DC Films Producer Doesn't Want Their Movies to be "Get Powers, Fight Bad Guys"
Make no mistake about it: Wonder Woman is absolutely an origin film, and will tell the story of [...]
Make no mistake about it: Wonder Woman is absolutely an origin film, and will tell the story of how Diana, princess of Themyscira, came to man's world and became a superhero to the people of Earth, decades before she would return to help Batman and Superman defeat the mighty threat of Doomsday in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But DC Films producer Charles Roven wants to make sure that the focus for her film, as well as their other solo films going forward, isn't just a formulaic origin, like many other takes on the superhero genre can be.
"We're hoping honestly that you won't say that when you see any of these movies. Get powers, fight bad guys," Roven told ComicBook.com in an interview. "And one of the reasons honestly that I think that all of these characters have been around for so long is that they touch people both being inspirational and aspirational in more ways than just that."
While the origin formula can be present, the people behind bringing DC Comics characters to life want each character to have a unique journey while making "the stories fun, emotional, exciting, and also really relatable to kids and adults of all ages in a contemporary way," Roven explained.
"For Wonder Woman, what was really intriguing to us was the mythology of her past and attempting to blend both the canon from the past with the New 52 and really come up with a compelling story for Diana and her hero's journey," he said. That's unique to her, and each character in the DCEU has an equally journey to take.
"Each one of them, that's the point. They're all really different. Superman's hero's journey is really different than Batman's. Batman's not even really super, he's just amazing. But dark. It's not like he's amazing and perfect. He's amazing and he's got some darkness to him and some shit that he's got to work out. That makes him really relatable," Roven said.
As for Diana, it will be a lot about how she looks at the world and why, precisely, she would choose to use her powers - that of a demi-god - to fight for mankind.
"Wonder Woman has elements of being naïve of what she thinks her mission in life is, and she goes on a tremendous learning process to ultimately become the woman that we're going to meet in Batman v Superman. Right now, in Batman v Superman, she's really a mystery. She's compelling and wonderful to watch, and when we see her don the outfit, it's fantastic, but we don't really know a lot about her background, so she's mysterious. We answer those questions on how she became who she became and why."
The goal going forward into other solo films like Aquaman and The Flash will be to carry this idea as each hero steps into their own world, as well as the world of DCEU. That starts with Wonder Woman.
"It's a journey of discovery that's way more profound than just learning that she's got physical abilities that others don't have. It's about helping mankind and being a symbol of all the things you could accomplish without war."
Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot as Diana, Princess of Themyscira, is in post-production now for a June 2, 2017 release.
Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot, Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine, crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers...and her true destiny.
