Wonder Woman villain: how would you fix him/her: Paula Von Gunther

[AmiMizuno]

Should she keep her White supremacists origin? Should it be militia that is able to do serious damage?

[Mutant God]

Two ideas

1. One of the oldest member of the Fourth Reich who uses occult magic to keep herself young.

2. A former Amazon turned spy who always misleads Wonder Woman and tricks her into helping Paula commit a political crime

[Silver Phoenix]

#1 sounds interesting... reimagine her as a "Vandal Savage" for WW.

Immortal, a master strategist with a wealth of knowledge, resources and underground connections.

[Carabas]

I'm not sure she even needs fixing.

[PopQuezy]

Paula needs to be updated for modern audiences, and she also needs to be updated in a way that makes her adaptable for other media, e.g. cartoons, toys, movies, etc. I would update her as a mortal woman with amazing strategy skills - on the level of Batman - who is the leader of a terrorist organization like the SEAR Group. She would be a weapons, explosives and gadgets expert.

Her only goal would be for money and power.

[AmiMizuno]

I do think the whole white supremacist origin is still for a modern audience. You can make her the leader of a large and dangerous group. I mean the Nazis need have some occults beliefs. I mean should the occult magic make her strength to fight Diana ?

[Jcogginsa]

The most important aspect of Paula Von Gunther is her capacity for redemption.

I would introduce her as a comic book style supergenius in the vein of Mr. Terrific. She is highly skilled and intelligent. She comes to Wonder Woman's interest when her daughter is kidnapped, and she responds by basically taking the world hostage, threatening to set off the World's nuclear stockpile if her daughter is not saved. The point of her story would be to serve as a showcase for why Wonder Woman doesn't kill: Paula's ability to do harm is equal to her power to aid the world, and thus by redeeming her, the World becomes a better place

[PopQuezy]

I do think the whole white supremacist origin is still for a modern audience. You can make her the leader of a large and dangerous group. I mean the Nazis need have some occults beliefs. I mean should the occult magic make her strength to fight Diana ?

I respectfully disagree. I disagree because WB/DC have just reintroduced Wonder Woman to the world in a major way. Now, they need to keep her popular and relevant, and a white supremacist character is not the type you can sell to little children or even adults if you want this character to one day attain Joker, Luthor or even Catwoman type fame. I can't see a white supremacist character on DC Super Hero Girls, a possible Wonder Woman animated series, being created for a LEGO set, etc. She can just be a cold hearted villain who is the leader of the SEAR Group or Team Baron (her codename would be The Baroness). Same concept, but without any unneeded baggage that would stunt her popularity, media adaptations and ultimately place her back in the bin of forgotten characters if not reimagined for a more modern audience.

[Carabas]

Patty Jenkins didn't make a movie for little children.

Superheroes have not been just for little children in a very long time.

Also, a white supremacist villain is very 2017. People seem to have forgotten that neo-nazis are bad.

[AmiMizuno]

children’s media that has dealt with racism. You can’t say you want Paula not to deal with racism themes when it’s alrwayd been done. It’s all about how you do it. Even I. Diana ‘s beginnings shows she wouldn’t support racism.Teen Titans dealt with racism. Comics were and are from both children and adults. Masu comic has dealt with racism . Diana has dealt with sexism for years . Even in the movie.

Why not racism when it’s been increasing , when KKK, Neo-Nazis and othe racist groups have been attacking more. When Germany has a racist party in the government. Doana’s Comics have always been about social commentary


The Disney movie Zooptia dealt with Racism. Star vs the forces of evil deals with racism . These are children media . They deal with heavy theme but it’s how they do t. Wonder Woman has been a bit on the teen side due to some of the theme and storylines murder, rape but than again it’s been that way from the beginning a diversity of age groups.

[AmiMizuno]

I don’t know it seems generic if you just want her to be some leader of a group for power and money . It’s why she does it.

[PopQuezy]

Patty Jenkins didn't make a movie for little children.

Superheroes have not been just for little children in a very long time.

Also, a white supremacist villain is very 2017. People seem to have forgotten that neo-nazis are bad.

I did not say superheroes were just for little kids. I said that WB/DC would not want to sell a white supremacist character to children, and that being a white supremacist will severely limit The Baroness' marketability. While superheroes or villains are not just for kids, it is important to WB/DC that they are able to market these characters in a variety of mediums. This includes animation, toys, LEGO sets, video games, etc. The Baroness being a white supremacist would limit what WB/DC could do with the character, which would then limit how much money they could make from the character. Then, it would be why use this character when we could use Veronica Cale, Circe, Ares, etc. Marketability is why I suspect when we eventually see Dr. Psycho again that his rapist past would either be only lightly glanced upon or completely erased.

Also, I would like to be clear that I have no problem with Wonder Woman exploring themes of race, gender, sexuality, etc. The Wonder Woman movie explored this wonderfully. The Supergirl show does this, as well. Even Legends have had mentions or entire episodes dedicated to exploring these themes. All I'm saying is that having Paula be a white supremacist or a neo nazi would do nothing but irreparably damage the character, and there are ways to show her as evil - and even still explore themes of racism - without tying her so closely to real life hate and terrorist organizations. This is why I think having her being a leader of the SEAR Group would be wonderful. We can still explore these themes, but in a way that would allow Paula to thrive as a character and even grow a fanbase that would make her valuable to WB/DC.

This is why in my suggestion I talk about showing her as a master strategist and weapons and explosives expert and personally I think she should be a femme fatale. Basically a mix of Catwoman and Batman in an unrepentant villain.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

[Amazon Swordsman]

Yeah, basically what pop is saying is...even though it was a noteworthy part of her character years ago, is basing that as a foundation for her good for contemporary audiences? Would Paula's white supremacist ties make her a good candidate character for cross-marketing across various mediums? Since the general consensus is that racism and by extension neo-nazi ism is bad, wouldn't it be better to diminish or avoid such things?

[marhawkman]

Patty Jenkins didn't make a movie for little children.

Superheroes have not been just for little children in a very long time.

When were they? The basic premises that they frame are often concept kids don't understand.

Also, a white supremacist villain is very 2017. People seem to have forgotten that neo-nazis are bad.

Heh, I'd write it to remind people that it's just as bad no matter what "color" of supremacist it is. That type of ideology is poison to the soul no matter what form it takes.

[Jcogginsa]

I think People here are too set on making Paula a monstrous character. You're forgetting that she was redeemed by Wonder Woman in the golden age.