After the 2011 relaunch, Diana gained new powers. These new abilities, which included superhuman speed, durability, immortality, accelerated healing, and even flight came in addition to her previous attributed Olympian strength. She is now considered to be stronger than Hercules. In addition to her weaponry, Diana's bracelets can now create an thunderous explosion when she clashes them together. These new abilities are attributed to being the daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus. Her powers are now considered nearly unmeasurable if she goes without her Bracelets of Submission, which keep her powers in check. She uses these powers in battle against the goddess Artemis and quickly renders her unconscious with ease with a series of carefully positioned counterattacks. While using her godly strength, her outfit and accoutrements lit up and her eyes glowed like her father's.[185][189][better source needed][190]
Writer Eric Luke next joined the comic and depicted Diana as often questioning her mission in Man's World, and most primarily her reason for existing. His most memorable contributions to the title was having Diana separate herself from humanity by residing in a floating palace called the Wonder Dome, and for a godly battle between the Titan Cronus and the various religious pantheons of the world. Phil Jimenez, worked on the title beginning with issue #164 (January 2001),[42] and produced a run which has been likened to Pérez's, particularly since his art bears a resemblance to Pérez's. Jimenez's run showed Wonder Woman as a diplomat, scientist, and activist who worked to help women across the globe become more self-sufficient. Jimenez also added many visual elements found in the Wonder Woman television series. One of Jimenez's story arcs is "The Witch and the Warrior", in which Circe turns New York City's men into beasts, women against men, and lovers against lovers.[43][44][45]
Diana's bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis, to be awarded to her champion. The shield was made from the indestructible hide of the great she-goat, Amalthea, who suckled Zeus as an infant. These forearm guards have thus far proven NIGH-indestructible (the Omega Beams of Grail have proven able to shatter them), and are able to absorb the impact of incoming attacks, allowing Wonder Woman to deflect automatic weapon fire and energy blasts.[203] Diana can slam the bracelets together to create a wave of concussive force capable of making strong beings like Superman's ears bleed.[63] Recently, she gained the ability to channel Zeus's lightning through her bracelets as well. Zeus explained to her that this power had been contained within the bracelets since their creation, because they were once part of the Aegis, and that he had only recently unlocked it for her use.[204] After the 2011 relaunch of the character, it was revealed that Diana was the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta[136] and that the bracelets are able to keep the powers she had inherited from Zeus in check.[189] In addition, Hephaestus has modified the bracelets to allow Wonder Woman the sorcerous ability to manifest a sword of grayish metal from each bracelet. Each sword, marked with a red star, takes shape from a flash of lightning, and when Wonder Woman is done with them, the swords disappear, supposedly, back into her bracelets. As such, she has produced other weapons from the bracelets in this way such as a bow that fires explosive arrows, spears and energy bolts among others.[205]
In all three films Diana has been in, she is never referred to as "Wonder Woman". Likewise, the alias isn't seen anywhere in print either. The closest it has come is the logo used in Lex Luthor's data, being two "W"s. Likewise, Bruce Wayne is only called "Batman" three times in the run of the DCEU. Once by Perry White, once by Barry Allen, and once by Aquaman.
Genius-Level Intellect: Wonder Woman is extremely intelligent, wise, well-read, perceptive, and sophisticated, primarily due to her tremendously long immortal lifespan, natural fluency in all human languages (even dead ones, like Latin, Ancient Greek, Sumerian, and Ottoman Turkish), her having read many books even while still on Themyscira, and her century of living in "Man's World" after World War I, all of which makes Wonder Woman the wisest and most emotionally intelligent member of the Justice League, despite her having initially been naive, headstrong, and idealistic at the time of leaving Themyscira with Steve Trevor. As such, Wonder Woman has no issues blending in with the high-class society of "Man's World." She held her own while verbally sparring with Batman (with the extremely experienced vigilante having trouble discerning her identity), was the first to realize that Doomsday's adaptive healing factor was energy-based, and was the only one on supergenius Lex Luthor's metahuman list to figure out that Lex was keeping tabs on her and had obtained a compromising photo of her with Steve Trevor (possibly due to her having been once been fooled by another deceitful supervillain, Ares). She also displays a keen understanding of technology and biomechatronics, shown when Wonder Woman uses the Batcomputer, remarks on Cyborg's Mother Box enhancements,[12] and when she deduced that resurrecting Superman with a Mother Box might produce a monster like Doomsday. Wonder Woman's intellectual genius extends itself to her combat, perceptiveness, stealth, arcane lore, and antiquities dealing skills.
