Here's How Superman: The Movie Influenced Wonder Woman

04/09/2017 09:09 pm EDT

Over the decades, many moviegoers — such as myself — have used Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie (1978) as a measuring stick for all other comic book movies since. Its special effects, which now feel dated, were well ahead of its time. It boasts an all-star cast featuring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Glenn Ford, and Ned Beatty. And whereas many modern-day superhero films are trying desperately to be dark, gritty, and moody, Superman: The Movie is good, clean, unadulterated fun. Though the tone is mostly light and the jokes are stuffed with cheese, the 3-time Oscar-nominated film also contains several deeply emotional moments that will bring a tear to your eye and a romantic subplot that will warm even the frostiest heart.

Director Patty Jenkins is a huge fan as well, so when she made her pitch for Wonder Woman, she told Warner Bros. that she wanted her superhero film to be full of love, emotion, and humor like Donner's is.

"I think there's funny things in those films, but we definitely went for making a funny film," Jenkins told Empire. "I was always basing it on Superman: The Movie and on Indiana Jones. I wanted to make a classic film where you're laughing and you're in love with them, and then they're off on a great adventure. It's definitely the point in the pursuit of our film."

She then explained how Superman: The Movie affected her. "It made me believe that I could be anything in my life," she said. "Yet it made me laugh, and it made me cry, and it made me fall in love with Superman and Lois Lane as a love story. And so, that is a wonderful thing to bring to other people."

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 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.

Joining Gadot in the international cast are Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Ewen Bremner and Saïd Taghmaoui. Patty Jenkins directs the film from a screenplay by Allan Heinberg and Geoff Johns, story by Zack Snyder and Allan Heinberg, based on characters from DC Entertainment. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston.

The film is produced by Charles Roven, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Richard Suckle, with Rebecca Roven, Stephen Jones, Wesley Coller and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with RatPac-Dune Entertainment, an Atlas Entertainment/Cruel and Unusual production, Wonder Woman.

The film will be released on June 2, 2017.

MORE: How Wonder Woman Is Different From Other Superhero Movies / New Wonder Woman TV Spot Seeks The Truth / What the Amazons and Diana Want in Wonder Woman

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