Why was DCAU WW portrayed so badly?

[Triniking1234]

I'm gonna need a citation for that "spoiled brat with mother issues and men-hater".

Power-wise she was fine (aside from the nerfing of the lasso), she was shown as an equal to Superman most of the time. Yeah, she had a couple of embarrassing moments, but Superman had it worse in s1.

Like getting mind controlled in the Girls' Night out for JLU.

[I'm a Fish]

I'm gonna need a citation for that "spoiled brat with mother issues and men-hater".



Like getting mind controlled in the Girls' Night out for JLU.

Didn’t even JL woman get mind controlled in that episode except for Huntress.

[DochaDocha]

Didn’t even JL woman get mind controlled in that episode except for Huntress.

I don't know if Supergirl was written off the show at that point, but this is pretty much correct.

[fong03]

I don't know if Supergirl was written off the show at that point, but this is pretty much correct.

I believe she was written off by that point, but I could be mistaken. It would have been nice to see Diana own Kara though. hehe

And to your earlier point about the writers trying make improvements to WW's characterization, I think they started even earlier. In the first Amazo episode in season 2, they make it clear there is a vast strength difference between WW and Hawkgirl. She also fought very well in the fight with the Injustice Society. (Sinestro was about to go down to her before she was double teamed.) They also did have her fighting Superman on even terms, which probably led to the For the Man Who Has Everything episode to make the Superman fans happy. >.< That fight with Aquaman STILL makes my blood boil too.

I hated how WW was so often the damsel who needed saving. That bothered me a lot. That being said, JL/JLU is where I fell in love with Susan's voice acting, so it will always have a special place in my heart. WW's supporting cast rarely got any love, but I appreciated seeing the gods pop up and having the show lean into the mythology.

Hawkgirl, John, and not surprisingly, Batman were the best written characters on the show. Superman, J'onn, and Wally were fine. Diana was written to serve the story they wanted to tell. Often, unfortunately, it was not a story that allowed her to shine.

[Triniking1234]

Surprised people say Hawkgirl was treated better when she only had one breakout story.

I don't know if Supergirl was written off the show at that point, but this is pretty much correct.

Kara leaves after she beats "Power Girl" so closer to the end. Can't remember when Girls' Night took place.

[fong03]

Surprised people say Hawkgirl was treated better when she only had one breakout story.



Kara leaves after she beats "Power Girl" so closer to the end. Can't remember when Girls' Night took place.

That one story was pretty massive and had repercussions into JLU. She also had the romance with John, the relationship with Grundy, and was written consistently. She certainly had less episodes devoted to her than probably anyone other than MM, but the writers clearly liked writing for her.

And I just checked. Grudge Match was the 9th episode of the last season. Supergirl's last episode was the following one. Kara must have been away on a mission when the others were abducted.

[WonderLight789]

I believe she was written off by that point, but I could be mistaken. It would have been nice to see Diana own Kara though. hehe

And to your earlier point about the writers trying make improvements to WW's characterization, I think they started even earlier. In the first Amazo episode in season 2, they make it clear there is a vast strength difference between WW and Hawkgirl. She also fought very well in the fight with the Injustice Society. (Sinestro was about to go down to her before she was double teamed.) They also did have her fighting Superman on even terms, which probably led to the For the Man Who Has Everything episode to make the Superman fans happy. >.< That fight with Aquaman STILL makes my blood boil too.

I hated how WW was so often the damsel who needed saving. That bothered me a lot. That being said, JL/JLU is where I fell in love with Susan's voice acting, so it will always have a special place in my heart. WW's supporting cast rarely got any love, but I appreciated seeing the gods pop up and having the show lean into the mythology.

Hawkgirl, John, and not surprisingly, Batman were the best written characters on the show. Superman, J'onn, and Wally were fine. Diana was written to serve the story they wanted to tell. Often, unfortunately, it was not a story that allowed her to shine.

When did anybody ever doubt it and how would that be an improvement? Hawkgirl is barely super human. EWhile WW is supposed to be one of the heavy hitters.