In London, a small group of reactionary terrorists took over the Old Bailey courthouse, taking several hostages including a school field trip. Diana storms the building, using the Lasso of Hestia to compel one of the terrorists to tell her their plans. He reveals that their leader has a bomb powerful enough to destroy several city blocks while the world media watches. Diana takes out the terrorists and neutralizes the bomb. The terrorist leader then tries to kill the hostages with a gun, but Diana protects the hostages by deflecting bullets with her bracelets.[8]
Despite helping win the war, defeating Ares and still loving humanity, Diana is still left sobered, emotionally broken, psychologically scarred, and devastated over not having been able to save the Belgian village from Dr. Poison, as well as over her beloved Steve Trevor's self-sacrificing death. Indeed, Diana would later claim that she "would never be the same" ever again after World War I. Moreover, in the years that followed, Diana bore witness to a "century of horrors" (Wars, Fascism, Communism, nuclear weapons' deployment, geopolitical brinkmanship, racism, homophobia, genocides, war crimes, propaganda, and etc.), and due to all of this occurring without Ares being there to spread corruption, Diana almost completely lost faith in humanity, coming to believe that humans "made a world where standing together is impossible".[4] As such, Diana resolved to mostly abandon superheroism for 100 years.[5]
Carolyn Cocca has stated that Wonder Woman possesses a "duality of character" due to the character possessing both feminine and masculine qualities in her physical abilities and attitude, which Cocca felt made her more appealing to a wide audience.[224] Wonder Woman's first female editor, Karen Berger, claimed that, "Wonder Woman [is] a great role model to young women, but also contains many elements that appeal to males as well. Wonder Woman crosses the gender line.".[224] Berger worked with George Pérez on the new issues of Wonder Woman starting in 1987, and the new Diana "works with friends and allies to teach lessons of peace and equality."[225]
^ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. The daughter of Batman and Catwoman from Earth-2 found a new home away from home in the pages of Wonder Woman's monthly title...a regular gig as the back-up feature to the Amazing Amazon's lead story. Handled by writer Paul Levitz and artist Joe Staton, the Huntress faced the villainy of the swamp creature Solomon Grundy.
Hera Sea Devils #14 (November–December 1963) Hera is the Queen of the Gods, Goddess of Marriage, Home, Women, Childbirth, and Family who is based on the goddess of the same name. Post-Crisis, she destroyed Themyscira after finding Zeus leering at Artemis of the Bana-Mighdall. In the New 52, Hera initially appears antagonistic, though after her immortality and powers are stripped from her by Apollo, she joins Wonder Woman in her quest to protect the reincarnated Zeus. Post-Rebirth, she appeared as a peacock and aided Wonder Woman alongside several other gods.
