Adrianne Palicki became well known to superhero fans for her role as Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, by this point, many may know that she was originally set to play Wonder Woman for NBC in 2011. Ultimately, the network passed on the pilot, and it hasn’t seen the light of day since. The experience may have been short-lived for Palicki, but it’s one that she still relishes to this day. Recently, the actress reflected on how she felt about playing her own iteration of the iconic hero.
Portraying a character like Wonder Woman can certainly be daunting, especially when you’re following in the footsteps of someone like Lynda Carter. Adrianne Palicki definitely felt the trepidation that came with playing the part, but she loved it regardless:
It was honestly the scariest thing ever and the best thing ever at the time. Getting to wear that outfit was just a huge dream.
NBC’s Wonder Woman put a unique spin on the DC Comics mythos in that it gave the character three aliases. The first was that of Wonder Woman, a Los Angeles-based superhero who protects the innocent. The second was Wonder Woman’s very visible alter ego, Diana Themyscira, who finances her heroics by running a company that produces Wonder Woman merchandise. And the final part of this triumvirate is the hero’s true secret identity, Diana Prince, an unassuming young woman who lives a modest lifestyle.
Palicki told EW that she loved being able to play three distinct characters and credits the complexity of the characters to scribe who wrote the pilot, eventual Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelly:
It was fun for me to get to play three different characters ultimately. I loved that David E. Kelley is really great at writing really strong women, and I found he did that beautifully in all of the different personas. What they all still had [in common] was this beautiful vulnerability of isolation.
While Adrianne Palicki has previously stated that she was disappointed when the pilot didn’t get picked up, it appears that she still looks back fondly on the project. Plus, it would also help to open other doors for her, particularly her eventual role on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That role gained her a lot of love among viewers, and she was a key part of the show for two seasons. Her popularity nearly landed a spinoff of her own, but the show never came to fruition.
Some superhero fans may wonder what an Adrianne Palicki-led Wonder Woman show would have been like, and maybe we’ll actually get to see that pilot someday. But until that day comes, most are probably just fine with knowing her as Mockingbird.
You can check out Adrianne Palicki’s work on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. by binging the series on Netflix. The final season is also available to watch on Hulu.
