1. A Sensational Woman Indeed
Wonder Woman first came into our lives in “All-Star Comics #8” at the end of 1941 and was an instant hit. So much so, that she appeared again, on the cover of a new comic book, "Sensation Comics".
At the beginning of 1942, drawn by an artist named Harry G. Peter, Wonder Woman became one of the first superheroes ever to have their own comic book.
2. Go Big or Go Home
Wonder Woman wasn't originally made for the big screen: The first “Wonder Woman” film was a pilot for an intended television series being considered by ABC.
Wonder Woman was a made-for-television superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Vincent McEveety and starring Cathy Lee Crosby. The show had 3 seasons, changing the name in the 2nd season to “The New Adventures Of Wonder Woman”.
3. The Lasso of Truth
Moulton Marston, also known by his pen name - Charles Moulton, the mind behind Wonder Woman, was a man with quite the resume, besides writing comics.
In addition to being credited with inventing the lie detector test, Marston worked as a consulting psychologist for Universal Pictures, and a writer of screenplays, books, and magazine articles. He sadly passed away at the young age of 53, way before receiving the honor of entering the Comic book hall of fame in 2006.
4. This Is a Man's World
As we all know, Wonder Woman was born in Themyscira, an island inhabited only by women, where she learned how to fight and become a warrior.
Despite that, many will be surprised to learn that the idea behind Themyscira serves as a backdrop to the time frame of World War 1 and the war waged by mankind. The Amazonian women who inhabit the island left the "man's world" for a reason, as depicted in the comics.
5. Wonder Man??
Back in the days, comics weren’t particularly well regarded; the public saw them as cheaply made, poorly colored rags, on the way to slowly corrupt the moral fiber of their number one audience - America’s youth.
Marston dreamed of creating a new superhero who will triumph over evil using the power of love instead of plain old violence, but it was actually his wife Elizabeth’s suggestion, to make her a woman.
6. ”The Secret History of Wonder Woman”
Wonder Woman, aside from Batman and Superman, is the most popular female comic-book superhero of all time.
And she lasted longer than any other comic-book character ever had, so there is no surprise there is a full book (464 pages) written by Jill Lepore, about the full story of Wonder Woman!
7. She's a Natural
Gal Gadot, the actress who played Wonder Woman for the last film (Justice League) and the one who will star in the upcoming feature this Christmas (WW84), actually was a combat instructor, when she served her time in the IDF-the Israeli Defence Forces.
Gal, when asked about the topic, replied saying “The service in the IDF prepared me for Hollywood”.
8. It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's an Invisible Plane?
We know we have many surprises waiting for us in the next film, but this special weapon is yet to be seen.
In the books, Wonder woman has an invisible plane, which was capable of reaching speeds of 2,000 miles per hour and was even imbued with intelligence and the ability to speak at one point. Fans left wondering… why haven't we seen this plane? But maybe we did, and just didn't realize it...
9. Wonder Woman Returns to Mankind
After leaving mankind in her past, she returned to the fold in "Dawn of Justice". Wonder Woman saw Doomsday causing havoc.
She sees Superman's sacrifice, joins forces with Batman to form the "Justice League".She and Batman will recruit Aquaman, the Flash and Cyborg to fight and save the world!
10. wuh-PSSSH!
The Lasso of Truth, her trade-mark lasso (known as the Magic Lasso or the Lasso of Hestia) served as an allegory for feminine charm but later became more popular as a device to extract the truth from people.
Along with her bracelets of victory (from "Dawn of Justice") which can repel bullets and even create a powerful shock wave if she brings them together, Wonder Woman matches her powers to all-time greats like Superman and Batman from The DC Universe (DCU).
11. Never Say Never
Gal Gadot got her part for the first Wonder Woman film (2017) shortly after she decided to give up on acting, due to long flights back home and being unsuccessful at landing roles.
However, when she was invited for a screen test, she was not told what the film was about and she agreed to audition for the part as a kind of final shot before she quit. After going back home, she received a call-back, and only then was she told that she was short-listed to play Wonder Woman. Gadot eagerly agreed to participate further.
12. Shake It Off
Playing a superhero such as Wonder Woman comes with a toll. Gal Gadot trained for nine months to gain seventeen pounds of pure muscle, in order to fit in the shoes (or rather lasso and bracelets) of the Amazonian.
