Thursday, April 21, 2011

Wonder Woman Pilot script gets Rewrites


Well it's been awhile since I've talked about the Wonder Woman pilot. Being at the WW shoot gave me a little hope about it and I express the word LITTLE. Then a few days later, I received the script.

I was nervous to read it, but I knew I had to see this updated version of WW. After reading it 4 times, I was hurt. It SUCKED! It was nothing like the Diana I knew; it was someone else. And you could tell it was written by someone who wasn't familiar with her or her history.

Many others within the industry and in the geek world felt the same way. In fact, this outcry has force rewrites to the pilot (Thank Hera!).

io9 has the scoop on certain pieces:
  • The original pilot script starts with a young African American man, Willis, finding out he's been accepted to college — and then keeling over with blood coming out of all his openings on his face because he was given some harmful experimental steroids. I'm pretty sure we never see Willis again in the December 2010 draft. But in the revised version, Wonder Woman goes to visit him in the hospital, and spends a lot of time with him — even promising to give him a ride in her plane if he gets better. And she convinces Willis' mother not to seek vengeance on the people who did this to her son, because the mom has other kids who need her. Getting vengeance is Wonder Woman's job, instead.
  • And the actual fight scene is a lot longer and more detailed — at one point, the December 2010 draft just says "A SERIES OF FAST CLOSE UP CUTS — LEGS, ARMS... DIFFICULT TO TELL WHO'S WINNING AND WHO'S LOSING." But the revised version dispenses with that ambiguity and gets down and dirty. A whole new sequence is added where one bad guy gets a knife to Wonder Woman's throat, and she jams her thumb into his eye. Another guy, she deals with by getting on her back and using both legs to kick him into the air. The final bad guy chooses to surrender, so she knocks him out.
  • And the relationship between Steve and Diana seems more fleshed out, with it being even clearer that they still have the hots for each other.
They still doing rewrites, hoping to toughen Diana (At the end of the earlier script, she balls up in bed and cries in her pajamas). But will it be enough to wow the NBC bigwigs? And will it wow us?

Only time will tell.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Sign of the times, the opening seems right out of House or Six Feet Under, or any medical drama show.
LOL at a black guy named Willis. "The 1970s called, and they want their name back."

WilsonW said...

@Mecha-At least it's the 70's and not slavery, he could be named Lucius or something! ;)

Damien said...

oh dear - this is just a mess

Anonymous said...

When will this hit the tv?

Anonymous said...

I held out high hopes for this TV show but now I'm not so sure. I hope they get it right before the pilot airs.

Kyle Leach said...

V, you're right, it isn't looking good.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.