The show did nothing with WW and her cast. Nothing important.

[WonderLight789]

Surprised people say Hawkgirl was treated better when she only had one breakout story.



Kara leaves after she beats "Power Girl" so closer to the end. Can't remember when Girls' Night took place.

She hads more character development and her biggest arc had far more impact than any WW's arc.

[WonderLight789]

I don't think anyone here is making excuses for WB and DC. They're trying to explain what the actual people behind the creation of the show did. You know, real human beings with passions and flaws who probably wanted to make the best possible product. I think they largely failed with WW, but we're not going to say Bruce Timm sucks, Dwayne McDuffie (RIP) was sexist, Rich Fogel has a weak ego and is threatened by WW, Dan Riba doesn't care about WW, etc.

When they transitioned to JLU, I think you can feel up front how much importance they placed on WW, but it did fall flat. Other than making her literally on Batman and Superman's level in the intro, all we got were some uninteresting episodes and crushing on Batman. Yeouch.

They didn't put any importance to WW in JLU For a so called bi icon. I did not see anbything important done with her.

More than ever. I see that sexism is one of the reasons why WW is treated poorly. Many men in the industry are scared of a female character as radical as WW is at her core.

[DochaDocha]

Surprised people say Hawkgirl was treated better when she only had one breakout story.

Which one do you mean, the part about being a Thanagarian spy? I think that had some serious long-term implications on the show.

Even her romance with Jon Stewart had some interesting consequences because they ended up being able to back into an origin story for Warhawk from the Beyond timeline. They also found a way to introduce Katar Hol after the fact, and his story was strongly tied to Hawkgirl's.

I wasn't big on Hawkgirl because she was kind of annoying for the first two seasons of the show and seemed completely redundant outside having an N-th Metal weapon (the show even made a 4th wall joke about how she was the most hated character), but I think her story arc was far, far more interesting than Wonder Woman's.

[SecretWarrior]

They didn't put any importance to WW in JLU For a so called bi icon. I did not see anbything important done with her.

More than ever. I see that sexism is one of the reasons why WW is treated poorly. Many men in the industry are scared of a female character as radical as WW is at her core.

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.

[Gaius]

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.

Well, it is a WW-centric question in the Wonder Woman subforum so that's why there are complaints WW's world being either underutilized or done badly and not much discussion on how GL or Flash's worlds were served.

And even then, I've come across plenty of Superman fans who don't like the DCAU's usage of the Fourth World in Superman stuff because Timm and co (Batman fans) said it was because they didn't think Superman's rogues or world were as interesting as Batman's.

[SecretWarrior]

Well, it is a WW-centric question in the Wonder Woman subforum so that's why there are complaints WW's world being either underutilized or done badly and not much discussion on how GL or Flash's worlds were served.

And even then, I've come across plenty of Superman fans who don't like the DCAU's usage of the Fourth World in Superman stuff because Timm and co (Batman fans) said it was because they didn't think Superman's rogues or world were as interesting as Batman's.

GL and Flash fans aren't complaining even though they had far less, and Batman's rogues were completely cut out of later seasons due to the Bat-embargo.

STAS featured all of Superman's major rogues at the time, and if Superman could beat them himself, then of course you need a bigger threat like the 4th world villains to justify the League.

[Frontier]

GL and Flash fans aren't complaining even though they had far less, and Batman's rogues were completely cut out of later seasons due to the Bat-embargo.

STAS featured all of Superman's major rogues at the time, and if Superman could beat them himself, then of course you need a bigger threat like the 4th world villains to justify the League.

I think Wonder Woman has different expectations than GL or Flash does when she's ostensibly supposed to be equal to Batman and Superman.

[Gaius]

GL and Flash fans aren't complaining even though they had far less, and Batman's rogues were completely cut out of later seasons due to the Bat-embargo.

STAS featured all of Superman's major rogues at the time, and if Superman could beat them himself, then of course you need a bigger threat like the 4th world villains to justify the League.

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.