Yesterday, we got the disappointing news that director Michelle MacLaren (Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad) had left Wonder Woman over creative differences. That frequently used term can encompass a lot, and I was eager to know what “creative differences” entailed in this scenario.
According to Badass Digest, MacLaren’s vision “maybe would have alienated fandom,” with, for example, Wonder Woman having a tiger as a sidekick.
While some descriptions can sound strange out of context, it’s important to remember that execution is key. Thor is a magical space alien, but if you explain that magic is just advanced science and life exists in other “realms”, then people will accept it. Badass Digest didn’t specify if the tiger talked back to Wonder Woman, but even if it did, it would still come back to execution. Remember that talking raccoon people thought was outlandish? That worked out pretty well.
I don’t know the details of what MacLaren was working on. I know that Wonder Woman, like most superheroes who are 73 years old, has a diverse and sometimes bonkers history. But if you take a step back and look at all we’re willing to accept when it comes to superheroes, we shouldn’t dismiss anything out of hand.
That being said, a pet tiger doesn’t sound like something Warner Bros. would want in a grittier world that might have no jokes. It might come off as too whimsical, and there might be no room for pet tigers in a world that’s supposed to be grounded in “reality” even though the DCCU will contain a space alien, a costumed billionaire, and a guy who rules the oceans and has a trident just to name a few of the characters we’re expected to accept.
Wonder Woman is currently set to be released in 2017. We’ll see how fast Warner Bros. moves to find a replacement and if that replacement will be a woman.
