When it comes to the Wonder Woman we got, there is very little to find fault in. But with Joss Whedon’s first draft, there’s a lot to pick a part.
So if you haven’t read Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman first draft, you can do so here. But trust me, you don’t want to read it. Now I’m sure you’ve read all the think pieces and articles bashing this script. I’m sure that you probably have some harsh thoughts yourself.
And I am one of those people. I hated this and would have been devastated if this was created. But couple of things before we begin: One, this is a first draft. Doesn’t excuse it but it is still just a first draft. And two, I’m not going to say what’s wrong with it because that’d be tearing apart the entire script.
Instead, what I’ll do is focus on the one thing that really irked me about this whole script.
Steve Trevor, her beloved
I know that a lot of people were annoyed by the amount of Steve in Wonder Woman and I have a whole argument about why he’s important but that’s not what this article is about. Basically, Diana doesn’t become the Wonder Woman we know her to be without Steve. Simple as that.
It’s always been that way since the very first comic and it isn’t a bad thing. Having a positive male influence is not a negative aspect of a story. Unless it’s the Steve Trevor that Joss Whedon wrote. Then it is a bad thing.
In that script, Joss took one very small and insignificant facet of Steve’s initial trepidation to the Amazons and Diana and made that his entire character. For reference, there is one instance when Steve first meets Diana that he doesn’t like her. One instance and he’s never rude to her.
Joss decided that Steve was going to be the most macho of men and make him into this monster when it comes to how he talks to Diana. The worst part is that Steve questions literally everything she’s about to do. There’s a point where she offers him her hand and he refuses to take it.
I don’t know what research Joss did. Maybe none. Maybe he wanted to flesh this out later but he completely screwed up the character I love so deeply.
Why this hurts
I know that Wonder Woman is, in fact, about Diana Prince. But as a young girl, I always saw myself as Diana. So who better to love then Steve Trevor, the blonde haired blue eyed hunk who had zero superpowers that Diana carried around like a bride?
Reading Whedon’s script, there is no way that this Steve would let that happen. Which is a credit to the terrible writing of him. If you look at the characterization for Steve Trevor in the comics, Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg got it pretty spot on.
Joss’s version is almost like he wants the audience to hate Steve and come out of that movie saying “wow men are the worst”. The great thing about the Wonder Woman that we got is that we came out of that movie loving the men Diana met along her journey because she helped them and they helped her.
Yes, everyone had their reservations, but they also learned to trust, and it is how Diana learned that the most powerful thing human beings have is their compassion and love for one another.
Is it redeemable?
No. Simple as that. This script is in no way redeemable. Maybe it is because spoiler Joss Whedon doesn’t kill Steve Trevor. But also that’s a terrible thing since Steve dies in literally every Wonder Woman story. (He usually comes back, but you get the point.)
And I know that everyone has torn Joss apart but it is important that we do so because he’s the one in charge of one of my other favorite heroines. He’s going to bring Batgirl to life and I’d rather not have Miss Gordon being spoken to like she was a moron the entire script.
Also don’t get me started on the fact that he has Steve tell Diana to get out of his face.
Next: Wonder Woman and these ladies stand for power with #wwgotyourback
Wonder Woman is in theaters now and see it while you can! And be thankful we got this Patty Jenkins miracle instead.