Though it didn't show in the final film and many mean fans expressed the opinion that she looked too thin to play the character. We think Gal is just perfect.
13. Director Fangirl
Director Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman 2017) is a big fan of the first Wonder Woman (1975) and wanted Lynda Carter, who performed as Diana in that series, to make a cameo appearance in this film.
Unfortunately, due to conflicting schedules, Lynda was unavailable. She will, however, make a post-credits cameo appearance as Asteria in Wonder Woman's sequel, "WW84".
14. Superheroes With Borders
The film Wonder Woman (2017) was banned in Lebanon because its star, Gal Gadot, is an Israeli citizen and Lebanon is officially at war with Israel.
Similar to the authorities in Tunisia and Qatar who banned the film, the official "explanation" for Wonder Woman being banned in Lebanon was that Gadot had expressed positive views of her country's actions (and the IDF).
15. Waiting For the Right One
Wonder Woman had been in development since 1996, with Ivan Reitman as the director. In January 2001, Silver Pictures approached Todd Alcott to write a Wonder Woman script. But the story isn't over yet! He was replaced in August 2003 with Laeta Kalogridis.
Later in March 2005, Joss Whedon was hired to not only write but also direct the film. But in February 2007, he left due to creative differences. On November 24, 2014, Michelle MacLaren was confirmed as director, but she dropped out on March 13, 2015, also due to creative differences. This Wonder Woman can't catch a break (or a director)...
16. Work Work Fashion Baby
After her decision to go back and save mankind, Wonder Woman knows she needs to create a secret identity, in order to blend in. She chooses Diana Prince. In the Golden Age comics, the character was originally just an army nurse with a striking resemblance to Wonder Woman, but Wonder Woman arranged for the real Diana Prince to meet up with her fiance in South America in exchange for her credentials, and thus an alias was born.
Wonder Woman continued to work for the army as Diana Prince, quickly attaining a promotion to become a lieutenant in Army Intelligence. Funnily enough, for a period in the 1960s, Wonder Woman actually lost her powers and lived as Diana Prince, opening a trendy fashion boutique in New York's Greenwich Village.
17. Its' Not Super Effective
In Wonder Woman (2017), Diana Prince briefly wears glasses as a disguise, but Etta Candy points out their ineffectiveness and they are soon broken during an epic street fight scene. I mean, come on, aren't we all tired of that trope by now?
This is an allusion to Diana wearing glasses as her secret identity throughout the first season of Wonder Woman (1975), similar to Superman's Clark Kent. But to be honest, the reference just didn't land.
18. Diana, I Am Your Father
Wonder Woman's storyline and narrative continuity went through several changes over the years. For a long time, her origin story remained the same: her mother formed her out of clay and she was brought to life by the Greek gods, which means, fittingly, that Diana has no father.
Wonder Woman's superpowers were a gift from the Gods, including superhuman strength from Demeter, the Goddess of the Earth, and super speed from Hermes the God of Messengers. But the origin story was changed significantly when Brian Azzarello rebooted the character as part of DC’s recent relaunch. In the new reboot, Wonder Woman is actually the daughter of Zeus - King of all of the Gods.
19. Worthy Indeed
In 1996 Marvel and DC had a comic book miniseries crossover. They pitted Marvel heroes against DC heroes. Wonder Woman gets the opportunity to try her hand at lifting Thor's hammer, and we love to see it.
In the comic, Thor loses control of Mjolnir (the hammer) during a battle with Shazam/Captain Marvel. When Wonder Woman stumbles upon it, she is deemed worthy of the power and easily able to lift it. But Wonder Woman, not wanting to give herself an unfair advantage, chooses to discard the hammer. WHat a woman of integrity, no?
20. Trust Me, Mom
As the story goes, the gods decided that it was time for the Amazons to send an emissary into our world. To choose who would represent them in “the world of man,” the Amazons held a contest. Diana’s mom (Queen Hippolyta) was worried about her daughter's well-being, so she forbade her from competing.
Diana did what most teenagers do: rebel. And she entered anyway. Once she won, she earned her rightful place as Ambassador of the Amazons and left Paradise Island to come to our world. And boy, we are glad she did.
21. He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not
Here's the tea: in her past, Wonder Woman had a bit of a crush on Superman after she first met him. To make the first move, she went so far as to ask Myndi (her publicist) to set up a date with him. Not particularly smooth for the most powerful woman on earth, huh?
