Wonder Woman (DC Extended Universe)

Diana of Themyscira, also known by her civilian name Diana Prince or her superhero title Wonder Woman, is a fictional character in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), based on the DC Comics character of the same name created by William Moulton Marston and H. G. Peter. First appearing in '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'', she is portrayed by Gal Gadot and later plays a major role in the films ''Wonder Woman,'' ''Justice League'' (and its 2021 director's cut), and ''Wonder Woman 1984'', along with cameo appearances in ''Shazam! Fury of the Gods'' and ''The Flash''.

Gadot's performance as Wonder Woman, the first live-action portrayal of the character in cinema, has received critical praise, beginning with her debut in ''Batman v Superman'', where she was considered a highlight. Her performance in ''Wonder Woman'' was especially praised for its warmth, optimism, and chemistry with her co-stars. However, political backlash in some Arab countries led to bans due to Gadot's Israeli background. Her role in ''Justice League'' faced criticism for being minimized and objectified, though Zack Snyder's version received more positive feedback.

Fictional character biography

Themysciran days

Diana was born to Queen Hippolyta around 3000 BC on the hidden island of Themyscira, home to the Amazons, women warriors created by Zeus to protect mankind. Hippolyta explains their history to Diana, including how Ares became jealous of humanity and orchestrated its destruction. When the other gods attempted to stop him, Ares killed all but Zeus, who used the last of his power to wound Ares and force his retreat. Before dying, Zeus left the Amazons a weapon, the "Godkiller", to prepare them for Ares's return. Hippolyta reluctantly agrees to let her sister, General Antiope, train Diana as a warrior.

At age 8, Diana competes in a race during an Amazonian sporting event. She uses a shortcut to a finish line, but is caught by Antiope. Hippolyta teaches Diana about the harmful effects of cheating and tells her about being patient, for her time to be a hero will come someday.

Foray into World War I

In 1918, Diana, now a young woman, rescues Captain Steve Trevor, a pilot with the American Expeditionary Forces, after his plane crashes off the coast of Themyscira. The island is soon invaded by the landing party of a German cruiser pursuing Trevor. The Amazons engage and kill all the German sailors, but Antiope dies intercepting a German bullet meant for Diana. Interrogated with the Lasso of Hestia, Trevor reveals that World War I is raging in the outside world and that he is an Allied spy. He stole a notebook with valuable information from the Spanish chief chemist Isabel Maru, who is attempting to engineer a deadlier form of mustard gas under the orders of General Erich Ludendorff. Believing Ares is responsible for the war, Diana arms herself with the "Godkiller" sword, a shield, the Lasso of Hestia and her suit of armor and sets out on her own, in defiance of her mother, to stop Ares and end the war. She releases Trevor and immediately leaves Themyscira with him to find and destroy Ares.

The two arrive in London and Diana is introduced to Etta Candy, Trevor's secretary. She helps Diana acquire some contemporary clothing so she can better fit in and retain her anonymity. Trevor and Diana deliver Maru's notebook to the Supreme War Council, where Patrick Morgan is trying to negotiate an armistice with Germany. Diana translates Maru's notes, revealing that the Germans plan to release the deadly gas at the Western Front. Although forbidden by his commander to act, Trevor, with secret funding from Morgan, recruits Moroccan spy Sameer, Scottish marksman Charlie, and Native American smuggler Chief Napi to help prevent the gas from being released. Diana adopts the surname "Prince" to fit in better at Trevor's suggestion. As the group approaches the trenches, Prince, unwilling to see the civilians suffer, charges into no man's land and liberates the nearby village of Veld with the aid of the group and Allied forces. The team briefly celebrates, taking a photograph in the village, where Prince and Trevor fall in love.

The following morning, Prince ignores Trevor's advice to remain with Charlie and Napi and scout out the surrounding area. She also enters the castle after incapacitating an aristocratic German woman and stealing her gown as a disguise. She meets Ludendorff, whom she assumes to be the mortal disguise of Ares and plans to kill him before Steve intervenes and prevents her from doing so, fearful that their covers would be blown and result in their deaths too.

