By: Russ Burlingame on November 29, 2012
Casting and pilot details for Amazon, the planned CW Network series based on the DC Comics superhero Wonder Woman, have been leaked to Deadline and are starting to spread online.
TV writer Allen Heinberg, himself a former Wonder Woman comic book writer, will pen the pilot, which is meant to explore Wonder Woman’s formative years in much the same way Smallville explored Superman. The series, oddly, will reportedly call Wonder Woman Iris, rather than Diana, and the description obtained by Deadline is as follows:
“She comes from a remote, secluded country and until now has spent most of her life as a soldier and a leader on the battlefield. Because of relentless brutality of her life at home, Iris looks at our world with absolute awe and astonishment. She’s delighted and just as often horrified by the aspects of everyday life that we take for granted: skyscrapers, traffic, ice cream. It’s all new and fascinating and sometimes slightly troubling to her. Iris is completely unschooled in our world, our culture, our customs. And she’s completely inexperienced at interpersonal relationships. She has no social filter, does not suffer fools, and tends to do and say exactly what’s on her mind at all times. She’s bluntly, refreshingly honest. She can tell when you’re lying to her. And she doesn’t have time or patience for politics or tact because she’s too busy trying to experience everything our world has to offer. There are too many sights to see and things to learn and people to care for. Hers is a true, noble, and generous heart. And she will fight and die for the people she loves. Iris is a fierce warrior with the innocent heart of a romantic and she will fight to the death to make the world safe for innocents and true romantics everywhere.”
The series will begin the casting process while the pilot is being written, with an eye toward getting the project moving more quickly when and if the script is approved and a pilot greenlit. Arrow has produced monster ratings for the CW this year, so Warner Television is likely keen to capitalize on their relationship with DC Entertainment while the iron is still hot and before things start to tighten up for the rumored Justice League feature film, which may limit the availability of big-name characters like Wonder Woman.
In the past, TV projects have been subject to the whim of the film division, with Batman forbidden from appearing on Smallville for the duration of its run thanks in no small part to the studio wishing to avoid “brand confusion” with Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy.
According to Deadline, the studio is looking for actresses in their mid-20s who stand 5’8″ or taller.
