They Better Not Have Fired Him Over the Invisible Jet

Joss Whedon just posted this over at Whedonesque:

SATIN TIGHTS NO LONGER. Joss will not be fighting for our rights after all.

You (hopefully) heard it here first: I'm no longer slated to make Wonder Woman. What? But how? My chest... so tight! Okay, stay calm and I'll explain as best I can. It's pretty complicated, so bear with me. I had a take on the film that, well, nobody liked. Hey, not that complicated.

Let me stress first that everybody at the studio and Silver Pictures were cool and professional. We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that's never gonna work. Non-sympatico. It happens all the time. I don't think any of us expected it to this time, but it did. Everybody knows how long I was taking, what a struggle that script was, and though I felt good about what I was coming up with, it was never gonna be a simple slam-dunk. I like to think it rolled around the rim a little bit, but others may have differing views.

The worst thing that can happen in this scenario is that the studio just keeps hammering out changes and the writer falls into a horrible limbo of development. These guys had the clarity and grace to skip that part. So I'm a free man.

Well, sorta. There is that "Goners" movie I can finally finish polishing, and plenty of other things in the hopper I've wanted to pursue. I'm as relieved as I am disappointed, and both of those things lead to drink, so that's a plus. Truly, you may be hearing some interesting things brewing in the coming months. But all potential jets therein will be visible.

But most importantly, I never have to answer THAT question again!!!! And you don't have to link to every rumor site! Finally and forever: I never had an actress picked out, or even a consistant front-runner. I didn't have time to waste on casting when I was so busy air-balling on the script. (No! Rim! There was rim!) That's the greatest relief of all. I can do interviews again!

Thanks for your time. You are the people who make the world go 'round. Or, no, science does that.

-j.

ps All right, it was Cobie Smulders. Sorry, Cobes.

I doubt I have to say that I am disappointed. I'm not impartial. I get excited about anything that Whedon touches and rarely doubt his suitability for a project (even if I am a bit disappointed with how Astonishing X-Men is shaping up). If I am going to try to be impartial though, I still find this disappointing. Female characters have not fared well in comic book movies of late. The superheroines (Catwoman, Invisible Girl, Elektra) are either little more than eye candy, or just really poorly written. Even the love interests (Lois Lane, Mary Jane) are fairly insipid and fickle. Joss Whedon has proven himself to be one of the few creators in Hollywood who has proven adept at handling (super)heroines that appeal to women and men. I cannot even conceive of another writer or director who I would like to see on a project like this...perhaps J.J. Abrams, but considering his unfortunate take on Superman, I am not so sure. I seriously doubt there is a chance in hell Warner Brothers would put a woman on a project on this size, even if the good PR it would create might make it worthwhile from a marketing standpoint alone.

I obviously do not know, but given certain comments in his post, like "all potential jets therein are visible," I am going to hazard a guess that the studio wanted something more "realistic" than the approach Whedon wanted to take. However, with recent reports Warner Brothers has bought a spec script set during World War II (originally believed to have been done to eliminate potential lawsuits over possible similarities, a common practice), it's also possible that they wanted a more traditional take than Whedon's. Somehow, I don't really see Warner Brothers making a superhero period piece though. As much as I think Nazis are always a good idea, it does not seem as commercially viable as a modern approach. I do hope that we eventually get to hear what his plans for the character were, much like I hope to one day find out what Bryan Singer had planned for X-Men 3, at least so that if the movie sucks, I don't have to wonder what might have been.

An unexpected point of disappointment in all this comes from that fact that, while I had not given any thought to it before (even though I had read the rumors of her being in the running), I think Cobie Smulders could have made an awesome Wonder Woman. She is strong, tough, sweet, fresh, funny and just all around really talented. Plus, she already has experience with Superman and Lex Luthor and I don't think there is a single person out there who does not love Robin Sparkles.

Worst of all, I can only imagine that now we will have to wait even longer Wonder Woman to hit the big screen. They will have to find a new writer and director, unless they already have people lined up. I hope they don't put anything together too hastily, since that was done with Fantastic Four and X-Men: the Last Stand, and both those movies are horrible. I guess we will just have to wait and see, but for now I will just have to look forward to Goners.