The upcoming Wonder Woman movie will feature many different iconic elements that have been waiting decades to be fully realized on the big screen -- and this will most definitely include her Lasso of Truth. The magical rope was introduced into canon in the very early days of the character, and it has stayed with her through a wide variety of incarnations. Of course, the legendary nature of the tool meant that its design for blockbuster status required great consideration, but the one they wound up building on set was definitely up to snuff.
While the team behind Wonder Woman's props obviously couldn't make a lasso that makes people tell the truth, they built a worthy, realistic replica that actually had its own luminescence. I learned about this cool adaptation of the comic book device last year when I joined a group of other film journalists to visit the set of the blockbuster while it was still in production. Talking with Anna Lynch Robinson, the set decorator on the movie, she described how her team went about building the great Lasso of Truth. Said Robinson when asked about it,
That was really important to us. It lights up, so it was very important and it was really difficult. It was really difficult to find a material that we could actually use for the flexibility of it, because actually there's so many. We had to hand weave it, and so it's got this great texture and some actual movement to it, because that's one of the most important things. We had to do lots and lots of tests to actually make sure it moves as fluidly as we wanted it to, and yes, it lights up, so, but that also becomes a lighting thing with the lighting department.
For those unaware of Wonder Woman backstory and details, the Lasso of Truth was one of the tools that the heroine brought with her to the world of man after leaving her homeland, the mysterious island Themyscira. In addition to being essentially unbreakable, when wrapped around a person it compels them to follow every order and answer every question truthfully. It was featured in a pretty diminished capacity in Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as it was merely used as a weapon to try and contain Doomsday, but Wonder Woman will explore its full potential.
We can't say at this stage exactly how many times it will be used in the film, but being on the set of Wonder Woman I can tell you about one specific key sequence where the Lasso of Truth is put into action. It makes one of its earliest appearances (if not the very first) after Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash lands in Themyscira. Being a spy, he is extremely reticent to reveal any details about who he is, where he came from, and what he's doing, but that's before the lasso is wrapped around him. It's after this that he feels compelled to explain the evil plot of Dr. Maru and General Ludendorff.
Extended use of the Lasso of Truth is just one of many things we're excited to see in the Wonder Woman movie, and one of the many cool things Ilearned about on set. You'll be able to see the blockbusters in theaters on June 2nd, but stay tuned on the site for more from our behind-the-scenes look at the film!
