Wonder Woman: Diplomat or Warrior?

There seems to be a divide in people's expectations of who Wonder Woman is as a character. I give my two cents to the argument.

Editorial Opinion
By Lantern - Nov 30, 2015 06:11 AM EST
Filed Under: Wonder Woman

Let me start by saying that I had no idea this debate existed until I saw an episode of Beyond The Trailer (a YouTube channel run by Grace Randolph) where she brought up how she has always seen Wonder Woman as more of a warrior than a diplomat. I completely disagreed. She has since continued the debate in other episodes (very professionally and intelligently I might add) and I see where she comes from. There are two very different versions of Wonder Woman. One version is very logical and looks to use diplomacy more than her fists. The other version is a warrior who seems very "fish out of water" in man's world but kicks a lot of ass. I'll start by saying that since I grew up watching the Justice League animated series and that was my first exposure to the character, I much prefer the diplomat. However, something interesting is going on within the DCEU. It seems as if Snyder has brought forth the warrior version of Diana, but, from what has been revealed from the Wonder Woman set, Jenkins appears to be presenting more of a diplomat. Now I have a lot of faith in the DCEU (maybe a little more than it deserves thus far) so I don't think that these two directors are just struggling to find Wonder Woman's identity and presenting whatever they please. Is this a layered, amalgamation of the two versions of Wonder Woman?
                                                                                
Here's where we stand with Wonder Woman in the DCEU so far: we assume that she is undercover in BvS or at least in hiding since Superman is the only known god-like being on the planet. So whatever impact she has in her own movie (which is rumored to take place during WWI) will happen under the radar. We also know that by the end of BvS, Wonder Woman will be fighting at full force in public in a brutal way.

 

That's basically what we know. We don't know who her villain will be (though one would imagine Ares would somehow be responsible for WWI) or who she will fight in BvS. So here's my speculation on the character: Wonder Woman will be a diplomat whenever she does not need to fight. Once she knows that she needs to fight, however, she goes off. A woman with extraordinaire powers who must be cordial and diplomatic in public in order to protect her people, but is battling with a rage inside of herself is a layered, complete character. Forcing Wonder Woman into being either the diplomat OR the warrior would not make for an interesting character. Being a diplomat who may not be able to always control her temper makes for someone who is both graceful and human.

If Snyder and Jenkins have worked this out and the writers understand this vision for the character, we could be looking at a character with the power of Superman and the flawed humanity of Batman. She would be a role model, while still being entertaining. I'm interested to know your thoughts below on this debate and what you all hope to see from Wonder Woman in the DCEU!

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WinterOstritch
WinterOstritch - 11/30/2015, 2:51 PM
I prefer the Diplomat view of Wonder Woman as well, the warrior side always seems to get overplayed a lot in stories, mostly with Geoff Johns. Hell, even in the New 52 run by Azzarello (Not my favorite iteration of Wonder Woman, by a long shot) she's compassionate and shows mercy to the Minotaur.
DerekLake
DerekLake - 11/30/2015, 5:42 PM
I'm not sure "diplomat" = compassionate, but I do think there is room for her to portray both without contradiction or tension. They just need to give her a reason for fighting and a mission beyond just fighting. Peace is a good motive, which requires both diplomacy and force.
Vortigar
Vortigar - 12/1/2015, 5:50 AM
To paraphrase our good friend Clausewitz:
"War is merely the continuation of the political debate by other means."

She's always been both. She tries to be the diplomat but will beat you to a pulp if push comes to shove. Her original origin story exemplifies it, she's the best warrior of the lot but goes to any length to find a non-violent solution when Steve crashes on the island.
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