Ludendorff then fires the new gas at the battle lines from an artillery gun to the castle houses. Horrified by the result of the gas, Prince blames Trevor for letting it happen as a result of letting Ludendorff live. Prince confronts and fights Ludendorff, who bolsters his own strength by consuming an elixir procured by Maru. She kills him, but is confused and disillusioned when his death does not stop the war.

Morgan appears and reveals himself as Ares. When Prince attempts to kill Ares with the "Godkiller" sword, he destroys it, telling Diana that, as the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, she herself is the "Godkiller". He entreats her to help him destroy mankind in order to restore paradise on Earth, but she refuses. Ares attempts to direct Prince's rage and grief at Trevor's death by convincing her to kill Maru, but the memories of her experiences with Trevor cause her to realize that humans have good within them. She spares Maru and redirects Ares' lightning into him, destroying him for good.

Cold War

In 1984, Diana works at the Smithsonian Museum as an archaeologist under the alias of "Diana Prince" while moonlighting as Wonder Woman. With her new co-worker, Barbara Ann Minerva, becoming envious of Diana. Barbara and Diana help the FBI identify some antiques stolen from a heist foiled by Wonder Woman, noticing that one item, the Dreamstone, contains a Latin inscription claiming to grant the holder one wish.
Barbara wishes to become like Diana, but acquires the same superpowers, while Diana unknowingly wishes for Steve Trevor to be alive again, which resurrects him in another man's body; the two are reunited at a Smithsonian gala. However, only Diana can see him as Steve. While in Cairo, Egypt, Diana and Steve tried to get Max Lord to hand the stone back to them after finding out that the stone was actually created and empowered by the gods, Diana claiming that "the power of the stone is too much for Max Lord to handle." After a battle between Wonder Woman and the Emir's armed security team, who now work for Max Lord, Diana gets wounded by a gunshot before Max Lord gets away. Diana phones Barbara to find out where exactly that stone came from and the next morning, Barbara, Diana, and "Steve" discover that the Dreamstone was created and empowered by Dolos/Mendacius, the god of lies, treachery, deception, and mischief, also known as Duke of Deception. It grants a user's wish while exacting a toll, which explains why Diana got wounded in the battle because the stone was taking away her powers, unless they renounce the wish or destroy the stone.

Learning from the U.S. President of a satellite system that broadcasts signals globally, Maxwell Lord, whose powers are causing his body to deteriorate, plans to globally grant wishes to steal strength and life force from the viewers and regain his health. Diana and Steve confront him at the White House, but Minerva, now aligned with Lord, defeats Prince, escaping with Lord on Marine One. Renouncing her wish and releasing Steve, Diana dons the armor of Asteria and battles Barbara, who has transformed into a cheetah-like creature. Following a brutal match, Diana tackles Cheetah into a lake and electrocutes her, then pulls her out.

She confronts Max Lord and uses her Lasso of Truth to communicate with the world through him, convincing everyone to renounce their wishes, then shows Max visions of his own unhappy childhood and of his son, Alistair, who is frantically searching for his father amid the chaos. Max renounces his wish and reunites with Alistair. On Christmas, Diana meets the man whose body Trevor possessed, and then she is shown flying in the clouds before going to supposedly stop a crime after hearing police sirens wail in the distance.

The Trinity

In 2015, Diana is invited to a gala by Lex Luthor where Bruce Wayne encounters her. They are both after encrypted information from Luthor's system, with Diana snagging a decryption device that Wayne plants, but when Diana is unable to extract data from the device, she hands it over to Wayne, who later finds that the files contain information on metahumans, one of which turns out to be Diana.

Upon hearing Superman and Batman's fight with Doomsday in Gotham City, Diana abandons a flight back to her job in France and joins the two heroes in their fight against the monster. Wonder Woman slices off the creature's hand and restrains it using her lasso as Batman stuns it, allowing Superman to kill the monster using a kryptonite spear at the cost of his own life. Moved by Superman's sacrifice, Prince later attends his funeral with Wayne, who invites her to help him recruit other metahumans to band together.

