Wonder Woman & Wonder Girl

Wonder Woman 1984 HBO MAX Release

Ok, so it was recently announced that the highly anticipated film Wonder Woman 1984 is going to be released online at HBO MAX on Christmas Day as well as in theaters. In a year of limited films, I have to say that this was probably the best choice Warner Bros could have gone with. I am in Belgium right now which is currently in its second lockdown, along with many other countries, and I have no plans on going to any theaters. Not taking the risk. (Except if it was Black Widow, then I'd consider it). So I am very glad that I will be able to see this movie from the comfort and safety of my own home and eating my most likely expired popcorn. I am doubly glad that since it will also be releasing in theaters, the theater industry won't die out just yet. Still, I must say that anyone planning on seeing it in theaters should only do so if you feel it is safe enough to do so. We're living in dangerous times and we should not take unnecessary risks. I do not, so I will not be going to any theater. Also, I won't be able to eat popcorn there and a cinema experience without popcorn is no true cinema experience. I will miss not being able to see it on the big screen, but at least I will get to see it and I hope that more industries take this approach. *cough* Black Widow *cough*. So, again if you want to see it in theaters, good luck with that.

Wonder Girl TV Series

The second topic in this posting was the recent announcement that the CW will be launching a new series in its Arrowverse titled Wonder Girl. For those of you who don't know, the Arrowverse is an interconnected universe of several different television series that air on that network such as Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, and Black Lightning. Now, it seems, Wonder Girl will joing that universe. Wonder Girl is a character from DC comics, typically depicted as the sidekick to Wonder Woman. However, this series will not be using the normal characters of either Donna Troy or Cassie Sandsmark who have both worn the mantle of Wonder Girl in the comics. Instead, the series will be based around a character who hasn't even been in any comics yet (she'll be making her debut this coming February I believe). Yara Flor, a Latinx superhero, will be the Arrowverse's Wonder Girl. If the CW decides to go through with this, it will be the first superhero series following a Latinx superhero. This isn't really a surprise as the CW has broken ground like this before with shows like Batwoman (first lesbian superhero series) or Black Lightning (follows a black superhero). The Arrowverse is rife with diversity and it seems like that's not going to change anytime soon. If its anything like the Batwoman series (in which you see it being referenced by lesbian characters in other tv shows like One Day at a Time) then this is a huge step forward for the Latinx community. Not that I know much about that since I'm a white guy so I can only really imagine how important this series is. Still, it's an important step since the amount of Latinx superheroes is sadly lacking. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has existed since 2008, has I believe only one Latinx character: Luis from the Ant-Man and Wasp movies and he's not even a superhero. Fortunately, the Arrowverse already has serveral Latinx characters so they're already proven better than the MCU in this regard and now they're doing it again. This Wonder Girl series has a lot of potential, not only for it being a Latinx series, but also for the fact that its character is brand new. The mythology of Wonder Girl may be rich, but this character herself is essentially a blank slate. This could backfire as all the CW's other shows have plenty of comic book history, but I think it won't since it gives the creators the opportunity to do a superhero story without being weighed down with previous stories or inspirations from comics. They can do whatever they want with her. Sure, once the character has her own comic series, they might borrow things (and vice versa) but for the most part it will be based sorely on their imagination. Once again, the CW proves it's no stranger to taking risks, actively pushing for new and interesting stories as well as representing everyone and I for one can't wait to see what happens next.