Originally Posted by
bat39
I think one thing people forget now, at a time when Wonder Woman is one of DC's biggest and most recognizable franchises globally, is that the whole 'Trinity' thing is a bit revisionist. Wonder Woman has always been one of DC's biggest characters, being one of oldest characters and a fellow survivor of the Golden Age along with Superman and Batman (not to mention Aquaman and Green Arrow). And of course, she's always been their No. 1 female superhero, and the iconic female superhero period. But the idea that she's part of a 'Trinity', that she's a peer to Superman and Batman, and one of the three pillars of the DC brand, is a relatively new one.
Back in the days of the DCAU, Superman and Batman were DC's Big Guns. End of discussion. Wonder Woman was just another one of their popular and iconic characters other than the Big Two, alongside Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman etc. She was included in JL because most iconic JL lineups have Wonder Woman, like they have a Flash, GL etc.
So its not like Timm & company were actively looking to give WW her due or to elevate her to the level of Superman and Batman, or to showcase the three of them as a Trinity. Their goal was basically to spin-off the Superman and Batman shows they'd already developed into an ensemble show, and introduce and develop five 'new' characters to join the Big Two. I seriously doubt if Wonder Woman was more important to them than, say, Flash or Hawkgirl.
That's where the chips fell. They set about introducing the five 'new' characters. With Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, they had a lot more freedom to redefine these characters the way they wanted, since they were using versions of these characters that had little connection to their current comic-book portrayals. They'd already introduced Flash before in STAS, and they built on him being the comic relief and the 'young' and 'brash' guy on the team, giving him his memorable niche. Martian Manhunter they spent a lot of time developing since he was one of the least well-known to a mainstream audience. And then you have Wonder Woman.
They chose to incorporate her origin story into the pilot episodes, making her the least experienced member of the team (J'onn had just come to earth of course but he was already pretty much a war veteran on Mars, and the other 'new' heroes were already established in their careers). We could have had an interesting 'Year One' Wonder Woman story, but they didn't focus on that, instead presenting her as this somewhat naive newcomer to Man's World who's developing into an experienced superhero off-screen. And of course, the occasional episode focusing on Amazonian lore and with WW villains becoming Justice League villains. Personality-wise, other than her being a bit of a fish out of water (which they didn't even play around with that much), she was basically generic 'nice' superhero...kinda a female Superman on a show where Superman himself was the definition of bland generic superhero. In the meantime, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter got better defined characterizations and stronger arcs throughout the series (well, not so much Flash on the arc front). WW for the most part was just...there.
So yeah, I agree that Wonder Woman ended up being the most underserved character of the Big Seven in the DCAU (and even some of the 'expanded' roster in JLU got better moments to shine). But I don't think they were wilfully setting out to create a mediocre version of Wonder Woman. It's more like WW to them was just another League member they had to deal with (rather than part of some 'Trinity') and they ended up making decisions for her that didn't work out.
I'm pretty sure anyone making a Justice League cartoon today would handle WW with a lot more care and attention...