Remembering the Past

Sometime later, Wayne follows up with Prince, sending her a package containing a personal note and the photographic plate from 1918 depicting her with Trevor and the other World War I fighters, which Luthor had previously used in an attempt to blackmail her. Prince reminisces on her past while looking at the package. She sends an email to Wayne thanking him for retrieving the photographic plate of her and Trevor.

Forming the Justice League

Theatrical cut

In 2017, Wonder Woman stops a terrorist bomb plot at the Old Bailey in London. Seeing a news report that features a signal fire burning at the Shrine of the Amazons in Greece, Prince realizes that her mother had sent a message from Themyscira to warn her of an impending invasion. She then meets with Wayne in Gotham, explaining the history of the first invasion of Earth by the forces of Apokolips. While Wayne goes after Arthur Curry and Barry Allen, Prince tracks down the elusive Victor Stone.

Stone is initially hesitant about joining the team despite providing some intel to Prince, but later joins when Steppenwolf kidnaps his father and several other S.T.A.R. Labs employees in an attempt to retrieve the last Mother Box. The team rescues the employees and takes the last Mother Box during the skirmish before Aquaman arrives and saves them from a deluge of floodwater. Realizing the potential of the Mother Box, Wayne decides to have the team use it to resurrect Superman, whereas Prince and Curry express skepticism. Allen and Stone exhume Clark Kent's body and the team successfully resurrects him in the facility used to create Doomsday, but Superman, having lost his memories, attacks the group after Cyborg accidentally launches a missile at him. In the skirmish, Steppenwolf takes the last Mother Box from the group as it was left unattended. As Superman leaves with Lois to regain his memories, the five other heroes recuperate at the Batcave. Prince tends to Wayne's wounds as the two apologize for some harsh words towards each other earlier.

Director's cut

Wonder Woman calms down the school girls held hostage by the terrorist group in London and explores the tunnels underneath the Shrine of the Amazons to find imagery of the first invasion of Earth by Apokolips, led by Darkseid. She votes in favor of resurrecting Superman in addition to joining Allen and Stone along with Curry in digging up Clark Kent's corpse. Prince and Curry talk about the historical rivalry between the Amazons and Atlanteans, dismissing it while finding they have more in common than expected.

She is shown to be on-par with Steppenwolf in terms of melee-fighting prowess, though he manipulates her emotions by falsely claiming he killed her mother. After Superman overpowers Steppenwolf and Aquaman impales him following the separation of the Mother Boxes, Wonder Woman lands the killing blow, decapitating the New God after Superman throws him back into the boom tube, with his disembodied head and corpse landing at Darkseid's feet back on Apokolips. Following the team's victory, Prince and Wayne decide to expand the operations of the team, starting by rebuilding Wayne's old manor into their headquarters. Diana is last seen looking towards Themyscira as she contemplates about her fellow Amazons.

Butterfly invasion

In 2021, Prince, alongside The Flash, Superman and Aquaman are summoned by Amanda Waller to assist the vigilante Peacemaker in fighting a group of parasitic aliens named The Butterflies, but the team arrives too late to help. Peacemaker claims to have met Prince at a party.

Meeting Shazam

Shortly after, Prince, who is aware of Billy Batson / Shazam and what he had been through, arrives in Mount Olympus and restores the Wizard's staff imbuing it with her powers. She then uses it to restore Billy to life. Afterwards, she departs from them.

Fighting Al Falcone

Soon after, Prince, who appears to save Batman and Alberto Falcone with her Lasso of Truth, encounters Flash, who is also tied up. Prince is nowhere to be found when Allen alters the universe after saving his mother, although he later undoes most of his changes after realizing the consequences of saving his mother.

Alternate versions

Steppenwolf victorious

In ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'', Diana and the rest of the Justice League are killed by the unity of the Mother Boxes. This version of events is erased after Barry Allen enters the Speed Force and reverses time.

Knightmare reality

In ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'', in visions received by Victor of a reality where Darkseid is victorious, Diana is killed in battle during Darkseid's takeover of Earth and is cremated by the Amazons, with parademons all around them.

