Which City Should Wonder Woman Be Based In?

[SecretWarrior]

I suppose Gotham does have some New England/Boston elements to it, the Waynes being Old Money WASP types usually. But I guess Gotham in general is an amalgam of city clichés from the past 80 years.

I mainly went for Chicago because of the Nolan films and I also never really liked Metropolis and Gotham being that close to one another. I usually envisioned there was some distance between them.

Makes sense. I think Nolan later changed Gotham to Philly, but even now folks think of it as Chicago. When I lived in Chicago, Google Maps listed my office building as the "Gotham City Courthouse," because that's where the exteriors were shot, lol. I still see Gotham as an East Coast city for the reasons you mentioned.

Back when Wizard Magazine put out their version of the "Ultimate Justice" League idea, they located Metropolis and Gotham close to one another, and they put both GL and Flash in California. I think it was a way to explain the frequency of those team ups.

[RobinGA]

Gotham City has been established as being in New Jersey.
When I think of a modern real life equivalent it is Trenton.

Metropolis can be any big city on the east coast. Although
much of its look seems to be Chicago.

[I'm a Fish]

Gotham City has been established as being in New Jersey.
When I think of a modern real life equivalent it is Trenton.

Metropolis can be any big city on the east coast. Although
much of its look seems to be Chicago.

If there’s a city in NJ that’s comparable to Gotham, it’s Newark. Every problem Trenton has, Newark has worse and Trenton doesn’t have a single skyscraper.

Though honestly, Gotham is more comparable to NYC than Metropolis.

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Anyways, I like Diana being in a real City and think Washington DC is best. Boston is a nice setting too, though.

[RobinGA]

You might be right about Newark.
It could also be someplace like Jersey City.

[John Venus]

Gotham's a mix of Chicago, Jesery and NYC.

Metropolis is a mix of New York and (going by the city scapes of Superman: TAS) Seattle mixed with LA.


Gateway should have a unique identity. I don't think having it be a San Francisco stand in works since SF is usually Zatanna's territory. I like the idea of having it be near Washington DC.

Someone smarter than probably explain why Washington DC feels as good as an option for Diana as her having her own city.

Marvel disproves this, as does Geoff John's Shazam run. I'm sure there are other books that disprove it as well.

Writers and artists will always want to do their own thing or put their own spin on things, even if it's at the detriment to the overall world. Grounding at least provides some consistency by setting parameters.

RL cities or in Marvel's case New York is more Marvel thing.

DC has always coasted on fictional cities and while not every character should be from a fictional city, writers/artists have shown how unique each city can be. What are we even debating about? That people from Gotham or Metropolis should act or sound like people from other cities?

[John Venus]

Been giving this topic some thought and I think whichever city she is based in depends on the story being told.

Washington is ideal for espionage and military based stories.

NY feels ideal for the story lines centering on Diana being an ambassador and diplomat. There is the proximity to the UN and the multi cultural aspect of NYC.

Gateway and Boston feels like the ideal place for the mythological stories. Maybe it's because some of them have already been set there. Gateway feels like the spot if you want to do more classic superhero style stories whilst Boston being a more real world city invites more real world type stories.

WW is ultimately a globe trotter but I like her having a home away from home or a city that she spends more time in that the others.

I'm less keen on Gateway City these days after learning it's not wholly original to WW. It was originally a city that appeared in Golden Age Spectre comic. I lean more towards either Washington or Boston these days.

[Alpha]

Make Holliday College a giant alternative community in a college campus off the coadt of Tunisia where all of Diana's friends and allies go. It's the one place full of artifacts, science experiments, innovative artistic and cultural projects, athletic championships, public forums, and martial arts training centers. It's where Diana gets to move forward our society and making noticables changes to the world within a specific ecosystem. If Diana came her to to change the world then we need to see it.

[WonderScott]

I mainly went for Chicago because of the Nolan films and I also never really liked Metropolis and Gotham being that close to one another. I usually envisioned there was some distance between them.

