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  1. #1
    Astonishing Member Tzigone's Avatar
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    Default How would you reboot Wonder Woman (and the entire DC universe)?

    In the real world, I don't want a clean-slate reboot that erase 10 or 15 years of character growth, and starts everyone on day one. But for fanfic and discussion, it's quite fun. I wanted to do clean slate, so we're not beholden to fit her background against the existing background of other characters we like.

    So, what's your ideal? Start during WWII or present day? Is Superman the world's first hero, or do you want a post-COIE set up where all the golden age characters who didn't make it to the silver age debuted first? If so, does Diana debut with golden agers (excluding Batman and Superman) or later?

    What would Wonder Woman's powers be? She's had a different ones back in the old days. I'm fairly happy with the more modern ones. Flight, sure, despite it rendering the invisible plan less useful. But I don't want her bullet-proof. Just can't give up the bracelets blocking bullets.

    Why does she leave the island, what motivates her and what is her purpose? Does anyone prefer it to be called Paradise Island? Are there any actual restrictions (magical consequences, etc.) to a man setting foot there? I prefer not. How often is Diana able to get back there or to communicate with her family? Is Donna already on the island? How old is Diana - under a century or over a millennium? What mixture of naive and wise? Are there any fish-out-of-water stories when she leaves the island and interacts with outside society? How long does she plan to be away from the island, and does she age while away? If Donna's there, presumably, she at least, ages.

    How does she meet Etta? What's Etta's job and her role in Diana's life. I like the new Etta, but I like golden age Etta, too. But I'm not for purely comedy relief characters, so she'd need to be fleshed out if using old-school version. While I enjoyed the Year One Rucka run (heroes pretty good but villains iffy, Barbara was okay, but hated what was done with Veronica), I'm not sure I'd have Diana that integrated in the military/governement set. I was trying to think of an entirely new background for her. And, if Diana has a secret identity, should Etta know the truth?

    I like Vanessa from the post-crisis era, too, but am not quite sure when in Diana's life I'd put her, especially if Etta and/or Steve is something of a guide to 20th/21st century life in the United States. I'm also not sure if Vanessa doesn't work better in world where Diana doesn't already have a little sister, if you know what I mean?

    Pretty much the same on questions on Steve. Now him, I do like military or spy - it's what he's always been. And I like him a fighter. But how to develop that relationship (fast or slow, romantic or platonic at first, etc.) is a question. I tend to lie love interests knowing the truth early, but that's only applicable if Diana has a secret identity. Builds a better bond for them know early, since they don't only know part of a person. Also find the chasing-after-the-hero-while-ignoring-alter-ego bit very cringy. Except for original Green Lantern, because he brought it on himself.

    What type of foes should she typically face?

    How long until she meets Superman, Batman, etc. and what's the interpersonal dynamic? Guess that depends on the versions of those characters, too. Bruce used to be easier to get along with a long time ago.
    Last edited by Tzigone; 06-26-2019 at 11:31 AM.

  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    I would return it to Paradise Island. That Themscyria is one of the cities in Paradise Island. The reason for many cities is due to the different missions. For example, if they have the doom gate many make a military city. Amazons who want to become priestess go to a city. I would being back Amazons can have children. The reason for different cities is due to not wanting to follow all the gods.Maybe not out of clay but make a deal with hades and his wife. That dead children can be reborn.
    Last edited by AmiMizuno; 06-26-2019 at 11:34 AM.

  3. #3
    Astonishing Member Tzigone's Avatar
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    Amazons who want to become priestess go to a city.
    Hmm, would they then not be warriors? I guess because I was thinking of immortal-no-having-babies-set, I was thinking all Amazons would be warriors. Some would also be teachers, philosophers, artists, tanners, blacksmiths, etc. But all warriors. Bu we all have our own take.

    What about population size? I think that would be important to figuring out their culture. And to how many cities they have.

  4. #4
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    All have had training so they are trained to be warriors when the time is right. Not all Amazons will have children.All have train but go into a field that picked. They culture just be a mix of greek and what they have made through out the centuries. They have festivities for the gods. They should come back to high tech. I would have had some being able to use magic. This is because before locking Circe away the amazons were her allies. Some trained with her ad can use magic.

