Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Jun 21, 2007 16:59:54 GMT -5
10. Wonder Woman {Women On The Left} (Justice League)
Justice League was the first chance to add Wonder Woman to the DCAU, as the rights having been previously tied up in possible movies and television shows.
To introduce her into a universe already populated by long-experienced heroes like Batman and Superman, Bruce Timm and his team took a cue from George Pérez’s newcomer-to-man's-world Post-Crisis interpretation. This Diana started off completely innocent and ignorant of man's world. Also like the Pérez version, she neither keeps a secret identity nor has an invisible plane (although in the 2nd season of Justice League Unlimited we see her unveil the plane). However, perhaps as a nod to her Pre-Crisis appearance, she has straight hair and high-heeled boots suggestive of her old Super Friends incarnation. Also, her lasso did not compel truthfulness until the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Balance" in which Hippolyta activated this power.
Her initial personality consisted of a strict adherence to Amazonian dogma (prompting some of her teammates to react to her attitude by calling her "Princess" somewhat disdainfully). Noticeable though is the effect of Man's World on Diana. Her first appearances are marked by her reflexively acting off of Amazonian ideology (in "Fury", she questions how necessary men really are), but as time passes, she becomes more interested in men (in particular, Batman, with whom she has a flirtatious relationship, which was something of a controversy among fans) and also experiences the emotional excesses of man's world, as compared to the Amazons (who are portrayed as somewhat stoic if not emotionally stunted). Batman's affections for Wonder Woman, however, are somewhat confirmed in the Justice League Unlimited episode This Little Piggy, where he admits his feelings to Zatanna when requesting her help in changing Diana back (she was turned into a pig by Circe). Wonder Woman, in her eight-year old form, also flirts liberally with the young Batman.
She finds joy but also discovers a temper that frequently needs to be checked by her teammates ("Hereafter", "Hawk and Dove", "Eclipsed", etc.). Later episodes dealt directly with her temper and Diana’s eventual mastery of it. She since adopted the role of ambassador of the Amazons at her mother’s request ("To Another Shore"), bringing another Post-Crisis trait to the DCAU.
While Wonder Woman’s origin in the DCAU is not detailed, in the episode "The Balance", it is revealed that she indeed was a clay statue sculpted by Hippolyta and somehow brought to life. In the same episode, Lord Hades says that he helped Hippolyta sculpt the clay statue that would eventually become Diana, making him feel almost like a father to her, but was banished before she was brought to life. That claim, however, was never substantiated. It was also revealed that the Wonder Woman armor was originally made by the god Hephaestus for her mother, Queen Hippolyta, not Diana. Diana stole the armor to use once Hippolyta forbade her to enter the outside world. Later in the series it is revealed also that Diana did not know that the armor had additional abilities, which could be activated by pressing the star on the tiara.
Steve Trevor made an appearance when the League time travels back to the Second World War in order to stop Vandal Savage. In this three-parter, Diana falls in love with Steve who is a member of the OSS. They share flirtation, but are separated when Diana returns to the present day. She visits her now elderly friend at a retirement community, this scene closing off the episode.
Her eventual fate is unknown, but Kobra mentions that she is still alive during the time of Batman Beyond. However, it has not been confirmed whether the Wonder Woman mentioned is the same Princess Diana.
Her powers are almost the same as her comics counterpart, including flight and super strength, lending Wonder Woman the ability to hold out against Superman in a fight, while both were hallucinating. She also has a weakness to pierce wounds as shown by Devil Ray's poisonous dart harming her. She is able to defeat Vixen, Hawk Girl, Huntress and Black Canary in a brawl.
Wonder Woman was originally supposed to appear in the Batman Beyond episode “The Call”, which featured a future Justice League. However, rights issues precluded the possibility and her cameo was instead taken by Big Barda.