Shortly after that first date, she realized she’d be better off just friends with the Man of Steel. In the mid-2000s reboot, however, Wonder Woman and Superman have a long-term relationship, and we can imagine just how steamy that (literal) power-couple would be together...
22. Hi, I'm Diana, May I Take Your Order?
Wonder Woman–or Diana–was the first child born on Paradise Island (Themyscira) in the 3,000 years the Amazons had been living there. Talk about parental pressure...
In her journey back to mankind, Diana had a great plan to help her see life through the eyes of the average Joe. The plan? an entry-level job as a waitress at a “Taco Whiz”, the DC comics version of Taco Bell.
23. Getting Promoted
Like most superheroes, Diana dies at one point in the comics. Our hero got critically injured while battling a demon and couldn't recover from the wounds.
After Diana died, she was resurrected by the Olympian gods as the Goddess of Truth. As a goddess, she couldn’t do as much good as she could have as a hero, but could only help people if they called on her. Unfortunate, but we guess it's better than nothing.
24. Think Of All The Wonders We Can Do
In addition to being a woman, a fighter, a superhero, a goddess, AND a “Taco Whiz” employee, Wonder Woman also took on a more formal rule. In the comics, Diana was chosen to be UN ambassador! We know. We wonder if the UN's dress code allows thigh-baring skirts and golden chest plates.
The iconic Wonder Woman fictional character was named an Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls on 21 October 2016, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 5 – to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Yes, we mean what we say, she was chosen IN THE REAL LIFE UN!
25. Super's Showdown
Enemies or lovers? Superman and Wonder Woman once had a pretty bloody fight. Superman, under mind control, was convinced he's fighting Doomsday, the monster who killed him.
The fight ended when Wonder Woman managed to create a diversion. She found the man controlling Superman, Maxwell Lord. Wonder Woman wrapped Maxwell up with her Lasso and asked how to end the mind control. Lord replied that she would have to kill him—and Diana obliged, breaking his control over Superman. Love is truly boundless.
26. Diana's New Rules
Most superheroes have very distinct rules about killing their enemies- they won't. Diana, on the other hand, was raised as a warrior and will kill her enemies if necessary. Talk about a code of honor.
However, when Diana killed Maxwell Lord, Superman and Batman were furious with her and kicked her off the Justice League. Maybe Wonder Woman is just too bad-ass for the Justice League. Don't conform, queen!
27. No Prison Can Hold Her Down
Wonder Woman was once captured, imprisoned, and tortured by the United States government.
Much like the bad guys in most superhero stories, the US wanted a piece of the cake - They wanted her to divulge information that would allow them to build a weapon of mass destruction. She refused to give it, like the warrior she is, and eventually, she was rescued.
28. Certified Beautiful
At the mere age of 18 years old, Gal Gadot had been crowned Miss Israel. Gadot wasn’t particularly enamored with the beauty queen lifestyle.
When she was asked about this, she said: “I showed up late to everything. They make you wear evening gowns for breakfast. I didn’t wear evening gowns to breakfast. I didn’t wear my makeup.” Gadot moved on to compete at the “Miss Universe” pageant in Ecuador. She finished outside the top 15.
29. Walk In Her Shoes
Gal Gadot was raised in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. Her father was an engineer, and her mother was a teacher. Gadot has lived a pretty extraordinary life, but she grew up the same way a lot of us do. That just goes to show, anything is possible with a bit of persistence.
While in high school, Gadot got her first job working the fryer at Burger King. Maybe she drew inspiration from Diana's job at “Taco Whiz”? Either way, we can see she was hard-working from early on.
30. The Silence Of The Doubters
Director Patty Jenkins had doubts about Gadot when she was picked for the part of the beloved superhero, though those doubts had been quickly evaporated after seeing Gal's superb acting skills.
Jenkins says she was won over by Gadot’s talent, work ethic, and kindness. As she said, “Frankly, I think they did a better job than I could have because I don’t know that I would have scoured the earth as hard to find her.” That's a huge compliment from such a seasoned director.
31. Girl Power!
Despite what people online had to say about how fitting Gal is to play the Amazonian warrior, the movie was a great success. Go away, online trolls!
