This Wonder Woman Reboot Makes Me VERY Nervous

In late January, NBC picked up David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman. I wrote:

I don’t know what to think at this point. I can only hope that the network that attempted to reboot the Bionic Woman (which I thought wasn’t awful) and Knight Rider (which really was really awful…really) can do a better job with an icon who deserves a fantastic effort.

Since then, we’ve been hearing things that make any Wonder Woman fan wonder if TPTB understand what they have? Back in October, I wrote in Rebooting Wonder Woman?:

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed Picket Fences and Ally McBeal, but when you look at Kelley’s body of work, you really have to wonder if he brings the right voice to this sort of project? The pattern has been to start off a series seemingly conventional but then quickly veering off into quirky and, later, surreal. When dealing with an iconic character such as Wonder Woman, I’d prefer that some respect be shown throughout.

So, it’s with a sense of dread that I post the following link that must be read (I’ll set it off so you don’t miss it):

Wonder Woman: A Sneak Peek at David E. Kelley’s Script.

If the comments of the script content are factual (having not seen the script or a second-source, I have to consider this to be rumor at this point), this is even a bigger and more disrespectful train wreck than I wildly imagined. I’m hoping that these excerpts are wrong, but if not, this (I’ll be kind) “interpretation” looks to make Halle Berry’s Catwoman look like high art. I have a bad feeling about this.

It makes me wonder if Hollywood understands this segment of their audience at all. Not to toot my own horn too much, but the comments I’ve received for The Connor Wars (for example) have been much more positive than any I’ve read about Terminator Salvation. When combined with other attempted reboots and sequels, it’s clear that many in the executive suites simply don’t know how to deal with the franchises under their control. Let me help you:

Find creative people who are fans of the material but not necessarily “fanboys” of the material. (Sometimes those too close aren’t able to not get “too geeky” even for the geeks.) This balance worked with the Battlestar Galactica reimagining as well as the surprisingly approachable reboot of Star Trek. As I’ve mentioned time and time again, the key is respect. Respect the material and respect the audience–and I’m not just talking the Comic-Con crowd, I’m talking human beings in general.

Because I don’t want to see the franchise go down in flames, I’m irrationally hoping that the link reporting the script contents isn’t reflecting what the final pilot script will be. No one would be happier to be wrong about my pre-production opinion of the show than I am. Even so, I’m hopeful that one way or another a worthy Wonder Woman script can emerge for the big screen (note to H’wood, I’m still available) that will be counted among the best of the comic-based movies. This hero deserves no less.