This superhero era led by Kanigher didn’t last long though. The character was mired in the story lines from the golden age and especially her attachment to Steve Trevor. At the same time across the DC lineup characters were being revitalized with a new focus on science fiction. The silver age at DC is often attributed to having been started by the appearance of the re-imagined Flash in Showcase #4 in 1956. This led to a number of DC characters being reinvented such as Green Lantern and Hawkman. The difference with Wonder Woman though is that the character had managed to stay continually published since the golden age and did not get a science fiction retelling in the 1950s and 1960s. This left the character somewhat stilled mired in the past and eventually it was decided that something would be done to break her free of it. When the decision was made though it was decided that she would not have a science fiction background as it would break too much from her background as an Amazon, but that she would be slightly re-imagined as a martial arts based character, more along the lines of Batman. This would allow her to keep her somewhat unique background story, while also being more contemporary and popular. A much stronger emphasis was also placed on her appearance, as her somewhat drab civilian clothes and costume from the golden era were replaced with contemporary fashions of the time. In addition she opened a fashion boutique in trendy Greenwhich Village. This has led some to describe this era of the character as the “Mod Girl Wonder Woman.” While this version of the character did not prove to be consistently popular over the course of her brief run, it did leave some lasting impact on the character once she returned to her usual appearance. Following this she sought out more ambitious careers, for instance as a translator for the United Nations, or as a NASA astronaut and eventually moved back to Army Intelligence where she eventually got promoted to major. Also this period provided the opportunity to sever her from a dependence on Steve Trevor for her stories and her stories for the first time in her publication history became much more in line with what is considered typical of the super hero medium. The introduction of the multiverse made it such that there became two Wonder Womans, the modern version on Earth 1, and the golden age version on Earth 2. For a short time her appearances in her own comic were those of Earth 2 until the contemporary Angle Man accidentally visited her and subsequently the series was returned to modern day. The stories continued much like this for the remainder of the silver age until the end of the first Wonder Woman series with the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. To provide closure to the character which was destined for a reboot, Steve Trevor returned and following the defense of Paradise Island from Shadow Demons, the two were finally married, though in continuity this lasted less than an issue.
Critics such as Valerie Estelle Frankel support Jenkins's vision. Frankel argues that the film subverts the male gaze,[242] stating that the construction of Wonder Woman tends to shift every few decades as it reflects the state of feminism during different time periods, including third-wave feminism (which reflects Jenkins's approach).[242][246][247] Zoe Williams offers a similar argument, stating that while Wonder Woman "is sort of naked a lot of the time," that is not, at the same time, "objectification so much as a cultural reset: having thighs, actual thighs you can kick things with, not thighs that look like arms, is a feminist act".[248] Williams then juxtaposes Wonder Woman to past female action heroes such as Sarah Connor, Ellen Ripley, and Lara Croft, whom she suggests were all constructed for the male gaze, in which a "female warrior becomes a sex object", (a point which she argues that Jenkins directly references in the film).[248]
As Themyscira's emissary to Man's World, Diana has made it her duty to lead by example, even if the differences between her birthplace and new home sometimes present hurdles for her to jump. She has come to represent the possibility and potential of life without war, hate or violence, and she is a beacon of hope to all who find themselves in need. She stands as an equal among the most powerful Super Heroes, with a sense of purpose to protect the world from injustice in all forms.
Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.
During the 25 bi-monthly issues of the "new" Wonder Woman, the writing team changed four times. Consequently, the stories display abrupt shifts in setting, theme, and tone. The revised series attracted writers not normally associated with comic books, most notably science fiction author Samuel R. Delany, who wrote Wonder Woman #202–203 (October and December 1972).[9]
She asked him who he was, but before he could answer, the two noticed several boats coming through the island's forcefield. Steve noted that he was one of the good guys and the people on the boats—Germans—were bad guys. Having noticed the invading ships, the Amazons quickly gathered on the cliffs above the beach. Hippolyta ordered Trevor to move away from Diana, but forgot about him as the German soldiers began to come closer to shore. She took command of her army, ordering the archers to fire on the boats. Diana and Trevor took cover behind boulders on the beach.
