Plenty of men have played Batman and Superman over the years in live action, but when it comes to Wonder Woman, there's only one primary actress who trail blazed a path for the Amazon in this setting before Gal Gadot seized the role for the DC Extended Universe: Lynda Carter. Thanks to Carter's portrayal of Diana of Themyscira in the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series, the heroine catapulted from being a longtime comic book character to a pop culture icon. Four decades after that show's heyday, Wonder Woman is finally leading her own movie, and logically, director Patty Jenkins asked Carter for tips on how to tackle the heroine for the big screen. Here's the main piece of advice the actress provided, according to Jenkins:
Some of the best advice she gave me was, 'I never stopped playing Diana when I started playing Wonder Woman.' This is a person with character and emotion and feeling. You don't want her to be an automaton or someone we don't relate to.
Although Zack Snyder introduced Gal Gadot's iteration of Wonder Woman last year in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it's on Patty Jenkins' shoulders to flesh out the character for her first cinematic solo adventure. And Lynda Carter made a valid point to Patty Jenkins, as the latter noted in Variety's extensive feature on Wonder Woman. Even though Diana is a powerful Amazon who's determined to spread world peace, she's still someone who the audience needs to be able to connect to, flaws and all. If she was just this perfect woman with special abilities, watching her origin story wouldn't be interesting.
A lot has changed in the world of Wonder Woman since the Lynda Carter-led TV series aired, but the upcoming movie will have some similarities with its small screen predecessor, including the eponymous heroine having the same civilian identity, Diana Prince. Of course, the Wonder Woman movie has a big budget and modern day effects to work with to make Diana's first chronological DCEU adventure as explosive and action-packed as possible, but there are some things about the character that never change. We'll find out in exactly a month how this movie fares with both longtime Wonder Woman/DC fans and the general public.
Taking place 100 years before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman will follow Diana as she leaves Themyscira for the first time to accompany Steve Trevor back to man's world, where she will attempt to bring an early end to World War I. Her foes will include General Erich Ludendorff (an actual historical figure), Doctor Poison and Ares, the God of War. Following Wonder Woman's release, fans will reunite with the present-day Diana in Justice League.
Wonder Woman arrives in theaters on June 2. You can also see Lynda Carter recur as President Olivia Marsdin on The CW's Supergirl.
