The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change. Well, there’s no “hierarchy” at this point, but with Superman about to burst onto the scene, it’s going to be a hard act to follow. Not only will the Man of Steel already have several years of experience when he shows up in James Gunn’s movie, but he won’t be alone, having allies in the form of Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, Guy Gardner, and Krypto. That lineup doesn’t exactly scream Justice League, though, so it’s going to take some heavy lifting to get DC’s premier superhero team off the ground sooner rather than later. Fortunately, according to Gunn, one of the most important members is on the way.
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A new Wonder Woman movie is officially in the works at DC, and while Gunn isn’t ready to announce the creative team behind the project, it’s still an exciting development. Of course, what’s dominating the conversation is who the next actress to portray Diana Prince on the big screen will be. These are a few of the standout options for the DCU, which you can check out below!
1) Adria Arjona
It feels like the betting favorite to land the highly coveted DC role is Adria Arjona, who’s coming off two seasons of Star Wars: Andor. In the Disney+ series, she plays Cassian Andor’s love interest and fellow rebel, Bix Caleen, who goes through her fair share of traumatic experiences while fighting against the Empire. Arjona delivers a wonderful performance that stands out amid stiff competition.
If Arjona’s turn as Bix isn’t convincing enough, she’s also great in the 2023 film Hit Man, starring Glen Powell. It also doesn’t hurt her case that she already has experience with the superhero genre, playing Martine Bancroft in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. It’s best to ignore the actual movie she appeared in.
2) Rachel Zegler
Another actress who has played around in the comic book sandbox is Rachel Zegler, who brought the daughter of Atlas, Anthea, to life in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. It wasn’t the best movie by any stretch of the imagination, but Zegler didn’t drag it down, bringing an enthusiastic energy to the project when it was desperately needed.
The best Zegler performance, though, is Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. She plays a fish out of water perfectly when her character arrives in the Capitol to participate in the Hunger Games, which is essential to Wonder Woman’s character as she learns what life is like away from Themyscira.
3) Melissa Barrera
The horror and superhero genres have plenty of overlap, which makes the idea of a scream queen landing the role of Diana Prince a good one. Melissa Barrera acts her heart out in Scream and Scream VI while playing the daughter of one of the original Ghostface killers, Sam Carpenter.
With Barrera no longer being part of the Scream franchise, there’s time to work on other things. The actress has even commented on the support she’s getting after the Wonder Woman announcement. “I think whoever gets the role, I just hope that they can embody the essence of the character because I think that those movies, whether they’re Marvel or DC, their reach is so big,” she told A Shot Magazine (via Collider).
4) Monica Barbaro
If being considered for awards matters to Gunn and his colleagues, their first call should be to Monica Barbaro, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Joan Baez in the biopic A Complete Unknown. She’s also a major part of one of the more recent Hollywood success stories, Top Gun: Maverick.
While flight experience will help Barbaro adjust when Diana takes to the skies, the actress’ skills from being in Netflix’s FUBAR may be even more useful. She plays a CIA agent named Emma in the show who goes on dangerous missions with her father, Luke, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
5) Ana de Armas
It’s easy to envision Ana de Armas as Wonder Woman because she’s currently kicking butt in the John Wick franchise as Eve Macarro in Ballerina. She throws men twice her size to the ground with ease and can turn just about anything into a weapon, which is a useful skill when playing a superhero.
When it comes to acting, de Armas is no slouch, delivering great performances in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out and Blade Runner 2049. She was even nominated for an Academy Award for her turn as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde.
6) Melissanthi Mahut
From the rabbit holes of Reddit comes this fan-favored suggestion: actress Melissanthi Mahut as the DCU Wonder Woman. Mahut has earned some fan cred for voicing Kassandra in the Assassin’s Creed game series and playing Calliope in Netflix’s The Sandman. She also had a role in the horror sequel The Meg 2: The Trench and the comedy film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
The real “sell” about Mahut playing Wonder Woman is that the actress is half-Canadian and half-Greek, which would make her the most accurate depiction of Wonder Woman, culturally speaking. A quick glance should tell you that she definitely looks the part of an Amazon and has already shown off some impressive range.
Do you think the actresses on this list have what it takes to play Wonder Woman? Which one would be your top choice? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image courtesy of Netflix. -
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