Development and portrayal

Despite being one of DC Comics' flagship superhero characters, Wonder Woman had not been portrayed in live-action film until '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' in 2016. The character was the subject of the television series ''Wonder Woman'', which ran from 1975 to 1979 with Lynda Carter portraying the title character. Prior to that, a loosely-based television film with the same name was released in 1974 with Cathy Lee Crosby portraying a different version of Wonder Woman. However, the character has been featured in ''Justice League'' and ''Justice League Unlimited'' shows in the DC Animated Universe and movies in DC Universe Animated Original Movies line, and also appeared in ''The Lego Movie'' with Cobie Smulders providing her voice.

Development of a live-action Wonder Woman film began as far back as 1996, with producers and screenwriters such as Ivan Reitman, Jon Cohen, Joel Silver, Todd Alcott, Leonard Goldberg, and Joss Whedon attached to the project. Actresses such as Sandra Bullock, Mariah Carey, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lucy Lawless were rumored or approached to take on the title role. A film focusing on Wonder Woman during World War II impressed the heads at Silver Pictures, but Silver did not want the film to be a period piece, despite purchasing the script to prevent the cinematic rights of Wonder Woman reverting.

By 2013, with Warner Bros. releasing '' Man of Steel'', the studio had opened up the idea of that film creating a shared cinematic universe to compete with one set up by Marvel Comics. In addition to proven characters such as Superman and Batman, the studio once again put Wonder Woman in consideration for adaptation, along with other characters such as Aquaman. DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson said Wonder Woman "has been, since I started, one of the top three priorities for DC and for Warner Bros. We are still trying right now, but she's tricky."

Casting

Israeli actress Gal Gadot was cast as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman for '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' by director Zack Snyder, having previously turned down the role of Faora-Ul in '' Man of Steel'' due to pregnancy. According to ''Empire'', Gadot won the role after screen-testing with Batman actor Ben Affleck against four other actresses. Like Affleck, Gadot's casting was initially not well received, as many had considered her too "slender" for the role of Wonder Woman. In preparation for the role, Gadot underwent a diet and training regimen, practiced different martial arts and gained 17 pounds of muscle.

On Gadot's casting as Wonder Woman, Snyder said "Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most powerful female characters of all time and a fan favorite in the DC Universe. Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role." In 2015, Patty Jenkins accepted an offer to direct ''Wonder Woman'', based on a screenplay by Allan Heinberg and a story co-written by Heinberg, Zack Snyder, Geoff Johns and Jason Fuchs. Jenkins worked with Gadot on the ''Wonder Woman'' film, which eventually was conceived as a prequel to Wonder Woman's first appearance in ''Batman v Superman'', placing her in the 1910s and World War I (a decision which differs from her comic book origins as a supporter of the Allies during World War II).

After lukewarm reception to ''Wonder Woman 1984'', a third DCEU Wonder Woman film with Jenkins directing and Gadot starring had been under development, but after James Gunn and Peter Safran became the new heads of the renamed DC Studios, Jenkins' plans were abandoned by Gunn and Safran as that film did not fit into their plans for what would become the DC Universe, which will effectively be a reboot of the DCEU. However, the duo offered to let Gadot stay on as Wonder Woman in the new timeline despite confirming that Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck would not portray the DCU's new iterations of Superman and Batman, respectively. Eventually, it was later reported by ''Variety'' in October 2023 that none of the DCEU actors cast for Snyder's films would be reprising their respective roles in the DCU, including Gadot as Wonder Woman.

''Justice League'' reshoots controversy

Years after the release of the theatrical version of ''Justice League'', Gal Gadot revealed that she was uncomfortable shooting several scenes during the reshoots, refusing to film the shot of Barry Allen slipping and falling on Wonder Woman's chest during the battle under Gotham Harbor and utilizing a body double instead. This and replacement director Joss Whedon's reported on-set behavior led to a dispute, with Whedon allegedly threatening to make Gadot's career "miserable," but after she promptly reported Whedon to studio executives, the situation was "taken care of." Gadot was one of several actors in the film, including Affleck, Cyborg

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