Originally Posted by
Ascended
So here's a controversial opinion.
I'm perfectly fine with the idea that Diana isn't nearly as strong as Superman....**As long as she's still just as capable.**
I've read the arguments for making her Clark's physical equal and I get what Marston was going for, and they're good, solid reasons. But I'm not 100% cool with basing Diana's power off another (male) character. DC is never going to really make any hero stronger than Superman, just as they're never really going to let anyone be faster than the Flash. And in my opinion they shouldn't; DC is a pantheon where each hero is the king/queen of their own domain and specialty. But this means when Superman gets nerfed (like in post-Crisis) so does Diana. When he gets buffed, so does she. She doesn't stand on her own in this regard, she's a mirror of someone else and that someone else gets to set the rules and limits. I'm not cool with that, Diana's no legacy character!
I'd be perfectly fine saying that Diana is *only* strong enough to throw tanks across a battlefield (which is still stupid strong) and durable enough to shrug off any man-made, hand-held weapon (she deflects bullets because she's not letting some mook actually shoot her! Even if it wont hurt its the principal of the thing!). I'd be fine with her running at the speed of sound, leaping tall buildings in a single bound, and able to "ride air currents" at 100-200 mph.
I'd be fine with all of that.....but only as long as her reaction time and reflexes still allow her to catch bullets and deflect energy blasts (which, really, means she can still react to speedsters like Barry). If her training and combat skill allowed her to make damaging precision strikes against physically superior foes her strength level wouldn't normally allow her to hurt, I'd be okay with that since it's showing off her talent and ability and not just her muscles. And if her gear helps bring her up to that "top class" level (the armor increases her durability, her blade can cut atoms, her lasso is unbreakable, the invisible jet gets her around quickly, etc) then I don't see her being "less powerful" than Superman (or Shazam or whoever), but merely equally powerful in a different way.
The way I see it, Diana currently has a distinct advantage over people like Superman in a fight. She's got the same raw power and a ton more skill. In a straight up brawl I think she'd beat Clark at least half the time (and Im being nice to Clark here). I don't want that to change, but I'd be fine if Diana's wins came from talent and ability (and power too, yes, she's not Captain America!) instead of *just* raw power.
I'd also like to add a few "mythical/god-like" abilities to her arsenal, like being able to hear prayers or travel between earth and mythological dimensions like Olympus, the Island, etc., but this post is long enough already. But getting her a little bit away from the flying brick archetype and building a slightly more unique powerset around her.....wouldn't be the worst thing to happen, in my mind....as long as she remains just as capable and competent as she currently is.