  5. #5
    Ultimate Member Sacred Knight's Avatar
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    I have ideas for a fresh start that I more think of working as a secondary line. In that verse Wonder Woman is technically the first superhero as she debuts in WWII, an ambassador of the Amazons to help the Allies in the war, realizing the worldwide threat of the Axis Powers (she wins the honor of being said Ambassador by way of a rendition of the classic contest). She meets and falls for a medical doctor named Steve Trevor, and has various adventures and missions together during the war. There is no other superhero but her during this time. Near the end of the war Steve dies, and by the end of the war in which the Allies win with her help, she returns to Paradise Island after gifting the US and the rest of the Allies with technology that will end up propelling their advancement much further than Earth as we know it. She stays on Paradise Island till the present day, and Earth knows of no other beings of superhuman, metahuman, or supernatural abilities in the interim. That brief period becomes legend. However, during "Year One", Superman reveals himself as the first extraterrestrial on Earth (to the public's knowledge). This reveal brings Diana back to Man's World to investigate such a being's intentions, which then kickstarts the first real Age of Superheroes. It is after this that heroes like Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, etc, begin to emerge.
    Last edited by Sacred Knight; 06-26-2019 at 05:30 PM.
    "They can be a great people Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you. My only son." - Jor-El

  6. #6
    Ultimate Member SiegePerilous02's Avatar
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    If I was rebooting the whole DCU, the Multiverse would be in effect, with the disbursement of characters on the Earths being similar to pre-Crisis.

    For the main Wonder Woman of Earth-1, she'd be one of the first superheroes. There is no Golden Age, so she'd pop up in the modern age shortly after Superman and Batman.
    - I'd play up the mythological connection between the Amazons and Ares; Hippolyta and her sisters are all his demigod children, but they reject his ways and embrace Aphrodite as their patron. He manipulates Heracles into going to war with them, Hippolyta wins but is disillusioned and leads her people to Paradise Island, etc.
    - The Amazons main patrons are Aphrodite and Athena, with secondary patrons being Artemis, Demeter, Hermes and Hephaestus.
    - The clay birth is in place, with Diana aging in real time (she isn't several centuries old). Athena guides Hippolyta's hand, Aphrodite brings her to life and Artemis allows it to happen on the night of a full moon. The Amazons are aware of the Roman names by this point, so Hippolyta names her Diana in honor of Artemis. Other Amazon children are created using this method, Diana is just the first. The patrons visit her as she sleeps in her crib and bless her with the potential to obtain great gifts as long as she heeds her lessons and trains hard.
    - The Amazons are all superhuman due to Amazon training, Diana is just the overall greatest due to the combination of the divine gifts and her own determination.
    - The Amazon cast is the Perez cast with some other faces like Mala, Io, Althea and Nubia (here Philippus's daughter) added in, and put through a bit of a Marston filter: advanced technology and weird rituals like the infamous Diana's Day and Festival of Gems.
    - Donna is returned to her roots as being a man's world orphan that was taken in by the Amazons. Hermes rescues her from the burning building at Aphrodite's behest and brought to Paradise Island, where Hippolyta raises her. This is around when Diana is about 11-13 years old.
    - Ares plot, Steve crashes, Contest, becomes Wonder Woman, etc. She cannot fly for the first few years and relies on the Swan Plane, which is a piece of Amazon tech. She later gains Superman-style flight from Hermes and keeps the Plane as an extra tool or Steve uses it. The Magic Lasso is forged by Io using links from Hippolyta's girdle, it is indestructible, and anyone snared within it must obey her commands. It can be used against her however.
    - Like Rebirth, Paradise Island is inaccessible during the early years of her adventures. The stuff with Ares's sons and Godwatch plays out, though there is never any confusion regarding "the Lies" because the New 52 will have never happened. Diana knows she cannot go home, but the villains want access.
    - Wonder Woman lives and operates out of Washington D.C with her main cast being: Steve, the Oddfellows and Phil Darnell; Etta Candy and the Holliday Girls- Etta is basically her Earth One self transplanted to the main Earth, and Diana teaches at Holliday College like she does there. Etta is never part of the military area of things like Steve and co; Ferdinand; and a pre-villainous Cheetah in her human guise, though I'd call her Dr. Priscilla Rich.
    - Donna leaves Paradise Island shortly after Diana does to become Wonder Girl.
    - Steve may change careers after the origin years, not sure what he'd be though. Maybe something in the medical field.
    - Core villains: Cheetah is her main personal arch nemesis. The rest of her core foes are: the Sons of Ares, Veronica Cale, Circe, Dr. Psycho (basically his Earth One version), Giganta, Dr. Cyber, Queen Clea, Dr. Poison, Eviless, Zara, Blue Snowman, Hypnota, Angle Man, the Silver Swan and Chang Tzu. The next tier down of villains are Gundra, Minister Blizzard, Queen Atomia, the Gorgons, Echidna and the Mask.
    - Ares eventually breaks free and Paradise Island is accessible again.

