Why was DCAU WW portrayed so badly?

[SecretWarrior]

And like I said, it's discussion on WW and her world so how Flash and GL stuff was handled and respective fan opinions isn't really pertinent.

If you're going to include Wonder Woman stuff beyond just Diana herself in a Justice League show than it's fair to be criticized if done poorly.

I give them points for fighting to include her on the show since that was apparently a legal issue and there are some moments here and there I like of this version but I can't really give a thumb's up when the most long lasting legacy is making DC's premier female hero a cheerleader for Batman.

All the good gets discounted and all the dislikes amplified, even though she was treated way better than other characters and was part of the insular trinity within the insular founders

[Gaius]

All the good gets discounted and all the dislikes amplified, even though she was treated way better than other characters and was part of the insular trinity within the insular founders

Well, I can't speak for the others obviously but the good on the character was too few and far apart overall in my opinion and not to enough to outweigh the flaws of the DCAU iteration when taken altogether.

[Guy_McNichts]

Diana had moments. That was all.

Hawkgirl was more than a single story, but an actual arc that ran through much of the series. She turned against her people and helped the League. She had to earn her teammates' trust again. Her relationship with John. Her friendship with Solomon Grundy. Those episodes featuring Dr. Fate culminated in her confronting and defeating her own god.

Flash was presented as the heart of the team to the point where his death on an alternate Earth turned them into the Justice Lords. He was the one who ultimately defeated Luthor/Braniac, the big bad of that season, and that played into his personal arc of proving he wasn't just a joke.

It was Martian Manhunter's introduction that led to the League even being formed. His empathy and desire to understand and fit in with humanity played a critical part in saving the League in multiple episodes--namely the one with Morgana and Amazo's first appearance.

Superman, for all that could be said about how he was treated, also got an arc. Dealing with the fallout of his brainwashing by Darkseid and how he responded to his Justice Lord self played a key role in his development.

Batman is a black hole that consumes everything he's near.

Wonder Woman...?
She got a good deal of spotlight at the start of the first season, like she was the shiny new toy to show off. But after her "origin" in the premier, returning to Themyscira to deal with Faust & Hades, and fighting an evil Amazon, they were pretty much done with her. All they had left was: "Isn't Batman dreamy?" and the occasional fight with a god.

I find it telling that, during the fight with Luthor/Brainiac, when he manifests copies of the Justice Lords for the League to fight, pretty much everyone has a confrontation with their taunting doppelganger (Superman told he's a tyrant, Flash that he's just a joke, Hawkgirl that she's a traitor)...except Wonder Woman. Not a single word is exchanged between Diana and her counterpart.
In fact, I don't recall Diana having any response whatsoever to the Justice Lords. Superman was mortified. Batman convinced his variant to turn good.

Wonder Woman? "Eh...whatever."

In the grand scheme of things, she could've been left out of the show and not one single thing would be different.
She had episodes centered on her, but they were inconsequential. She had no internal life. No particular conflicts except learning to be less of snob sometimes and falling in love with Batman. Arguably, her biggest achievement throughout the series was getting the Black Mercy off Bruce and throwing it onto Mongul.

Again, that's not to say there was nothing good or she didn't have moments. Isolated beats scattered throughout that got her sort of right or let her do something cool.
But taken as a whole, Wonder Woman was, at best, mediocre. All anyone remembers from her portrayal in Justice League is that she's a snob who's in love with Batman.

I'd argue that even the Huntress got a better showing overall. I'm not complaining about that because Helena is awesome, but if we're going to get into a "some characters had it better/worse than Diana" thing, I think when taking all the characters that appeared throughout the show, Wonder Woman--despite her stature and prominence--is pretty low on the ranking.


As for why? I don't think there's a great mystery, and I wouldn't cry sexism or fear of powerful women. They just didn't care. Wonder Woman's presence was a box that needed to be checked, and the people behind the scenes clearly had little interest in actually doing anything with her. That's it.

[John Venus]

I think it's obvious they had trouble getting inside her head unlike other League members. We didn't get to see what she did for Christmas nor was she a part of the Dr Destiny episode. Unfortunately, this is more common than people think. Check out the old Satellite era JL comics or Morrison/Waid/Kelly era JL or even most modern iterations of the JL, Diana is usually just standing there. Putting her on JLD is probably the most interesting thing DC has done for her team wise.

[WonderLight789]

I think it's more like they didn't care as much because they had no attachment to her, and Superman is the power level measuring stick.

WW's icon status played a part in her getting more episodes centered on her than Hawkgirl did. Hawkgirl had one major storyline in the first two seasons, and subsequent seasons just dealt with the fallout of her betrayal. If there was more depth there, it's because Hawkgirl doesn't carry the weight of being a perfect icon. She's allowed to be flawed without people complaining. She's not even remembered for her feats or power level, just her personality and history.

You can say WW's mythology was underutilized, but you could say the same of any non-Superman or 4th world mythology, since so much of the big stuff in Justice League was set up in STAS. There were certainly more WW rogues than GL or Flash ones.

