you happy with the new Wonder Woman that we're seeing, or would you rather see a version of the character that falls more in line with Marston's vision?