    Diana's world view is naive when she first leaves the island, spouting the ideals of loving submission and female superiority, and butting into situations she doesn't necessarily understand completely. However, as an outsider, she is able to pinpoint systemic problems we may miss. As she grows older and wiser she naturally matures and develops more nuanced views. She is here to teach, but also to learn, she doesn't react negatively when her Amazon ideals are challenged. Basically, instead of Earth One the model is Morrison's Action run, with the Golden Age take on the character being present but not quite sustainable in the long term being too extreme, even if the core ideas never quite go away.

  7. #7
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    A true reboot would require greater thought, but in general:

    - Diana is sculpted from clay and brought to life by one or more of the Greek gods. Ideally, it would be one or more female gods, but I'm not entirely opposed to Zeus playing a small part in her creation.
    - Diana is raised on Themyscira. A literal "Paradise Island" where her mother Hippolya is queen and married to Phillipus. The Amazons are immortal and are formed by the souls of various women who have sought and obtained the favour of their personal gods at the time of their death. This means that "new" Amazons join the island over time and in doing so, bring their own unique skills and experience. That has resulted in a unique, vibrant, multicultural, technologically advanced society.
    - The reason why the gods are supportive of Themyscira is because the Amazons guard some kind of inter-dimensional prison which holds the "baddest of the bad".
    - Steve Trevor crashes onto Themyscira during WW1 and Diana leaves the island with Steve Trevor to journey to man's world to try to stop the war. Diana is only one woman, so she can't single handedly stop a war, but she does what she can to help civilians and other innocents trapped between two "equally bad" warring sides.
    - Diana remains in man's world with Steve Trevor following the closure of the war to learn more about man's world and because she believes that the tenets and wisdom of peace which the Amazons live by can be shared with others.
    - Diana and Steve live in Gateway City which is the west coast version of Washington DC. At this stage, Diana is not a "public" superhero, although there are legends about the "Wonder Woman". As such, she does not yet operate a Themysciran embassy. Diana's day job is as a professor of history, archaeology and/or antiquities and she uses this as a cover for many globe trotting adventures with the valuable assistance of Steve.
    - Diana can return to Themyscira, but only "once in a blue moon" or on a similarly irregular frequency.
    - Diana is a founding member of the Justice Society of America during WW2.
    - Diana eventually steps down from the JSA to focus her time on philanthropic and charitable ventures. At this stage, she is obviously a publicly recognised hero, so she establishes the Themysciran embassy which also provides emergency shelter and educational opportunities for women. The embassy is "protected" by magic, so Diana doesn't have to worry about any old villain being able to attack and kill her friends and family. One or two Amazons elect to join Diana in man's world in running the embassy.
    - In "modern day", Diana is also a founding member of the Justice League because of rising threats from terrestrial and extra terrestrial threats. Diana is the undisputed leader of the Justice League as the most experienced member, although she will eventually come to share leadership duties with Martian Manhunter and they form a close working relationship. After a lifetime together, Steve has passed away. It can be left vague as to whether or not they had children. A "child" who was born, but placed in the care of Hippolyta and Phillipus for its safety is a possible storyline, but one I'd probably only do as an Elseworlds.
    - Diana doesn't have a new long-term love interest, but she has been dating, including a prior relationship with archaeologist Barbara Minerva which ended when Barbara's jealousy about Diana's abilities and her desire to use dubious methods to obtain similar abilities for herself drove them apart.
    - Wonder Woman still operates out of Gateway City. It has become a hotbed for inter dimensional threats for ... reasons. It also serves as the processing centre for alien refugees, etc fleeing to Earth from various intergalactic wars.
    - Donna was a young girl who Diana rescued, adopted with the help of someone and left in the care of Hippolyta and Phillipus. Donna eventually leaves Themyscia to become the first Wonder Girl. Donna and Diana have a close relationship as Diana frequently visited her "sister" whenever she could access the island during Donna's childhood.
    - Cassie is a new, very green superhero who idolised Wonder Woman as a child and sought her out for mentoring when she discovered that she had super powers of her own. I'm okay with Zeus or another god being one of Cassie's "parents".
    - Diana's abilities include: super strength, super durability, near invulnerability, flight, etc.
    - Diana's "weapons" only include: bracelets, tiara and lasso. A sword and shield are NOT part of her regular weaponry.
    - Diana's costume has evolved over time. She started with her Amazonian "armour" (not a battle swimsuit) and has updated it over the years to retain some elements of her original costume, but also to adopt a more "modern" superhero guise.
    - Diana's tools include: invisible jet crafted by the Amazons and gifted to Diana to make her journeys to and from Themyscira more easy and covert. Diana can use this when going on long distance missions, when travelling with others, etc.
    - Diana's villains include: Cheetah, Circe, Ares, Veronica Cale, Silver Swan, Dr Psycho, Queen Clea, Dr Poison and Dr Cyber. Some are long-term villains who Diana has battled on and off since WW1. Others are "new" villains.
    - Diana is distinguished from Superman and Batman because: she will kill her enemies, but only when absolutely necessary; she will always offer her villains the option of genuine rehabilitation on Themyscira, even if that comes into conflict with the justice system of man's world (i.e. she will extend diplomatic immunity to them or something similar); she was trained as an Amazon Princess in the ways of diplomacy and to lead an army of Amazons into battle and she has many years worth of experience as a superhero from WW1.