That is a weak excuse that even some writers use. WW is far from lacking flaws. And in the DCAU. She had plenty of that. Being a snob. Having a lot of prejudice towards men. Acting impatient. Being fast to lose her nerve etc. It is funny how writers who blame the character for being too ''perferct'' ''boring'' '' not relatable'' end up being among the ones who writer her as truly boring. If you can't write a certain character is not the character's fault. It is your writing's fault. And if you are not interested in a character, then leave it alone instead of deliverng weak writing.

[Alpha]

What WW stories do you think would've been good for the Justice League show?

[Gaius]

In the grand scheme of things, she could've been left out of the show and not one single thing would be different.
She had episodes centered on her, but they were inconsequential. She had no internal life. No particular conflicts except learning to be less of snob sometimes and falling in love with Batman. Arguably, her biggest achievement throughout the series was getting the Black Mercy off Bruce and throwing it onto Mongul.

I think it's obvious they had trouble getting inside her head unlike other League members. We didn't get to see what she did for Christmas nor was she a part of the Dr Destiny episode. Unfortunately, this is more common than people think. Check out the old Satellite era JL comics or Morrison/Waid/Kelly era JL or even most modern iterations of the JL, Diana is usually just standing there. Putting her on JLD is probably the most interesting thing DC has done for her team wise.

Some good points. I'd say it's the result of the decision to chop up he origin as part of the pilot which ended up meaning she had no relations with pretty much anyone in Man's World outside of the League.

[Rightoya]

All the good gets discounted and all the dislikes amplified, even though she was treated way better than other characters and was part of the insular trinity within the insular founders

How low is the standard you want to apply, if you talk about all the good, and which character was truly treated way worse?

[I'm a Fish]

What WW stories do you think would've been good for the Justice League show?

- Some sort of adaptation of Blood of the Cheetah (WW Vol.2 #9) before throwing her in with no connection to Diana. To give some Wonder Woman worldbuilding outside of Greek mythos and those WWII time travel episodes.

(Honestly, if they had just made the JL version of Cheetah a demi-god or impowered by the Gods and not a woman who spliced herself with Cheetah DNA, that would have given her and Diana more of a connection since it didn't really make much sense in the show for Diana to go for Cheetah, even their fight was pretty "meh".)

- Get rid of that episode that had Diana team up with Hawk and Dove and instead replace it with a version of Powerplay (WW Vol.2 #6). Hawk and Dove can still be in it (since it's a team show) but just have Diana be the one teaching "violence isn't the answer" instead of learning it.

- That team-up story Gods of Gotham (WW Vol.2 #164 -167) would have been a nice way to include some other characters. You'd probably have to cut the entire Wonder-fam out to fit the show...but at least it wouldn't be Batman upstaging Diana by fighting her villains solo.

[Alpha]

Yeah Gods of Gotham could've been good. I think "A League of One", "Golden Perfect" and the Queen of Fables story by Mark Waid would've worked too for the show.

[Gaius]

- Some sort of adaptation of Blood of the Cheetah (WW Vol.2 #9) before throwing her in with no connection to Diana. To give some Wonder Woman worldbuilding outside of Greek mythos and those WWII time travel episodes.

(Honestly, if they had just made the JL version of Cheetah a demi-god or impowered by the Gods and not a woman who spliced herself with Cheetah DNA, that would have given her and Diana more of a connection since it didn't really make much sense in the show for Diana to go for Cheetah, even their fight was pretty "meh".)

- Get rid of that episode that had Diana team up with Hawk and Dove and instead replace it with a version of Powerplay (WW Vol.2 #6). Hawk and Dove can still be in it (since it's a team show) but just have Diana be the one teaching "violence isn't the answer" instead of learning it.

- That team-up story Gods of Gotham (WW Vol.2 #164 -167) would have been a nice way to include some other characters. You'd probably have to cut the entire Wonder-fam out to fit the show...but at least it wouldn't be Batman upstaging Diana by fighting her villains solo.

The Circe episode also goes from **** to great if Bats and WW's roles were reversed.

[I'm a Fish]

The Circe episode also goes from **** to great if Bats and WW's roles were reversed.

Yeah, I would have liked to her Susan Eisenberg sing to save pig-bat.

[Gaius]

Yeah, I would have liked to her Susan Eisenberg sing to save pig-bat.

Or into an actual bat.

[BiteTheBullet]

Yeah Gods of Gotham could've been good. I think "A League of One", "Golden Perfect" and the Queen of Fables story by Mark Waid would've worked too for the show.

Just what we need with the "A League of One" where Diana gets to tell us how overpowered Superman is to her and the fact that Batman actually throws down with her. Not exactly the type of showing I would want for Diana!

[Alpha]

Lol. Everything in this sub seems to turn into a power discussion. I like A League of One a lot and it makes Diana into the heart of the group. Is that ok?