Cancelled Before It Began: Wonder Woman (2011)

Before Gal Godot became the face of Wonder Woman, Adrianne Palicki starred in a pilot that could have had a big impact on the DC Universe if it had gone to series.

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What Is It?

This pilot focuses on Diana Themyscira who runs a multinational company that capitalizes on the persona and crime-fighting activities of Wonder Woman. But she also leads a double-life as Diana Prince when she wants to get away from the spotlight.

Aired: Never Aired

Created By: David E. Kelley

Starring: Adrianne Palicki, Cary Elwes, Pedro Pascal, Elizabeth Hurley, Edward Herrmann

Why Didn’t It Fly?

These days, Gal Godot is recognized worldwide as the Amazonian Princess Diana of Themyscira (aka Wonder Woman) after having appeared in such DCEU movies as Batman vs. Superman, The Justice League, and Wonder Woman, and prior to that Linda Carter was the face of the character dating back to her 1970’s series. But in between that iconic TV show and the recent blockbuster films, there was another attempt to adapt the superhero in 2011 that may very well have changed the direction of several DC-related franchises.

David E. Kelley, of Allie McBeal and Boston Legal fame (and he also created one of my all-time favs Picket Fences), decided to take his own stab at the character which led to a TV pilot in 2011 with Adrianne Palicki in the title role (Cary Elwes, Pedro Pascal, and Elizabeth Hurley also appeared in the pilot). This was a very different take on Wonder Woman that diverged notably from the comics and other adaptations of the characters. The pilot mixes drama with superhero action and hints at the moral ambiguities of the hero’s vigilante action, very much bringing in the David E. Kelley trademark approach to television. If it had continued to series, it likely would have delivered Boston Legal meets superheroes.

But the pilot has been much-reviled by those who have seen it, and apparently NBC execs were not to happy with it either. The network decided to pass on the property, and ultimately the character would get revived on the big screen starting with Justice League in 2017.

What If It Had Gone to Series?

While this pilot does not have too many fans, personally I rather liked it. I should note that I was never a fan of the Wonder Woman comics, nor did I care much for the ’70’s TV series (though I do like Gal Godot’s take on the character), so I do not have as much attachment to the property. And I can see where those closer to the source material might be unhappy with the liberties taken with Kelley’s version. But I do believe that this could have worked its way into a decent TV series that mixed drama and action while also punching some holes in the superhero mythos.

Even more interesting to consider is the impact this could have had on the Arrow-verse shows and the DC movies. Had it gone to series, Wonder Woman would have debuted on NBC’s schedule in Fall 2011, one year before Arrow had its bow in 2012. If the NBC show proved to be a big hit, would Arrow even have happened on The CW? Perhaps Warner Bros. would have decided to keep its other DC characters for crossovers with Wonder Woman (the pilot does not indicate the other heroes exist in that world, but Superman is alluded to when his motto “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” is mentioned). And even if Arrow did still go forward at The CW, would The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and the other spin-offs still have happened, or would the WB have reserved those characters for the higher-profile NBC series?

And if Wonder Woman became a hit, it seems unlikely that Gal Godot would have ever donned the tiara and bracelets with Adrianne Palicki becoming the new face of the character. That would have certainly impacted the direction of the DCEU movies and could have possibly nixed the Justice League movie from happening. Had NBC gone forward with the pilot, it certainly would have set off a ripple effect that would have changed the course of the DC characters on television and in the cinemas. And even if it had gone to series and flopped, it still might have had an impact. Perhaps The CW would have passed on Arrow fearing that television audiences might not have much interest in DC heroes.

Ultimately, NBC passed on the project, and the DC Universe found life on a different network and later on the big screen. Kelley’s Wonder Woman showed some promise, but the liberties it took with the source material might have ultimately worked against it. Palicki believed that the show was ahead of its time as superheroes had not established themselves on television at that point.  And she would go on to play a different comic book character from the Marvel Universe (Mockingbird) on Agents of SHIELD which spun off into yet another failed pilot for the actress. The CW would later flirt with a Wonder Woman prequel series titled Amazon, but that never went forward and now Gal Godot has taken up the torch and put her own mark on the character.

Where Can You Watch It?

The pilot never aired, nor has it been released on home video. But there are bootleg copies of it floating around out there, and you can track it down on YouTube from time to time if you are interested in seeing David E. Kelley’s take on the character.

Read about more Sci Fi TV pilots that did not fly at this link.

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