    That's the general ... gist of it.

  8. #8
    Astonishing Member Tzigone's Avatar
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    Diana is sculpted from clay and brought to life by one or more of the Greek gods. Ideally, it would be one or more female gods, but I'm not entirely opposed to Zeus playing a small part in her creation.
    I like the clay origin with Aphrodite granting life.

    I like the Amazons unaging on the island.


    Diana is raised on Themyscira. A literal "Paradise Island" where her mother Hippolya is queen and married to Phillipus.
    I'm an absolute "yes' to Hippolyta and Phillipus, but only after Diana is grown. I don't want Phillipus to be another mom. Just Hippolyta alone for that.

    I actually like no marriage at all (though some very long-term partnerships) because marriage was not a joining of equals in the time and place they came from and often not about love. It's a legal arrangement to govern the passing of property to legitimate heirs (in Sparta, kids were the point, and a woman could live with another man if not impregnated by husband). And certainly, there was no expectation of monogamy from husbands. Amazons are immortal, and don't have heirs. And there's no reason for their view of marriage to shift to the modern western one. I feel like this would be perceived as an anti-same-sex-marriage attitude, and that's not what I'm about. I just think their perception of marriage is/should be just as different as how/why they worship their goddesses/gods (not looking for moral guidance). Also, eternity is a very long time, and while a few couples would be paired up that long, I need some single women and plenty of relationships that last decades instead of millennia. And some of the women are bisexual, and a few are asexual, and some are straight (if they ever send out more ambassadorial parties, they might be quicker to volunteer).


    The reason why the gods are supportive of Themyscira is because the Amazons guard some kind of inter-dimensional prison which holds the "baddest of the bad".
    I'm fond of that. What's more important to me, though, is probably that Hippolyta and the amazons have battle experience, have done great things. When they are generation after generation having never left the island (and have no big bad to guard), they become kind of less-sympathetic isolationists. Ones where these particular individuals haven't
    Last edited by Tzigone; 06-27-2019 at 04:02 AM.

  9. #9
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    I feel that the Amazons shouldn't be just about swords and shields. They should have guns and other weapons. Much like Pre crisis all their bracelets and swords should be made from Amazonian metal which is unbroken. We should being back the Holliday Girls. Diana stays in Marston University that is run by Athena. Gateway is interdimension city. Diana stays with the Holliday girls in their dorm rooms.

  10. #10
    Astonishing Member WonderScott's Avatar
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    I'll let you know when I finish and publish my Wonder Woman Series Bible Thingee.

