The Hellenders were an interesting yet wasted concept.
The Hellenders were an interesting yet wasted concept.
Is it controversial to think that Pedro Pascal would have been a fantastic Dr. Psycho? You know how they say three time's the charm? Well, Pascal has been part of Wonder Woman live-action adaptations twice now (Ed Indelicato in the unaired David E. Kelley WW pilot starring Adrianne Palicki, and Max Lord in Wonder Woman 1984); maybe he will finally be in a successful Wonder Woman project if the eventual Wonder Woman solo from the Gunn/Safran team hires him to play Diana's mind-controlling villain (the villain he should have played in WW84, I should add).
~I just keep swimming through these threads~
I'm curious, if Pascal had played Dr. Psycho in WW84, would people have wanted the movie's ending to turn out the same with Diana talking him down? Because I don't see that scene/pay-off working with Dr. Psycho. For better or worse, Pascal's Max was just a pathetic huckster who was in over his head. He wasn't a deliberately malicious character the way Dr. Psycho is or would be.
I don't think you could just swap Max for Psycho and have the same movie with the same ending. Would audiences really want to the finale to be sympathy for the raging misogynist? It would be kind of like how the beginning of Barbara's turn to the dark side was beating up her attempted rapist. It would have to be a different movie or at least a very toned down interpretation of Psycho.
I certainly agree that eliciting sympathy for a mind-raping mysogynist would not be a well-received ending; a different ending would be needed for sure. But a good writer could find a balance between Diana finding compassion in her heart for even people as despicable as Psycho, and the film's overall narrative concocting a punishment that satiates audiences' desire to see villains being punished. I am sure that an imaginative screenwriter could come up with something satisfying that DOES NOT require seeing Diana decapitating Psycho or beating him to a pulp (which is something I bet a lot of people will want).
I imagine they'd downplay or remove anything that makes Dr. Psycho overtly malicious and focus on what makes it easy to sympathize with him like discrimination for his height. DC Rebirth and, to an even greater extent, WW 1984 both rewrote Barbara Minerva to much more pitiable than her pre-Flashpoint incarnation.
League of One and Golden Perfect should have just stories focused on Diana and the Amazons.
The Kapatalis women are among the best supporting characters Diana has ever had.
I prefer Diana with Artemis (whom I'd rename Qamar). Otherwise, I don't care for Diana in any romantic relationship.
If a Wonder Woman character never appeared outside a Wonder Woman title again, I wouldn't care. In fact, I'd probably be very happy.
Re: Pedro Pascal as Dr Psycho
I don't think Pedro would work as Dr Psycho. He is way too likeable and might lead to something problematic.
I think Morrison was on the right track on Earth One when he envisioned Dr Psycho as a pick up artist/grifter.
If I had to make suggestions, Dr Psycho should start off as a relatively handsome looking dude but has a terrible attitude around women. At the end he is cursed to look like his vision of an 'unmanly man'; scruffy beard, dwarf sized and big head. But he is so far gone that he blames *all women* for his predicament, not realizing that the problem is his attitude, not his appearance or powers or other people.
Hell, I would also throw in a scene akin to the one in Daredevil where Bullseye hallucinates and sees everyone as Daredevil only in Psychos case, he sees everyone as Diana:
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