The new Wonder Woman film has most of what Wonder Woman fans would expect from a cinematic adaptation of her comics. There’s Paradise Island, the distant utopia where women warriors live and fight together, sans men. There’s the magic golden lasso which compels people to tell the truth. There are the magical bracelets that deflect bullets (and the occasional World War I shell, since the film is set in that era). Steve Trevor, brave airman in need of rescue? Yep. Etta Candy, jovial sidekick? She’s there. Improbable CGI superfeats? Of course.
Fans of the classic comics may miss a few iconic bits of the Wonder Woman mythos, though. Wonder Woman has some funny repartee, falling in line with other Marvel Cinematic Universe films: at one point, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman archly explains to Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) that men are necessary for biological reproduction, but not for pleasure. But while there are jokes, the comics’ more whimsical elements have been shelved. There’s no invisible plane. (At least not as far as audiences can tell.). And the Amazons in the film ride normal, everyday horses, rather than giant battle kangaroos.
Battle kangaroos haven’t been part of the Wonder Woman mythos for some 65 years. But in the original 1940s comics, written by William Marston and drawn with elegant stiffness by Harry G. Peter, kangas were one of the most visually distinctive — not to mention gloriously silly — aspects of life on Paradise Island. Amazons rode kangas in their Paradise Island military contests, and they even had special giant sky kangas that could take them to other planets.
Illustration: DC Comics
Marston and Peter even had an origin issue for the giant kangaroos. In 1947, Wonder Woman #23 revealed that the kangaroos were brought to Paradise Island by cat-headed male aliens when Wonder Woman was a child. After some fighting, it turned out that the aliens were actually human-looking women. They joined the Amazons, and their giant kangaroos replaced the Amazons’ former mounts — giant bunnies. (Marston and Peter never got around to an origin issue for the bunnies.)
Illustration: DC Comics
It’s clear enough why Wonder Woman 2017 doesn’t have giant kangas or bunnies: space-hopping kangaroos are silly. They’re a fun concept for kids, but the movie is aimed at an older, more serious and sophisticated audience. Adults want a tormented Wonder Woman grieving for fallen comrades, not a cheerful Wonder Woman using her magic lasso to make dignified Amazon doctors stand on their heads. (The magic lasso was originally a lasso of command — much more broadly useful than the lasso of truth.)
Illustration: DC Comics
The film’s revamping of Wonder Woman’s origin helps underline the difference in audience and tone. In the comic, Wonder Woman’s mother crafts a child out of clay, and Aphrodite grants it life.