Unlike other DCEU films, I quite like Wonder Woman. It’s probably the only one of the four DCEU films that I’ve seen (all but Man of Steel) which I would considered a good film, or at least a good superhero film. I love the character of Wonder Woman, which surprised me when I watched the film, because before seeing it she wasn’t a character I particularly liked. I hadn’t read a whole lot of stories with her in before seeing the film, with my biggest exposure to her probably being in the Injustice comics and game which, if you haven’t seen them, don’t present Diana in the best light.
Despite how much I like the film, and how it changed my outlook on both the DCEU (albeit temporarily) and the character of Wonder Woman, I still have some issues with the film. Most of them are fairly minor, so don’t warrant a complete rewrite of the story, so this is going to be more of a fix to the film.
Issue 1: Don’t make the Germans the bad guys
I know the Germans are not technically the main villans in the film, that role is instead filled by Ares (who I will get to later), but they are still portrayed as the bad guys to some extent in the film. This is a crime committed by lots of media set in the First World War, which seems to confuse the the two world wars, and it really, really annoys me.
The First World War, unlike the Second World War, was not good fighting against evil. The Germans in the First World War were not the Nazis. Yes, they were an autocratic and militaristic state, but they were not fascists. The same goes for the Entente, who were not fighting to defend democracy from fascism, but to defend their own interests. France wanted Alsace-Loraine back and Britain wanted to eliminate a colonial rival. And lets not forget the state of the Russian Empire in 1914.
What I’m trying to say, in a very vague way, is that the First World War was not a black and white conflict. There were not really good guys and bad guys in this war, and you could do more to play with this idea in the film. This could be done by flipping the film on its head; by making Steve Trevor a German. Flipping the sides like this could be used to show that neither side are the good guys. Doing this would mean that a lot of the film would need to be altered, which wouldn’t really be too difficult to do, and I’ll get on to later.
Issue 2: Please don’t kill Ludendorff and other German leaders
This isn’t a huge problem with the actual film, but it still really bothered me. Ludendorff played a relatively important part in the rise of the Nazi party, and killing him would completely change German history. He helped to legitimise the party, as well as taking part in various coups against the Weimar Republic. Killing Ludendorff removed a powerful enemy of the Weimar Republic, potentially weakening the Nazi party.
The same can be said for the other members of German high-command, who were all killed by Ludendorff when he gasses them. As far as I can tell, one of the people killed in this scene is von Hindenburg, who was an even bigger figure in German history. Similarly to killing Ludendorff, killing von Hindenburg would completely change German history. After the death of President Ebert in 1925, von Hindenburg was elected president of the Republic. Von Hindenburg was against democracy, in particular against the SPD (the German center-left party), and in his efforts to exclude the SPD from governments he appointed increasingly right-wing chancellors, the last one of these being Adolf Hitler. If von Hindenburg was dead, then he couldn’t be elected as president in 1925, and it is fairly likely that the candidate of the Centre Party (Wilhelm Marx) would have probably been elected. Again, this isn’t really a huge issue with the film, but it ruined my immersion for a moment.
Issue 3: Ares
The final act of the film is by far the weakest part of Wonder Woman. For me, this is mostly because of Ares’ appearance at the last moment. Ares turning up, at least to some degree, undermines the other parts of the film. The majority of the film is relatively grounded and then a CGI villain turns up. He doesn’t look good at all, and he is destroyed quite quickly, which is a real shame, considering that he is one of Diana’s better villains.
My fix for Ares would simply be getting rid of him. The film would work better without him, with the film ending with Diana killing the person who she thinks is Ares and then the fighting continuing. This would leave Diana doubting herself and all her beliefs, which you could then play with in the sequel. Not having Ares also leaves room for him to appear in the the third Wonder Woman film in a less underwhelming way (stay tuned for that film in the future).
When he actually appears, I would probably recast him, not because I dislike David Thewlis as an actor, but because he doesn’t really fit the role of Ares. Maybe the way to solve this would be to cast a more menacing actor as Ares’ true form. I’m not exactly sure who I would cast instead. My only idea at the moment is Russell Crowe, but I don’t know if he’s perfect for the role.
Those are my only real issues with Wonder Woman, everything else is a really minor gripe. I think I’ll end this instalment of Fixing the DCEU with a brief outline of my version of Wonder Woman.
The film begins straight on Themyscira, skipping the bit in Paris because BvS hasn’t happened in this version of the DCEU. Initially, the film is exactly the same, with Diana being trained by Antiope and the history of the Amazonians being explained. The changes start when Steve Trevor arrives on Themyscira being pursued by Anzac troops. The Amazonians kill the invaders, but Antiope is killed in the process. Wanting to know who these invaders were, the Amazonians interrogate Trevor using the Lasso of Truth, who reveals that the Great War is happening in the outside world, and that he is a German spy. He has stolen the notebook of Dr. Neith Maru, a Egyptian scientist who has been trying to develop a more deadly version of mustard gas at a weapons facility in Egypt. Diana believes that Ares is responsible for the war, so she leaves Themyscira with Steve Trevor to search for him. As she is leaving, Queen Hippolyta tells Diana that she will never be able to return to Themyscira if she leaves.
Diana and Steve travel to Berlin to deliver the notebook to German High Command, who are in the process of negotiating an armistice with the Entente. Diana translates the notebook, revealing the British plans to drop their gas on Berlin and that the gas is being produced at a facility near Paris. The commanders forbid Steve from acting, but one of them gives Steve funding to go and help prevent the gas from being released. He recruits an Turkish spy, a German marksman, and a Hungarian smuggler to help stop the gas being released. The team arrive at the front lines, and from this point on the film is pretty much identical, with some minor changes to accommodate for Diana’s change in sides.
The main differences occur at the end of the film. Diana chases a French general who she believes to be Ares to a base where the gas is being loaded onto bombers bound for Berlin. Cornering ‘Ares’, she kills him. To Diana’s confusion and shock, the fighting doesn’t end. Steve (who has been raised in the militaristic society of the German Empire) explains to Diana that this is just the way of humankind. Whilst Diana is left distraught, the team destroy Maru’s laboratory. Diana watches as Steve hijacks and flies the bomber to a safe altitude before detonating it, sacrificing himself in the process. We cut away to see Diana at Armistice celebrations in Paris. The shots of the celebrations transition into a black and white photo of the celebrations on a desk. The camera zooms out to show Diana working behind the desk, dressed in modern clothes. She gets a call, and we end with Diana leaving to fight crime.
So, that’s how I would fix Wonder Woman whilst staying fairly faithful to the original film. This was meant to come out after the first Batman post, but I’m still working on that one. Sorry for not posting for a while, I was away on holiday since I’ve got back I’ve been busy with uni preparation. Hopefully I can get a few more posts done before I head of in September.
Next time: I hopefully finish the Batman film
Post-Millennial Panda 