Cast Party: Who Should Have Starred In A Bronze Age ‘Diana Prince: Wonder Woman’ Movie?
Welcome to Cast Party, the feature that imagines a world with even more live action comic book adaptations than we currently have, and comes up with arguably the best casting suggestions you’re ever going to find for the movies and shows we wish could exist.
March is Women’s History Month, and we’re looking at the history of Wonder Woman. As we all know, her first theatrical film is due out later this year. But what if it wasn’t her first? What if there had been as many onscreen Wonder Women as Batmen?
So far we've done a Golden Age Wonder Woman movie and a Silver Age Wonder Girl movie; this week we march on into the early 1970s, for another movie featuring stars of the era.
As you probably know, the late 60s and early 70s was a unique period in Wonder Woman history. The book was written by Dennis O'Neil, with art mainly by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano, and their run took the character in a very new direction. Inspired by Emma Peel from the British TV Series The Avengers (no relation to the Marvel super-team), Wonder Woman gave up her costume and powers to become a stylish martial artist and super spy, under her civilian name of Diana Prince.
Clearly the movie would also take inspiration from The Avengers. It might even have something of a gender-swapped James Bond formula, with Diana traveling the globe in her pursuit of Dr. Cyber, and romancing multiple men along the way.
Diana Rigg as Diana Prince
DC Comics/United ArtistsDC Comics/United Artists I considered a lot of actresses for this era's Diana, and I decided it made the most sense to go back to the source. As Emma Peel on The Avengers, Rigg directly inspired Wonder Woman's makeover. So now that she's done with that show, why wouldn't you offer her the lead in this movie?
Keye Luke as I Ching
DC Comics/CBSDC Comics/CBS As you can probably guess from his name, I Ching is a pretty clumsy portrayal of a Chinese man. Since this movie only exists in our imagination, we can be optimistic and hope he would have come out pretty well. It can only help to cast genre veteran Luke in the part.
James Garner as Tim Trench
DC Comics/NBCDC Comics/NBC Trench is a private eye who allies with Diana and I Ching against Doctor Cyber, before changing his allegiances at the worst possible moment. An actor as charismatic as Garner will make that moment all the more surprising.
Barbara Steele as Doctor Cyber
DC Comics/New World PicturesDC Comics/New World Pictures Diana's arch-villain of the era, Doctor Cyber is the mastermind behind an international criminal empire. She's also a great beauty, until she's disfigured in battle and starts wearing a creepy robot mask. If anybody can successfully do all these things in one movie, it's Barbara Steele.
Michael York as Reggie
DC Comics/MGMDC Comics/MGM Handsome, English, posh, ultimately untrustworthy. This is a Michael York role for sure.
Sissy Spacek as Cathy
DC Comics/Warner BrosDC Comics/Warner Bros Cathy's the closest thing to a teen sidekick Wonder Woman has in this era, and Spacek will certainly make the part her own. We're going to leave out the part where they met when Diana saved her from enslavement by a lesbian street gang, because the less said about that story, the better.
Martin Landau as Tony Petrucci
DC Comics/CBSDC Comics/CBS Landau is a welcome presence in any genre project, and he's more than capable of radiating that vague sense of menace that Diana's neighbor Tony gives off before turning out to be a friendly tough guy.
Morgana King as Mrs. Petrucci
DC Comics/ParamountDC Comics/Paramount Okay yes, I cast the Mom from The Godfather because I couldn't come up with any other matronly Italian women in the early '70s. But you have to admit, she looks pretty perfect for the part.
Ingrid Pitt as Morgana
DC Comics/MGMDC Comics/MGM Although Cyber should certainly be the main villain of the film, I think we can find room for the literal witch who threatens Diana's neighborhood with her vast magical powers. Glamorous Euro-horror star Pitt was great at this sort of part.