She has a slew of aliases, but it’s hard to argue against the notion that Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is the most well-known female superhero in pop culture. Ever since her creation in 1941, Diana has been a revolutionary beacon of truth, justice, and strength, providing a sharp contrast to the typical damsels in distress seen in her male counterparts’ comic books. Yet unlike Superman or Batman, we’ve only seen her onscreen in live action a handful of times.
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While we wait for James Gunn to bring Princess Diana and her home island of Themyscira into his DCU across film and TV, let’s take a look at the best and the worst actors to bring Wonder Woman to life to date.
4) Cathy Lee Crosby, Wonder Woman TV Movie
As cool as it was to have a former professional tennis player bring Wonder Woman to life, Cathy Lee Crosby’s version of the character doesn’t share much more than her name and alter ego with the DC Comics character. In Wonder Woman’s first-ever onscreen appearance – a made-for-TV movie that aired on ABC in 1974 – she’s blonde, doesn’t have any discernible superpowers, and doesn’t wear Diana’s iconic costume.
Instead, she is chosen by her fellow Amazons to leave her home and show the world “the value of women.” Diana does so by assisting government agent Steve Trevor in recovering a set of codebooks with classified information about Trevor’s fellow agents from an invented and entirely forgettable villain, Abner Smith. Crosby is passable in the part, but her version of Wonder Woman strays so far from the hero we love, and the movie contains so little action that she has to take the bottom spot on our list.
3) Adrianne Palicki, Unaired Wonder Woman TV Pilot
Adrianne Palicki’s Wonder Woman at least faithfully resembled the traditional depiction of the Amazonian princess, in a TV series that almost was. We suspect the reason the 2011 Wonder Woman series was never picked up was because writer David E. Kelley trifurcated her identity. There was the hero herself, then there was Diana Themyscira, a CEO who markets both Wonder Woman and a crime-fighting organization, and lastly, she created another alter ego, Diana Prince, who was an average woman who loves her cat and romantic comedies.
We don’t doubt that Palicki – who’s gone on to iconic roles in shows like The Orville, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the first John Wick film – did the best she could with the material she was given. However, the pilot tried to do too much with the character instead of focusing on the core themes and values that made us love her in the first place. Also, it didn’t help that Palicki’s initial skimpy version of the costume drew a tsunami of internet backlash when it leaked online, only to be replaced by a corset and leggings that looked like a Halloween costume rather than a superhero’s tactical wear.
2) Gal Gadot, The DC Extended Universe
When Zack Snyder announced that he’d cast Israeli model-turned-actress Gal Gadot as Diana in Batman vs. Superman, we were cautiously optimistic about how she’d fare alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman. She wasn’t given all that much to do in the film, but Gadot held her own. Yet in her solo bow, Wonder Woman, Gadot exceeded audience expectations, imbuing Diana with a compelling warmth and depth, which made the movie a smash hit with audiences and critics alike.
However, it seemed Gadot’s endearing and empowering performance as Wonder Woman wasn’t sustainable, despite her run lasting from 2016-2023. Her line-readings in Joss Whedon’s Justice League have become meme punchlines, and her lackluster turn as Diana in Wonder Woman 1984 was only one of the many problems that bogged down the beleaguered sequel. Still, we have to give Gadot credit for proving that Wonder Woman was a commercially viable character at the box office and bringing her into the 21st century in a way that initially deeply resonated with women.
1) Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman TV Series (1975-1979)
When it comes to playing Wonder Woman in live action, Lynda Carter is the G.O.A.T. Carter played the hero for three seasons on the now iconic Wonder Woman series that has become a touchstone both for the character and for 1970s television, in general. Beyond looking the part, Carter possessed an earnestness and strength in her performance as both Diana and Wonder Woman that managed to tap into the inherent goodness the character is synonymous with, and ground the campier elements of the show. (Although Carter herself actually came up with Wonder Woman’s clothing-to-costume transition, spinning from her street clothes to her crime-fighting suit.)
Even in a skintight outfit, Carter made it tangible that a woman could be a hero and didn’t have to sacrifice any of her courage, beauty, or compassion to do so. Wonder Woman has been off the air for close to fifty years, but we’re still waiting for an actor who can come close to filling Carter’s legendary knee-high red boots.
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