The Big Stall: Wonder Woman

It wasn’t too long ago that news rippled through comic fandom in gigantic waves that Joss Whedon parted ways from "Wonder Woman" and the Amazonian set sail for the unknown. So, where do we go from here? Does producer Joel Silver have anything encouraging to say? The answer is no, unfortunately.

SuperHeroHype quotes Silver; "These things don't happen quickly. I want to make the right movie on 'Wonder Woman,' I think if we do it right, we can. We just couldn't get there." Gee, Joel, that doesn’t sound at all helpless.

Okay, maybe I’m being overly critical. After all, he’s got a point. I don’t want "Wonder Woman" to wind up like "Daredevil" or "Hulk" becoming a joke to half the fans that swoon to the tune of their comic favorites coming to the big screen finally; I don’t want that anymore than Joel Silver wants it. Then again, I don’t want them to think they’re making "Superman Returns" when they’re really only still at the stage where they’re trying to make "Superman Lives" either.

When you consider that Kevin Smith and Tim Burton had to walk away from how horrible the creative differences behind the demises of "Superman Reborn" and "Superman Lives" were rumored to be, then hearing that Joss Whedon has washed his hands of the project makes me think there’s good reason. And if Silver thinks that’s for the better... It just seems like someone has to have a better vision, and I have to say; I put my trust in Whedon.

What can Silver say that might help us understand his side better, so I’m not sitting here thinking Joss Whedon knows what he’s doing and therefore Silver doesn’t? The answer is… well, he had this to say in the report, when asked about the script that caused Whedon to leave "Wonder Woman" behind; "It had some good ideas in it but I didn't want it floating around, so we took it off the market. It was a period movie and I really don't want to do that."

By my estimation, that means they bought a script they don’t like that they don’t want to use, because they don’t want the ideas out there in the universe of intellectual property and are trying to corner the market in possibilities, my guess being because they really don’t have any clue and are pulling pieces out of hats because some people know what they want and that doesn’t mesh with the people involved who don’t know what they want at all.

Doesn’t that sound like what usually happens to these comic projects unless you happen to get Christopher Nolan on "Batman" or Bryan Singer on "X-Men"? This is already sounding like it will be a much longer time before anything gets in motion, just like "Superman" sadly. Sometimes it just clicks, and then there are times like these when the engine stalls and it’s just because no one can agree on what the problem is or how to fix it.