Wonder Woman opened to rave reviews, earning $821.8 million at the box office. With a score of 7.4 stars in IMDB, the first DC Extended Universe movie with a 90%+ Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film had the highest-grossing domestic opening day ever for a film directed by a woman. Yes to breaking that glass ceiling and leaving behind dust! You go, Patty and Gal!
32. Let's Talk About Money, Honey
Though Gadot was the face of one of the most successful DC Comics movies Warner Bros. has released to date, with 2017's "Wonder Woman", she was only paid $300,000 to portray the superhero. That may sound like a lot for us average Joes, but trust us, that's an insulting figure for such a high-profile movie.
As an example, many stars in the “Avengers” movies over at Marvel received between $2 million to $6 million after bonuses. But don't you worry about Gal… For the new Wonder Woman movie, (WW84) she made, according to Variety, $10 million. At least that part of gender inequality was righted. Now for the next of the world to follow suit...
33. You Made The Right Choice
"Gal is someone whose primary focus is doing good with her character, and that is such a special thing, to have a Wonder Woman like that in the role," said the director, Patty Jenkins, in admiration.
Gadot is a big part of the DC movies’ successes, but she almost ended up in a different comic franchise: Gadot was apparently very closely considered for the role of Nebula in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Karen Gillan eventually took the job. We're sure she'll do great too.
34. Exotic Europe
Filming for the scenes of Themyscira (a.k.a paradise island) didn't take place in the Caribbeans like one might imagine but in the south of Italy. Well let's face it, Italy is gorgeous too.
The production designers fell in love with the location, and decided it would be ideal- Italy has beautiful weather, a beautiful blue-green sea, not too much tide, not too much waves (And… it's much cheaper). Also, the pizza, duh...
35. With a Little History On Top
Wonder Woman (2017) gets a few big things right about World War I: No Man’s Land really was hell, the German army really did commit war crimes against Belgian civilians, and the Entente powers really were hardly morally spotless themselves. War is just terrible no matter what.
More than that, the character of general Ludendorff was a real person. He was one of the top German generals during WWI and later supported Adolf Hitler’s failed coup to take power in 1923. We sure do appreciate the historical accuracy!
36. The Lasso Of...Bondage?
Wonder woman creator, William Moulton Marston, included lots of bondage-style imagery in the original comics. From the 1950s-1970s, Wonder Woman was gradually diminished until she was essentially a domestic and romantic heroine. We kind of liked the hard-core version, though...
But not to worry. In 1972, feminist activist Gloria Steinem put Wonder Woman on the cover of Ms. Magazine. She became a mascot of the women’s liberation movement and a cultural icon in her own right. And she certainly still is today. We all should be feminists!
37. Professional Joker
Gal has already proven all of her doubters wrong, and still managed to do it again. She did reshoots for the movie (including all the difficult stunts) while she was five months pregnant with her second daughter. Now that's what we like to call a true Wonder Woman!
She wasn't always that professional though, director Patty Jenkins says that Gadot was the one on set who would laugh and break character the most while filming - bringing some of HER Gadot character to the set.
38. Bling Bling
There's a huge variety of merchandise related to Wonder Woman. A short Google search will grant you a chance to buy earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings made from the inspiration of this strong, tough warrior- made of gold and diamonds, in prices ranging from 100$ to 750$.
If you want the real deal, you can get the “Wonder Woman Movie Hippolyta Deluxe Adult Costume” only for 120$. Hey, it's a small price to pay to become the world's most powerful woman.
39. Wonder Pupper
If you want the whole family to dress up as your favorite superhero, DC’s got you covered. In the company's official website, you can dress everyone from the baby to the teen, and even the dog! Hmmm, we wonder what powers the dog might have. Be sure to lock the door at night and cover up all of the expensive furniture
The description of the item states: “This fun Wonder Woman costume will transform your pet into an Amazon Warrior. Includes A red, yellow, and blue jumpsuit with attached arms, a belt with an attached red cape, and yellow headpiece with red star accent”. We hope your pup will appreciate the faith you have in them.
40. What a Feeling
When asked what was the coolest part of the new movie (WW84) set, the director replied she loves so many sets from the movie, but if she had to pick one, it must be building a full-sized mall especially for the movie, including stores, products, and everything, almost from scratch. Sounds like a lot of work for just one scene, but it must be truly epic.
The whole set had to fit the era of the film - the late-1900s. Jenkins said she recalls walking in a mall as a teen, with the exact same feeling she had on this set. They must have nailed it, then!