  11. #11
    Extraordinary Member CRaymond's Avatar
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    HMSS Alfred Pennyworth, Queen Hippolyte, and a Kryptonian probe repel the incursion of New Gods at the Salonican Front in 1918.

    One year later, Pennyworth is given custody of his employer's son, Hippolyte screams birthing pains on a stormy beach, and an alien baby crashlands in the fields of Kansas.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by CRaymond View Post
    HMSS Alfred Pennyworth, Queen Hippolyte, and a Kryptonian probe repel the incursion of New Gods at the Salonican Front in 1918.

    One year later, Pennyworth is given custody of his employer's son, Hippolyte screams birthing pains on a stormy beach, and an alien baby crashlands in the fields of Kansas.
    Alfred Pennyworth is Diana's father?! That's a pretty bold reboot.

  13. #13
    Extraordinary Member CRaymond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Agent 86 View Post
    Alfred Pennyworth is Diana's father?! That's a pretty bold reboot.
    The other guy they have sex with is Diana's father.

  14. #14
    Astonishing Member KangMiRae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sacred Knight View Post
    I have ideas for a fresh start that I more think of working as a secondary line. In that verse Wonder Woman is technically the first superhero as she debuts in WWII, an ambassador of the Amazons to help the Allies in the war, realizing the worldwide threat of the Axis Powers (she wins the honor of being said Ambassador by way of a rendition of the classic contest). She meets and falls for a medical doctor named Steve Trevor, and has various adventures and missions together during the war. There is no other superhero but her during this time. Near the end of the war Steve dies, and by the end of the war in which the Allies win with her help, she returns to Paradise Island after gifting the US and the rest of the Allies with technology that will end up propelling their advancement much further than Earth as we know it. She stays on Paradise Island till the present day, and Earth knows of no other beings of superhuman, metahuman, or supernatural abilities in the interim. That brief period becomes legend. However, during "Year One", Superman reveals himself as the first extraterrestrial on Earth (to the public's knowledge). This reveal brings Diana back to Man's World to investigate such a being's intentions, which then kickstarts the first real Age of Superheroes. It is after this that heroes like Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, etc, begin to emerge.
    Ooo, I like the doctor thing. How cute!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tzigone View Post
    What would Wonder Woman's powers be? She's had a different ones back in the old days. I'm fairly happy with the more modern ones. Flight, sure, despite it rendering the invisible plan less useful. But I don't want her bullet-proof. Just can't give up the bracelets blocking bullets.

    Personally, I would like to make Diana bullet-proof. The bracelets are cool, but I'd like them more just for show. So when that moment does happen—when someone manages to get a clean shot of her body—they're shocked to see that the bracelets were just Diana's way of having fun during shootings, lol. She doesn't need them at all to kick ass!

    Other powers I'd give her would be standard olympus empowerment stuff, like strength, durability, endurance, reflexes, healing, etc.

    Superspeed to keep her consistent, but not as fast as a speedster.

    I agree with you on flight, it makes the jet less useful, but hey, maybe she likes to do both?

    I don't know how often DC uses her animal communication ability, or if she still even has it, but I'd totally give that to her, too. Make her very Snow White in that regard—where animals flock to her, lol. It'd make for some cool poses!
    __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________

    As for origin, I think Diana being, technically, the first superhero in modern memory would be cool, but she leaves after the war for a long time, and she becomes more of a legend. Then Batman and Superman bring her back after she realizes that there's more out there than just the Axis powers.

    Plus! Making Diana an old legend which some people believe and don't believe would be fun as there'd be different versions of her story told. For example, some people would say that she could bounce bullets off of her magical bracelets, and others would say that she was bullet-proof, and no one would know for sure for many, many years!
    Last edited by KangMiRae; 07-02-2019 at 09:59 AM.

  15. #15
    Ultimate Member Sacred Knight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KangMiRae View Post
    Ooo, I like the doctor thing. How cute!
    Thank you! I've been on this train ever since Odyssey, which while to say it had its problems as a story is an understatement, bringing Steve into the picture as a doctor really grabbed me. Diana falling for a healer instead of an out-and-out soldier is of great appeal to me. The medical doctor angle would be a compromise to keep a lot of classic elements of the character at the same time. If I were an actual writer and I were doing this as an ongoing, I might even toy with the idea of resurrecting him into the present day ala WW 1984.
    "They can be a great people Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you. My only son." - Jor-El

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