Lynda Carter reveals what her initial reaction was to watching Patty Jenkins' iconic 2017 Wonder Woman movie for the very first time. Wonder Woman starred Gal Gadot as the titular heroine, and was instantly met with a wide array of positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.
Wonder Woman was a crucial milestone for the DCEU in that it finally centered and provided representation for female superheroes, something that had been noticeably absent on screen for decades. Due to the outpour of success from Wonder Woman, the sequel Wonder Woman 1984 quickly followed in its footsteps. Now, a third film is officially on the way although the release date for Wonder Woman 3 has yet to be announced. Before Gadot ever stepped into the famous role of Wonder Woman, Carter had carried and portrayed the legendary hero in the Wonder Woman TV series that ran from 1975-1979. Originally, the character of Diana had a completely different image and tone than the Wonder Woman that fans know and love today. Carter's Wonder Woman was all dressed up in a short bright red top and blue shorts with white stars embroidered on them as a symbol of the American flag.
Rather than adopt a patriotic popsicle aesthetic, Jenkins decided to alter Wonder Woman's look for her film, which featured Gadot adorning heavy metal armor, complete with a full-breathable suit that she can actually move and fight in freely. Carter's take is still to this day regarded as the ‘OG’ classic Wonder Woman. Fans also can’t forget that she deserves credit for taking on such a female-empowered role in a time when female superheroes were basically extinct, not to mention a time when women weren’t being cast in leading roles, to begin with. In fact, Carter even made a surprise cameo in Wonder Woman 1984 in which she portrayed an Amazon warrior named Asteria during a post-credits scene. Now, she's spoken to The Guardian about how she felt after watching Gadot's Wonder Woman film for the first time.
During the interview, Carter recalled how ‘thrilling’ it was for her when she first watched the Wonder Woman film. “Oh, I was thrilled, I was standing, I was applauding. I was crying, I was laughing," she gushed before recountin a memory of her late husband Robert Altman. "I was holding the hand of my daughter and husband. It was strange to see another woman taking that mantle.”
It must have without a doubt been a surreal experience for Carter to witness Gadot take on a role that she spent a chunk of her life devoted to, a role she probably never thought was going to be revisited again. Her take on the empowered heroine was the foundation, the creative catapult that the DCEU needed in order to take the various stylistic risks and character leaps that it does with Gadot's Wonder Woman. Fans can also look out for Carter to make yet another appearance in Wonder Woman 3, as she is set to reprise her role as Asteria.
Wonder Woman is now available on HBO Max.
Source: The Guardian