'Justice League' Movie: Only Make It After the 'Wonder Woman' Movie

Rumors out of Hollywood are that the much ballyhooed and wildly anticipated Justice League movie will actually be made some time in the near future. The movie has long been talked about, but the studios have been reluctant to produce the movie out of fear that it will jeopardize the Batman and Superman franchises. Now with word that Christopher Nolan is contemplating heading up the production and David Goyer could possibly sign on for directorial and screenwriting duty, the project has never seemed closer to fruition.

Comic book, fantasy, and science fiction movies are among the most anticipated films.Generally, the well-done ones are the most lucrative in terms of profit and gross revenues. Comic-Con and geekdom wait with bated breath the announcement of the upcoming characters and stories being adapted for the big screen (and the small screen, if Smallville and Arrow are any indication). The buzz around the Justice League movie has grown to a crescendo fueled by the enormous success of Marvel’s The Avengers movie. However, Justice League is not the right movie to be made at this time. Every year we wait to hear whether DC Comics and Warner Bros. will finally get it right and release a Wonder Woman movie. The legendary characters in Justice League deserve and require their own feature film treatment before culminating in a Justice League movie.

If a Justice League movie comes out before a Wonder Woman movie, it will be the worst move that the studio can make. DC is built on the trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is maybe the most highly desired movie opportunity in the DC universe, and is one of the few iconic characters not to be portrayed in a live action film (Note: The Flash and Aquaman also haven’t had a feature film). Latino Review reported that a Justice League movie would include five of the original seven members — Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and The Flash. You can't introduce Wonder Woman as part of an ensemble movie. That would be an embarrassment for the company and disrespectful to all comic book fans. If DC can't find a vehicle for one of its most iconic character, in fact one of the most iconic characters in all of comics, then they should just quit and go away.

You cannot read, write, or see a history or documentary of comic books that will not spend considerable time on Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman was created by psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston and first appeared in 1941. The character has appeared in a number of animated productions; however, outside of the legendary TV show starring Lynda Carter, the character has not been seen in any live-action productions. Wizard Magazine ranked her the 15th greatest comic book character of all time. Empire Magazine ranked her 20th. At a time when powerful female figures including Xena, Buffy, Katniss, Lara Croft, and Claire Bennett continue to expand in the medium, I can’t understand why they haven’t been able to bring this character to the big screen.

Before a Justice League movie is brought to the big screen they owe us a full treatment for Wonder Woman. If Groyer is attached to the Justice League project then he would be a fine candidate to write a feature film script for Wonder Woman. It’s Wonder Woman or bust.