Originally Posted by
Guy_McNichts
I wouldn't mind seeing A League of One get adapted. It could've made a decent arc for the series or even into stand-alone movie. All they really need to do is cut out the one, single, lone line of dialogue where Diana claims she could never beat Superman.
Which, by the by, aside from making her look much weaker than him than she should be, strikes me as a very out of character thing for her to say. Diana doesn't strike me as the type of person who would ever claim she can't beat anyone or, for that matter, accomplish anything she set out to do. Wonder Woman in general, when written well, has a general "Yes I can" attitude, coupled with the fact she does have a competitive side to her. Even if she believed Superman (or anyone) was that far above her, I think she would see it as a challenge to be met, not something to just accept.
But that's beside the point.
Among other things, they've could maybe not turned Circe into a comedy character. Or at least, I agree, having Batman get turned into a pig so Diana team up with Zatanna to save him.
Maybe an arc where Queen Clea leads an uprising in Atlantis and Aquaman & Mera turn to the League for assistance and Wonder Woman is critical in defeating her because Clea has stolen Poseidon's Trident and Diana is best suited to dealing with that sort of thing. Osira could appear and offer to join the League, impressing the team with her ability to bring peace wherever she goes, only for Diana to realize she's doing it by taking away people's free will. An arc where Granny Goodness starts kidnapping members of the League to turn them into Female Furies, and Diana leads the rescue mission to save them.
I'm thinking about other ways they could've improved Wonder Woman in Justice League or stories they could've done with her, and something I've realized is the show pretty much robbed her of what unique things she could've brought.
What Diana brings to the table in a team dynamic is the 1) Lasso and its ability to defend against illusions or mind control. 2) Her compassionate nature and instinct to seek the peaceful resolution first. 3) Her exceptional fighting skills and experience.
And she had none of these things in the show.
The biggest offender is the Lasso. Wonder Woman should've been someone ideal for threats like Dr. Destiny and his nightmares, or Ultra-Humanite (or was if Grodd? I don't remember which telepathic ape it was) using his telepathy to turn the League against each other, or Eclipso possessing the team.
The creators said they took away the Lasso's power because it made resolving plots to easy, but that's a crock. It just changes the story. If Starro invades and starts taking over people's minds, Diana's Lasso can defend her and maybe free a few others, but she'd still be significantly outnumbered and need to utilize a different strategy. The Lasso doesn't negate the story, it just demands Diana play a relevant part in it.
Imagine if Dr. Destiny did try to attack her mind with her fears (And Christ, just imagine what fear Timm and co. would've given Diana) and she's able to resist or fight back because of the Lasso. It doesn't ruin the story, it just means she would be one of the heroes bringing about his defeat alongside Batman. If the Lasso could protect her from Eclipso, she AND the Flash could be forced to Die Hard their way around the satellite to save their friends.
But no. The Lasso was just a rope.
They also downplayed her compassionate and diplomatic nature, which could've offered a unique approach to certain opponents and threats. Imagine is she was the one who befriended Solomon Grundy as opposed to Hawkgirl? What if she reached out to her Justice Lord counterpart and tried appealing to her better nature? What if she had realized Amazo wasn't evil and only being misled by Luthor?
When they did finally make her a diplomat, she spent the whole time scowling and rolling her eyes like a child forced to do an unwanted chore.
It occurs to me now that all Wonder Woman ever really did in this show was punch. Seriously, was there a single villain or challenge she encountered throughout the entire show that she didn't resolve by hitting it? Even getting the Black Mercy off Bruce was just brute force ripping it off him. She realized she couldn't beat Ares' war machine only after Dove taught her a lesson about peace.
Was there any example of Wonder Woman overcoming a foe or saving the day in Justice League that involved her ingenuity, actual skills, or cunning? I really can't think of anything she did that didn't involve simple punching.
In fact, I remember an interview with one of the show's developers where they bragged that they always made sure Wonder Woman was fighting the hardest out of everyone. I know they think that proves they treated her with respect and made her appear powerful, but it kind of reveals how little use they had for her. In any given situation or battle, Diana's just in the background punching things while the other heroes actually resolve the plot. They can't think of anything useful to do with her, so just have her punching things in the background or off-screen.
And when there was no punching to be done, she did nothing. When Captain Marvel chewed out the League, she just stood there and looked sad even though she had nothing to do with what happened. I honestly wanted her at some point to say, "Hey, I just got here. What's going on?"
When Batman and Superman were getting pissy with each other over lobotomizing Doomsday and the laser canon in the satellite, did Diana have opinion or thoughts on the conflict? No, she just stood there in silence and looked sad.
Furthermore, did she have ANY opinion on the whole Cadmus/League conflict? Did she suspect they were walking a dangerous line? Did she misunderstand Cadmus's problem with the League because she wasn't around for Superman's brainwashing and therefore lacked context? Did she at any point consider there might be a better solution to the conflict?
Damn, I'm not trying to be negative. And like I said, there were good moments with her, but seriously, the more I think about it, Justice League was an awful depiction of Wonder Woman. Just a one-note, joyless, unpleasant vision of the character. Lacking in warmth except when flirting with Batman and that one scene in the last episode where she hugs Martian Manhunter, and generally stiff and bland to highlight how much more engaging the other characters were.
Looking back on it, it seems the one thing they got right about Diana's character was her passion. She's a fiercely passionate person who truly believes in what she does. But the key thing is where that passion comes from. As said, when written properly, Wonder Woman's passion comes from a "Yes, I can!" attitude. Her passion is her idealistic belief in seeing the best in people.
The creators of Justice League, however, made her passion come from a "But I'm right!" attitude. Look back on Rich Fogel's comment where he zeroes in on the fact she's royalty. So we got a pompous, aloof Wonder Woman who does what she does because she's entitled and sneers when people don't do what she says.