Justice League: Wonder Woman’s role seems like it’s both expected and not expected

The Justice League special clip on Wonder Woman makes it seem as though the film won’t do something interesting with the only woman on the team.

In the DC Extended Universe, the Justice League will come together for the first time in next month’s movie, aptly titled … Justice League. Although the DC Comics entry on the team notes that she’s the only woman in the “Big Seven,” that doesn’t mean she’s the only woman in the League in the comics.

So, faced with the prospect of working on a character who arguably conquered summer 2017, what role does Diana Prince get to play? “The glue,” per Gal Gadot in the Justice League introduction to the character, with a hat tip to io9.

Which … well … that’s a little boring and safe, isn’t it? A lone woman on a team in fiction usually has to provide the kind of support that Gadot describes about encouraging her teammates, so to have that be the selling point seems like an odd choice.

On the other hand, though, Gadot also points out that she and Batman are “partners,” which suggests that they are close to equals. Then, we get to see Batman snarking a bit at her when she raises a legitimate concern, which seems a little uneven. Granted, Batman’s sarcasm is probably going to be a hallmark of Justice League, judging by the previews, but it feels a little less good-natured than the humor of Diana’s solo adventures with Steve Trevor.

It’s decidedly mixed, and after Wonder Woman, feels like a step back for Diana. Her characterization doesn’t have quite the same issues we have with Cyborg, but it’s still concerning.

Next: Here's why we want to like Cyborg so bad in Justice League

Even so, this is still Gadot, casually saving a group of schoolkids and, in general, being amazing in embodying the princess of Themyscira. We just wish her character could keep going to new places for a superheroine on film.