As a member of DC’s Trinity of superheroes, Wonder Woman has constantly stood against the forces of evil within the universe. Within the past decade, however, the character has seen a great number of changes that have only helped her grow as a character.
From several reboots in the comics, to making her live-action debut on the big screen, Wonder Woman has been a major part of superhero culture as of recent. Though the character has definitely hit some rough patches in the decade, most changes made to her have been for the better. Looking at some of the more impactful ones over the years, here is our list of the 10 biggest changes to Wonder Woman from the last decade.
10 Her Origin
Almost immediately after the New 52 relaunch, author Brian Azzarello made a massive change to Diana’s origin story, forever changing the character for the future. Originally, Diana was molded from clay by her mother, and blessed with life by the Greek Gods she is commonly associated with.
As of the New 52 though, Diana’s entire origin was revealed to be a lie to help cover up an affair between her mother and Zeus. Now an official demi-god, Diana discovered a plethora of new things about herself, which also continued to unfold throughout Azzarello’s entire run with the character. While being one of the earliest changes to the character, this massive shift in her history has continued to affect her to this day.
9 Goddess of War
Towards the end of his run on Wonder Woman, Brian Azzarello also managed to establish the warrior princess as the Goddess of War. Following an altercation with Ares, the role was left vacant and Diana was selected to be the Greek God’s replacement.
While this may seem as though Wonder Woman had become the villain of her story, it was actually far from the case. Azzarello and other writers at DC explained her unique promotion in that, as the Goddess of War, Diana understands war and conflict, but doesn’t need to encourage or spread it. Though this title has since been shed by Wonder Woman, it was still a very interesting arc for her character.
8 Romantic Involvement
Steve Trevor is often regarded as the primary love interest to Wonder Woman. Having originally met her during WWII, the two have always had a very strong bond, even if Steve wasn’t always part of the current continuity.
Shortly after the New 52 launched, however, DC editorial decided that Wonder Woman would make a great love interest to none other than the Man of Steel himself. For as long as the “Power Couple” lasted within the universe, many readers weren’t really supportive of the pairing, especially with how it affected Lois Lane’s role in the universe as well. Though this wasn’t the most supported change to Wonder Woman’s character, it was still one of the biggest from the last decade.
7 Live-Action Movie
In 2016, Wonder Woman debuted on the big screen for the very first time in live-action. The very next year, actress Gal Gadot reprised her role as the Amazonian warrior once again for the solo Wonder Woman film. While the movie did have some notable differences from the comics, it actually managed to change the character in several ways, beyond just some minor changes in story.
The Wonder Woman film managed to successfully introduce the character to an incredibly wide audience that was enjoyed by fans old and new alike. Secondly, Wonder Woman has since become one of the strongest on-screen presences for DC films since the launch, and made her far more mainstream than she was previously. While still keeping in line with the character’s comic book history, the movie managed to change Wonder Woman’s role in society and pop culture for the better.
6 Her Origin (Again)
A few years after the New 52 relaunch, DC launched a soft reboot of the universe known as DC Rebirth. Like with the New 52, certain aspects of some characters were changed and every title went back to a #1.
In regards to Wonder Woman, recent changes had left her origin a bit of a mess, leaving it up to Greg Rucka to restructure the character for the new era. While Rucka didn’t exactly do anything too groundbreaking with Diana’s origin, he did make it much easier for readers to jump into and digest.
5 Justice League Dark
Currently, Wonder Woman is a major member of two separate Justice League teams. In addition to carrying out her usual duties on the main Justice League, Diana also leads the Justice League Dark, a version of the team centered on protecting the world from magical threats.
Though most might find Batman to be a better candidate to lead the team, considering the namesake, it actually does make sense for Wonder Woman to be a part of it, especially with how involved she is in magic. Likewise, her presence on the new version of the team has been very welcome to readers and valuable to the story.
4 New Villains
Like with many other comic book heroes, new villains are constantly being introduced in order to keep things interesting, and the threats consistently challenging. Though her rogues gallery may not measure up to that of Batman’s or Superman’s, Wonder Woman has still defeated all sorts of powerful foes, especially recently.
Within the last decade alone, threats like First Born, Apollo, Karnak, and Cassandra have all stood against Wonder Woman or threatened the planet in some way. Furthermore, Wonder Woman has also managed to defeat them all, triumphing again and again as the hero of the story. Though they may not be some of her most challenging opponents ever, these newer villains have still proven their worth against Diana in recent years.
3 Her Costume
Within the past decade alone, Diana has also undergone several key costume changes. At the start of the New 52, her outfit was given a more “modern” update, providing a very revealing look while still keeping fairly close to her classic appearance. Towards the end of the New 52 era though, Diana’s costume changed to reflect something a bit more practical with sleeves and pants, but was also a bit more of a departure from the classics.
Since the launch of DC Rebirth, however, Diana’s outfit has gone back to a much more traditional form, with a more practical skirt, higher boots, and a great classic feel that falls very close to her appearance in the movies. Thankfully, for the time being at least, it seems as though this outfit will stick around for a long time.
2 Her Sexuality
For several years, Wonder Woman’s sexuality has been called into question, especially given her history. As of 2016, however, the main version of Wonder Woman was officially confirmed to be a bisexual character.
While this may not be a big deal to some, this change in Wonder Woman’s history not only makes sense given her history, but also serves as a positive representation for others in the LGBT+ community. Likewise, this change has also remained very subtle in the books, yet also falls in line with Diana’s ability to love everyone, a moral the character has stood for practically since her creation.
1 Number of Series
While characters like Batman and Superman tend to have more than one series running at the same time, Wonder Woman seems to be the one character in the Trinity who doesn’t. More recently though, things have begun to turn around for her, thanks to her rising popularity.
Titles like, The Legend of Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman: Earth One, and Wonder Woman: The True Amazon have all come out within recent years to provide alternate looks at the character. Furthermore, Diana has even seen the Black Label treatment with the recently launched Wonder Woman: Dead Earth series. With so much quality content being released for the character, she will hopefully come to have an even stronger role within the DC universe in the years to come.