Both seemingly have seaside locations and ports. In that sense I think of them being New York and Boston in terms of distance. When Smallville gets involved I tend to think of Metropolis as Chicago, someplace closer to the Midwest, but there’s no reason I have to think that way. Plenty of Midwesterners bounce out East or out West. (I did.)

For Diana, I’m thinking West Coast for a lot of different reasons.

[John Venus]

I think the city would also have to reflect her character. I like how Metropolis in S:TAS was depicted as bright, sunny and most stories took place in day time whilst Gotham in B:TAS was moody, gothic and noirish. There are also articles about how NYC has served to reflect and shape Marvel's characters; Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Daredevil, etc.

How has Washington, NYC, Boston and Gateway served Diana's character?

[WonderScott]

I think the city would also have to reflect her character. I like how Metropolis in S:TAS was depicted as bright, sunny and most stories took place in day time whilst Gotham in B:TAS was moody, gothic and noirish. There are also articles about how NYC has served to reflect and shape Marvel's characters; Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Daredevil, etc.

How has Washington, NYC, Boston and Gateway served Diana's character?

I absolutely agree and I really think it would help the character in a lot of ways. (Marston had her in D.C. and I’m surprised no one later tried give her a fictional city, but we also know how the character was used throughout time.)

Washington D.C. certainly worked in the Golden Age from her beginnings as a patriotic/wartime hero. If you think about politics in the abstract, D.C. could still work as social justice, identity politics and bigotry play out in Congress, SCOTUS, geo-politics, etc. as much today as ever.

NYC fit Diana’s love of diverse populations and fits some aspects of her cosmopolitan-ness. As one of many hubs of culture and industry across the globe, there’s a lot for Diana to explore, with the many facets to her character.

Boston has a lot democratic history that you could argue mirrors the Amazon’s quest for building a better society. All the universities and pursuit of knowledge and change also suits Diana’s nature.

Gateway, and the West in general, always symbolizes escape, new starts and the frontier of what’s new, and I suppose that’s in sync with aspects of Diana’s character and origin and desires. It was the Spectre’s city anyway, and I’m not sure I want Diana to take someone else’s city, when she could/should have her own.

Of course, we’re dealing with the stealing and colonization of the lands of Indigenous people in all these cases.

[Perseus]

Just make Gateway City into the "ideal" Wonder Woman playhouse and call it a day. I don't see why we need to have her in a real city.

[Fuzzy Mittens]

Personally I say just sprinkle her supporting cast of friends and Wonder family heroes across a bunch of different cities and have Diana bounce between them while Donnas based out of New York, Cassie in Gateway, and so on and so forth.

Even if someone did pick a city it would still have Diana bussing between there and the Island to visit that side of things. Possibly the jungle and desert too if this whole 'the Amazons united' thing sticks.

[Perseus]

Personally I say just sprinkle her supporting cast of friends and Wonder family heroes across a bunch of different cities and have Diana bounce between them while Donnas based out of New York, Cassie in Gateway, and so on and so forth.

Even if someone did pick a city it would still have Diana bussing between there and the Island to visit that side of things. Possibly the jungle and desert too if this whole 'the Amazons united' thing sticks.

Which is already enough establishing places on EARTH anyway.

[John Venus]

I'm in favor of her hopping between cities.

I like the idea of her being in a real world location because she already comes from a mythological background and it creates a contrast. I think sometimes the desire to have her mirror Superman/Batman too closely leads to the loss of her own unique elements.

Washington is ideal since her Golden Age adventures were set there, not many heroes operate there and the place lends itself to more political stories. Other options would be somewhere in the West Coast. Maybe LA, since so many heroes are operate on the East Coast.

[wonder39]

My vote, DC or Boston. Both have pretty solid places in her history, and there's no need to mess around with yet another fake town or location ( like the revolving supporting cast issues)