There’s little doubt that Wonder Woman has injected new life into Warner Bros’ DC Comics properties, even if the path they’re taking seems to be a little confusing. With Justice League landing in theaters only two months from now and Wonder Woman hitting digital video, it seems fitting that some would want to look at what might’ve been with George Miller’s Justice League project that ended before it was able to get off the ground.
Jay Baruchel stopped by the Happy Sad Confused podcast according to Entertainment Weekly and Miller’s Justice League was the topic of discussion, especially the way he planned to introduce Wonder Woman in the film. Baruchel would’ve played Maxwell Lord in the film — which might seem like an odd choice but it is comparable to Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor — and he seemed very excited at the prospect judging at his reaction to how Wonder Woman would’ve made her debut according to EW:
“The first time you see Wonder Woman, the opening scene on Themyscira, it was just her,” Baruchel said. “It’s her on top of a steed and she stood about half a kilometer away from a Minotaur. The Minotaur has a battle-ax in his hand and she just rushes him. All the Amazons are there cheering her on, and she just beheads him. Gets off her steed and holds up the Minotaur thing — and doesn’t say a goddamned thing. I was like, ‘That’s the Wonder Woman I want to see!’ It would have been special.”
IGN adds that the film was very to close to happening, with most of the roles filled out, including Fury Road‘s Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, but the WGA strike in 2007 and change in Australia’s tax laws derailed the project. And while meeting Wonder Woman as a full-on bad ass would’ve only been a slight difference from what we saw in Patty Jenkins’ film, the possible detour she takes later on would’ve been jarring to say the least:
“I turn him into full red-eye Superman, and then there’s this big ass fight between him and Wonder Woman, where he breaks her f—ing wrists and sh–,” Baruchel added. “And then I die halfway through the movie, and then my consciousness is uploaded into a f—ing mainframe and I’m an evil computer.”
This rips a storyline directly out of DC Comics and the sprawling Infinite Crisis storyline that was released back in 2006. In one of the prelude stories, Maxwell Lord ends up taking control of Superman’s mind and pitting him against both Batman and Wonder Woman. The only way to stop the Man of Steel is to kill Lord, something Wonder Woman achieves by snapping his neck — similar to Superman’s controversial choice in Man of Steel. The big difference is there was no remorse for the fallen in the comics.
Going in this direction definitely would’ve affected how the character was perceived by the audience, including all those little girls looking to dress like Gal Gadot for Halloween. While it might’ve been good for the film, it probably wasn’t best for the character to go that route. Luckily we now have a version that works on the big screen and has arguably become the best entry in Warner’s new DCEU.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)