Princess Diana of Themyscira is an Amazonian warrior princess and one of the world's first superheroes, known as Wonder Woman. She is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and Zeus, king of the Olympians. Born on Themyscira, Diana was raised in paradise, hearing tales of her the Amazons' great task of defeating the God of War, Ares, and bringing peace to the world, ushering in a new era of peace to the world. Upon coming of age, Diana began pursuing the life of a warrior, despite her mother's rejections. Determined to serve, she ultimately enticed her aunt Antiope to train her in secret, but was soon discovered by her mother, Queen Hippolyta. Begrudgingly, the queen accepted Diana as a warrior, and ordered Antiope to train her better than any other Amazon.
An immortal Amazon warrior goddess who is the crown princess of Themyscira and the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and Zeus given to the Amazons to raise, and half-sister of Ares.[12] Describing Wonder Woman and her appeal, Gadot said, "She's relatable. She has the heart of a human and is very compassionate, but her experiences—or lack of them, her naivete, really—make her interested in everything around her and able to view the world in a way that we'd all like to: with a genuine curiosity."[13] On Diana's relationship with her mother, Gadot said, "Diana is a very opinionated girl. Her mother is very opinionated. Her mother is very protective as well, and they have, you know, the very natural clash that a mother has with her daughter, with their daughters, the first time they want to leave home."[14] On taking on the role as Wonder Woman, Gadot stated, "I feel very privileged that I got the opportunity to portray such an iconic, strong female character. I adore this character and everything that she stands for and everything that she symbolizes."[15] On Diana going to the world, Gadot stated, "When Diana comes to the real world she's completely oblivious about gender and society rules, that women are not equal to men."[16] Describing Diana's relationship with her mother and aunts, Jenkins said, "She is the only child they raised together. And their love for her manifests in a different way for each of them."[17] On working with Gadot, Jenkins said, "Gal quickly became the person I wanted to talk to about everything. We'd shoot together all day. And then on weekends, we'd be like, 'What do you want to do?' That's maybe not totally normal."[18]
With Wonder Woman arriving in pursuit, Strife warned of the prophecy Apollo and Artemis feared: a child of Zeus would kill a god to take the throne. That child could be either Diana or Zola's child. Sending Zola back with Hermes to have her baby in peace, Diana warned that if they were not left alone, she would fulfil the prophecy herself. Unfortunately, upon her return to Michigan, Diana found that Hermes had betrayed them, and once Zola gave birth to her son, he whisked the child away, and gave it to Demeter. Diana swore to get the boy back and bring Hermes to justice.[25]
He took that secret to his grave when he died in 1947. Most superheroes didn’t survive peacetime and those that did were changed forever in 1954, when a psychiatrist named Fredric Wertham published a book called Seduction of the Innocent and testified before a Senate subcommittee investigating the comics. Wertham believed that comics were corrupting American kids, and turning them into juvenile delinquents. He especially disliked Wonder Woman. Bender had written that Wonder Woman comics display “a strikingly advanced concept of femininity and masculinity” and that “women in these stories are placed on an equal footing with men and indulge in the same type of activities.” Wertham found the feminism in Wonder Woman repulsive.
Her level of super strength (as granted to her by Demeter) is comparable to that of the Earth itself (as this is where she derives her powers). She is on the same strength level with the strongest other DC’s characters including Superman and Captain Marvel. Thus, she is capable of lifting/carrying thousands of tons with minimal effort. It is generally accepted that she is a notch below Superman. Wonder Woman was even able to take on Powergirl in a hand to hand fight while trying to free her from mind-control. Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were an even match when they fought. On one occasion she even used her massive strength to move the Earth (though this was under duress and aided by Superman and the Martian Manhunter.) With the launch of the new 52 Wonder Woman showed a new strength level while fighting a God, she removes her bracelets and goes into a "berzerker rage" of power, which originally allegorical to a person losing control to their destructive Ego. We then find out that Wonder Woman's bracelets are what protects her opponents from her intense power. Wonder Woman had a quick match with Supergirl where we found out that they are close in strength, Wonder Woman over powered Supergirl with her bracelets still on.
