Wonder Woman TV series no more

By Hera, it didn't even make it out the starting gate.

Following on from my earlier post, and prediction that NBC's new Wonder Woman TV series would last a handful of episodes before being cancelled, the news hit last week that the show will never even be made. NBC has officially rejected the option to turn the already filmed pilot (check out pics from the location shoot here) into a weekly series.


NBC's official explanation is that the series "just didn’t seem to fit in" with their schedule plans. Online mutterings are more cynical. Many believe that David E Kelley's scripted pilot was even worse than initial reviews suggested it would be.

There is a very slim chance that another TV network will pick up the series, but given that they all initially passed on the pilot - including NBC until they had a change of heart - I think that possibility is unlikely.

So what does this mean for the already filmed pilot, starring Adrianne Palicki as the Amazonian princess turned multitasking modern woman? Will we ever see it? Well, the debate is out on that one. Right now it's looking likely that Wonder Woman will go the way of the similarly rejected Aquaman pilot, and eventually become available as a paid download. But I guess only time will tell.


Frankly, the cancellation of the Wonder Woman TV series is bittersweet. Of course it stings that the Justice League's secretary has been shafted again. Despite being the first, and most famous, of female superheroes, Diana just cannot get an adaptation break. While lesser male heroes like Green Lantern, and even much lesser female antiheroes like Elektra, are leaping into cinemas in ever increasing numbers, Wonder Woman can't even make the jump onto the small screen.

Then again, perhaps it's for the best that Diana's highly anticipated transition from comic pages to live-action isn't in the form of a cheesy TV show largely played for laughs. Although the series cancellation is likely to cause entertainment producers to view Wonder Woman as a toxic property, and freeze adaption attempts for the near future, one can only hope that a brave filmmaker will eventually attempt a respectful depiction of the character.

Because, frankly, Wonder Woman deserves it! I've only recently started to develop an understanding and appreciation of Diana but she's an extremely interesting character. Out of DC's Big Three (her, Superman, Batman) she's typically the one making and implementing tough decisions when the fate of the world is at stake. Although admittedly this is more apparent when she's acting as a part of the Justice League than on her own - which may explain why few creators really know what to do with her solo - she's the biggest badass of the Big Three.

First and foremost, despite her ambassadorial peace mission, Diana's a warrior, prepared if needs be to take lives - unlike Clark and Bruce. With many of the same abilities, she is one of the few beings that can hold her own in combat with the Man of Steel. However, she's even more of an outsider than fellow "alien," Superman, who at least has been raised human. Wonder Woman is (traditionally) a complete outsider, having arrived in our world as an adult ignorant of social norms - including today's technology and gender relations. She doesn't even classify herself as human.

Clearly Wonder Woman isn't just Superman with breasts - another boring goodie two-shoes god on earth. She's a complex character. And any television or film adaptation worth its salt will make this fact abudently clear... as opposed to being content to inflict another "sassy", and utterly blasphemous to the character, Catwoman on us.