The Different Ways Wonder Woman Has Made History

Wonder Woman Is An Achievement For Filmmaking Women

Jenkins is the first woman to direct a big budget comic-based superhero film, making Wonder Woman's success even more special.

But more than that, it might pave the way for women to be given more opportunities to direct big productions.

Women only directed 4.1% of the annual top 100 films at the box office between 2007 and 2015, according to a report from USC Annenberg's Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative.

It might not seem like a big deal to some, but even how people write about the subject indicates it's a big deal. The Hollywood Reporter's profile on Jenkins indicated that Wonder Woman was a "gamble" for Warner Bros. Similar stories rarely come out about directors such as Colin Trevorrow or the Russo Brothers, who were similarly given huge opportunities with Jurassic World and Captain America: Winter Soldier respectively.

Hopefully Jenkins' success with Wonder Woman begins shifting the perception of "female directors" simply being considered "directors."

Wonder Woman Is The DCCU’s Most Critically Successful Movie Yet

Man Of Steel has a Rotten Tomatoes ranking of 55%. Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, the second film in the franchise, dropped to 28%. And the Academy Award-winning Suicide Squad sits at just 25%.

FiveThirtyEight writer Walt Hickey created a new methodology for measuring the response to franchise movies based on their aggregated scores and the expectation of the film's quality in subsequent entries.

"The method was predicated on the idea that the films were no longer designed to stand entirely on their own and should instead be judged in the context of what comes before and after," Hickey writes.

Using the first film's score as the benchmark, the method examines the change in scores upon subsequent releases. Batman v Superman dropped 27 percentage points from Man of Steel. Suicide Squad didn't suffer as drastic of a drop but still fell 3 points.


Wonder Woman jumped 70 points to a 93% rating. Only the Wolverine franchise and the Star Trek franchise suffered similar bumps—from the critically adored Logan and Wrath of Khan, respectively—but they still fell short to Wonder Woman's jump.

While the high score is great for the film's buzz moving forward, it's even better for Warner Bros. and the slate of future DC movies. The previous films were divisive with a vocal fanbase proclaiming their merits while others simply wrote them off.


Patty Jenkins' film somewhat clears the slate for those negative critics, wiping some of the pessimism away for future films based on the entertaining success of Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman Makes Yet Another Case That Leading Women Are Viable

Fans and critics are praising Wonder Woman actor Gal Gadot, who will likely join an exclusive club when the film's theatrical run ends.

Women receive top billing in just 24% of the top grossing movies over the last 20 years, and are the top lead in just 17% of a given year's top 25 movies, according to movie business data analyzers at The Numbers.

It remains to be seen just how well Wonder Woman will do in the long run, but the character will likely join Jyn Erso, Katniss Everdeen, and Dory the talking fish when her time in theaters runs its course.

We're likely looking at a career-defining role for Gadot, who could embody Wonder Woman for a generation.

Wonder Woman will likely be the most successful DC-based movie that does not feature Batman or Superman. The movie has already made box office history in just its opening weekend. Will it make even more history before it's theatrical run is finished? The odds say yes.

*Domestic box office, in 2016 inflation-adjusted dollars.

Wonder Woman Is In Theaters Now

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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 Gal 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.