This superhero era led by Kanigher didn’t last long though. The character was mired in the story lines from the golden age and especially her attachment to Steve Trevor. At the same time across the DC lineup characters were being revitalized with a new focus on science fiction. The silver age at DC is often attributed to having been started by the appearance of the re-imagined Flash in Showcase #4 in 1956. This led to a number of DC characters being reinvented such as Green Lantern and Hawkman. The difference with Wonder Woman though is that the character had managed to stay continually published since the golden age and did not get a science fiction retelling in the 1950s and 1960s. This left the character somewhat stilled mired in the past and eventually it was decided that something would be done to break her free of it. When the decision was made though it was decided that she would not have a science fiction background as it would break too much from her background as an Amazon, but that she would be slightly re-imagined as a martial arts based character, more along the lines of Batman. This would allow her to keep her somewhat unique background story, while also being more contemporary and popular. A much stronger emphasis was also placed on her appearance, as her somewhat drab civilian clothes and costume from the golden era were replaced with contemporary fashions of the time. In addition she opened a fashion boutique in trendy Greenwhich Village. This has led some to describe this era of the character as the “Mod Girl Wonder Woman.” While this version of the character did not prove to be consistently popular over the course of her brief run, it did leave some lasting impact on the character once she returned to her usual appearance. Following this she sought out more ambitious careers, for instance as a translator for the United Nations, or as a NASA astronaut and eventually moved back to Army Intelligence where she eventually got promoted to major. Also this period provided the opportunity to sever her from a dependence on Steve Trevor for her stories and her stories for the first time in her publication history became much more in line with what is considered typical of the super hero medium. The introduction of the multiverse made it such that there became two Wonder Womans, the modern version on Earth 1, and the golden age version on Earth 2. For a short time her appearances in her own comic were those of Earth 2 until the contemporary Angle Man accidentally visited her and subsequently the series was returned to modern day. The stories continued much like this for the remainder of the silver age until the end of the first Wonder Woman series with the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. To provide closure to the character which was destined for a reboot, Steve Trevor returned and following the defense of Paradise Island from Shadow Demons, the two were finally married, though in continuity this lasted less than an issue.
The Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover of 1986 was designed and written with the purpose of streamlining most of DC's characters into one more-focused continuity and reinventing them for a new era, thus Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor were declared to come from the Earth-Two dimension, and along with all of their exploits, were erased from history, so that a new Wonder Woman character, story and timeline could take priority.
Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot reacted positively to Diana's rebooted orientation, and agreed her sexuality was impacted by growing up in the women-only Themyscira. Gadot stated that Wonder Woman feels she need not be "labelled sexually", and is "just herself". "She's a woman who loves people for who they are. She can be bisexual. She loves people for their hearts."[251][252] Coming from a society that was only populated by women, "'lesbian' in [the world's] eyes may have been 'straight' for them."[253] "Her culture is completely free from the shackles of heteronormativity in the first place so she wouldn't even have any 'concept' of gender roles in sex."[254]
In all three films Diana has been in, she is never referred to as "Wonder Woman". Likewise, the alias isn't seen anywhere in print either. The closest it has come is the logo used in Lex Luthor's data, being two "W"s. Likewise, Bruce Wayne is only called "Batman" three times in the run of the DCEU. Once by Perry White, once by Barry Allen, and once by Aquaman.
For a time she was given enhanced vision by Athena, which gave her the ability to see in darkness and through illusions. This also makes her resistant/immune to telepathy. Due to her wisdom she can learn languages faster than a regular person, she can talk to animals. She has also been shown to project herself astrally in order to commune with the gods and ask for special favors from them. She has also been shown to take on the abilities of certain of her patron goddesses as when she became a form of divine midwife to save the life of an unborn child.
