When Diana Prince enters the world of man this Friday with the release of Wonder Woman, it will be in the trenches of the first World War. The heroine's participation in a major world conflict is somewhat reflective of her comic origin, though Diana's original introduction was during World War II. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Patty Jenkins explained that while she initially questioned the need for the change, she quickly saw the opportunities the revised setting gave to the story.
“At first, I questioned it because it wasn’t her actual origin story, but very quickly I saw the genius behind it,” Jenkins said. “World War I is the first time that civilization as we know it was finding its roots, but it’s not something that we really know the history of. Even the way that it was unclear who was in the right of WWI is a really interesting parallel to this time. Then you take a god with a moral compass and a moral belief system, and you drop them into this world, there are questions about women’s rights, about a mechanized war where you don’t see who you are killing. It’s such a cool time.”
Wonder Woman screenwriter Allan Heinberg also told the publication that he and producer Zack Snyder had a lot of interest in the parallels between WWI and the modern day, which also influenced the change. “We are in a very WWI world today with nationalism and how it would take very little to start a global conflict,” he said. “It’s the first time we had an automated war. The machine gun was a new invention. Gas was used for the first time. New horrors were unleashed every day.”
Do you think the film made the right choice? Let us know in the comments! Wonder Woman releases on June 2, 2017.
About The Author:
Matt is a graduate of the Ryerson University School of Journalism, and has been a fan of superheroes since he picked up his first comic book issue as a child. While he works as a professional musician, Matt has a massive passion for comic books, films and heroes, along with participating in discussion and debate with the CBM community.