Thoughts on Casting Wonder Woman

I haven't posted about this yet, but my reaction to the recent Wonder Woman casting rumor is pretty similar to Ragnell's.

Rachel Bilson is very cute and undeniably a good actress but when it comes down to it, a sexy scene does not a Wonder Woman make.

I understand Ragnell's trepidation with Joss Whedon and I share it in one sense. His particular comments about Kitty Pryde, the nature of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and River from Firefly have me a little worried.

But not as much as some. Whedon's got a lot of strengths and faults writing-wise, but there's one thing that gives me hope. He's not just a popular writer, he's a comics fan. The man has to know Wonder Woman already.

Serenity and Firefly have had many problems with gender portrayals, for all that there were strengths as well. However this is the same movie set that brought us:



Zoe Warren. Zoe's strong, beautiful and a little terse. As warrior women go though, she fits the iconic image really well. I'd love to see Gina Torres as Wonder Woman actually. She's very tall and has a towering presence. She's also very beautiful.

I can see some issue though in the fact that Gina Torres isn't white. The initial fan reaction to Jessica Alba as Sue Storm wasn't pretty. This has the shot of being worse. There's nothing so depressing as watching fans insist they're not racist while making fuss over race. In the end, Alba's looks were not the issue (though I thought she'd be prettier with the darker hair color) and Kingpin's casting in Daredevil was inspired, I thought.

I admit, personally, I'm of mixed feelings about the issue. On one hand, Superman and Batman were clearly cast with the iconic comic book image in mind, with as little deviation possible. Wonder Woman, as the third in the trinity, should have the same importance. Such a dramatic change might be a sign that she's somehow not as important as the other two. However, I would much prefer to change something as small as Diana's apparent race (and really, do Themyscirans sculpted from clay *need* to be white?) than other elements of the character. As Ms. Bilson and other suggestions go, the casting choice of Ms. Torres would be a dream.

Another character from Firefly/Serenity that bears elements that could be used in the portrayal of Diana is:



Inara Serra, admittedly, the character is a courtesan, however she conducts herself always with stately dignity and composure. She is regal, calm and centered, with a diplomat's eye for etiquette. If Whedon's film will focus on Diana's role as a diplomat, Inara is a good sign that he can pull it off.

On Ragnell's thread, Loren brings up Morena Baccarin as a casting choice. I could see it. She's a little soft looking for my taste, as I prefer my Amazons to look Amazonian, but she's very beautiful. She has some of the same elements I remember from Lynda Carter's portrayal, though as yet I've only seen her play serious.

While I'd personally prefer Torres as a casting choice, I can definitely see Baccarin's appeal. In the costume, she would very much resemble the iconic image of Wonder Woman. She's, as I said, a trifle soft looking, but that's nothing that some training and exercise couldn't fix. (And superpowers do allow a little leeway.) She's not as tall or towering, but she could definitely believably play a foreign princess/diplomat.

Baccarin's also got the advantage of youth, appearing closer to an age suitable for a beginning Wonder Woman.

So right now, I'm still optimistic. The rumors are disheartening, but Whedon's a comic fan. He's written archetypes applicable to Wonder Woman, and I can't see that he wouldn't recognize that. He (or whoever his casting director is) also seems to be very good at finding talented relative-unknowns to play his roles. Hopefully these facts will combine in an appealing way.

Or you can bet I'll be right there to bitch about it. :-)

(These pictures were originally publicity images for Firefly and were swiped gratuitously from various places on the 'Net)