During a panel at SnyderCon, Zack Snyder discussed a new but contentious direction he wanted to take with Gal Gadot‘s Wonder Woman in his DC films, which fans may not have liked.
Those who are familiar with Wonder Woman may recall that Diana was sculpted from clay on the island of Themyscira by her mother, Hippolyta.
Diana’s beginnings have gone through several twists and turn over the years, but the core of the story has always had her growing up and training among the Amazons.
Zack Snyder’s Different Origin for Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman
Zack Snyder, director of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League, revealed the sure-to-be-controversial route for Wonder Woman that he first planned to follow in his DC films at SnyderCon 2023 (via LadyJenevia on YouTube).
In brief, Zack Snyder originally planned to make Gal Gadot’s Diana a Kryptonian like Superman, saying that Zeus, Wonder Woman’s father, would be born on Krypton:
“It’s this whole thing with Ares and Zeus… [We considered how] Zeus could possibly be a Kryptonian. So, that Wonder Woman’s powers…you can sort of see where that’s going. Because the whole thing of whether or not magic or gods… There’s a version of where you’re like, ‘That’s cool, I guess.’ But then there’s also more the scientific aspect. You have the pathology built up of like, ‘Where do gods come from? What is that about?’ We had played around with that quite a bit.”
According to John DesJardin, who served as VFX supervisor for Zack Snyder’s DC trilogy, it was Zeus’ son Ares who crashed-landed the Kryptonian scout ship in 2013’s Man of Steel: Rebirth.
“And Ares was the one who caused the scout ship to crash to be in the ice… He killed his crew.”
Finally, Warner Bros. executives rejected the idea. But, suffice it to say, if this plot element made it into a finished film, it would not have gone down well with the fanbase because it completely contradicts the way Gadot’s Wonder Woman has been presented in comic books and in almost every other incarnation.
Twitter users’ reactions to this rejected development were highly negative:
”I hate those changes,” Tweeted user 9th_Hokage_732, referring to not only the would-be Wonder Woman alternation but other Snyder touches, such as the proposed romance between Batman and Lois Lane.
A21starman explained why the adjustment would not have worked:
Okay. Given that Zeus was her father, how could they explain Wonder Woman’s lack of Kryptonian powers like heat, x-ray vision, super senses, and non-Kryptonian powers like Divinity and energy manipulation? They weren’t thinking things through at all.
jmaster_888 expressed thanks that Snyder’s grand plans for the DC Universe weren’t fully realized: “In retrospect, I’m so glad the SnyderVerse didn’t become a thing.”
Will Snyder’s Full Vision Ever Be Seen?
Calls to “restore the SnyderVerse” have been unrelenting both before and after the HBO Max release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Die-hard fans have been convinced at times that Warner Bros. would enable the director to complete his film series and make Justice League 2 and 3.
However, the chances of this happening are extremely remote. James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced their huge intentions to restructure the DC Universe on cinema, television, and animation, leaving little place for another Snyder League film, which would require a massive budget and the commitment of several actors who have left the franchise.
There had been hopes for a comic book continuation that would adapt Zack Snyder’s outline for the sequels, but it also does not appear to be in the works.
Stranger things have happened, but it appears like extending the so-called Snyderverse is a non-starter at this point, despite Snyder’s continuous enthusiasm in finishing what he started.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League trilogy can be seen on HBO Max or purchased anywhere films are sold.