Straczynski's run focused on an alternate timeline created by the Gods where Paradise Island was destroyed leading to many Amazons being raised in the outside world. It revolves around Wonder Woman's attempts to restore the normal timeline despite the fact that she does not remember it properly. Wonder Woman in this alternative timeline has been raised in New York City as an orphan and is coming into her powers. She is aware of the presence of Amazons, but does not remember her childhood on Paradise Island.[54][55] Wonder Woman wore a new costume designed by DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee.[56] Writer Phil Hester continued the storyline.[57]
Although they do not appear in Justice League: War, the Olympian Gods are briefly mentioned by Wonder Woman during a conversation with Superman about the other five heroes, referencing Batman as Hades (who is just as dark and mysterious just as Maxie Zeus did in the "Fire From Olympus" episode of Batman: The Animated Series), Green Lantern as Apollo (the God of Light), Flash as Hermes (the Messenger of Olympus and God of Speed), Cyborg as Hephaestus (the Blacksmith of Olympus and God of Metal) and Shazam as Zeus (God of Lightning).
Never prone to stewing in solitude, and taking more notes from Richard Donner than from Christopher Nolan, Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman provides a welcome respite from DC's house style of grim darkness—boisterous, earnest, sometimes sloppy, yet consistently entertaining—with star Gal Gadot proving an inspired choice for this avatar of truth, justice, and the Amazonian way.[209]
Storylines "American Dreams" · "Breakdown" · "Breakdowns" · "Crisis of Conscience" · "Crisis Times Five" · "Cry for Justice" · "The Dark Things" · "Divided We Fall" · Earth-2 · "Earth-Mars War" · "Extinction" · "Golden Perfect" · Justice · Identity Crisis · "In the Dark" · "Injustice League Unlimited" · JLA/Avengers · "Justice For All" · "The Lightning Saga" · "A Midsummer's Nightmare" · "A New Beginning" · "New World Order" · "The Obsidian Age" · "Omega" · "Origin" · "Pain of the Gods" · "The Queen of Fables" · "The Rise of Eclipso" · "Rock of Ages" · "Royal Pain" · "Rules of Engagement" · "Sanctuary" · "The Second Coming" · "The Signal Masters" · "Strength in Numbers" · "Syndicate Rules" · "Team History" · "The Tenth Circle" · "Terror Incognita" · "Throne of Atlantis" · "The Tornado's Path" · "Tower of Babel" · "Trial by Fire" · "The Villain's Journey" · "When Worlds Collide" · "World War III" · "World Without a Justice League" · Year One
Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter, and has a lengthy publication history. This history has sometimes included a sidekick Wonder Girl and many villains. Since her debut she has become one of the most popular and recognizable DC Comics characters, along with Batman and Superman. She first appeared in All-Star Comics #8. (1941)
^ Mozzocco, J. Caleb. "The Many Loves of Wonder Woman: A Brief History Of The Amazing Amazon's Love Life". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on August 30, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012. When the next volume of Wonder Woman would start, Trevor was sidelined as Diana's love interest. He still appeared in the series, but as an older man, one who would ultimately marry the post-Crisis version of Wondy's Golden Age sidekick, Etta Candy.
The story then centers on Apollo trying to take over as King of Olympus due to his father Zeus' absence and Wonder Woman's efforts to protect Zola from him, as it is prophesied that one of Zeus' children will be his downfall which Apollo considers to be Zola's child.[73][74] Wonder Woman receives the power of flight by one of Hermes' feathers piercing her thigh and Zola's baby is stolen by Hermes at the end and given to Demeter. The issue's last page shows a dark and mysterious man rising from the snow, taking a helmet and disappearing.[74] Issues 7–12 are collected in a hardcover titled Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Guts, scheduled for release in January 2013.[75]
A warning that is first heard from the lips of Cheetah as she attempts to escape captivity, yet is echoed by others around the globe, all putting Wonder Woman on alert. As she attempts to investigate, she is attacked by Supergirl, wanting vengeance for the death of Rao, as the influence has gotten to her as well. An epic battle breaks out, and once again, the trusty Lasso of Truth saves the day, though barely.
