Monday Morning Poll: Which Female Superhero Film Would You Like to See First?

supergirl...i think she is the only one of those characters that can stand on her own. even now in the comics wonder woman is struggling to find her own feet while kara zor-el's story has really taken off IMHO. the helen slater version was bad, but not that bad considering the time when it was made. supergirl's history is really convoluted, there have been so many of them. so it would be easy to start her story ove rin a movie. the best way to go that would attract the largest audience would be to tell the story of the current supergirl who is a super powered teenager dealing with the pressure of having to live up to the legend of her older cousin. as for tricia helfer playing the part she is way too old. i don't know if she has the acting chops to pull it off but i would cast someone like julie gonzalo (recently seen on veronica mars) in the part. or at least someone on that level.

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I think most of the female superheroes would have a hard time carrying their own movie. Most of the female superheroes are part of teams and rarely solo heroes. There is a translation problem with female heroes because their stories are usually closely tied to either a team or a major male hero. Separating them out from that ensemble can be difficult and lead to really bad stories (ie Catwoman).

The only female superhero movie I would be interested in seeing would be a Black Canary movie. She has enough background and uniqueness to carry a movie, even if her story isn't link to Green Arrow. Now whether or not the average movie goer would go for, I don't know.

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I like Rich's idea of a Black Canary movie, for exactly the reason he mentions - it can be done without tying into another hero's story. That's my major concern with both Supergirl and She-Hulk - specifically, that you would have to either re-write the character's origin (ala Catwoman) to make it stand alone, thus alienating comic-book fans, or find some way to tie it into the other hero's movie without bogging the story down.

I really fear that a story spotlighting a female superhero would have to be held to a higher standard of quality by the filmmakers than a similar story focusing on a male superhero. This isn't misogyny, it's just being realistic.

In order for a Superheroine movie to have enough box office appeal to justify being made, it would have to appeal to men, and not be seen as a "chick flick" - so it would require a heavy emphasis on action, and a comely lead actress. The natural tendency of a mediocre director on such a project would be to emphasize the eye-candy aspect and FX and give short-shrift to the writing, especially character development, as we've seen time and again (Supergirl, Electra, Catwoman).

Truthfully, I would rather a Wonder Woman movie be made well, or not at all. I trusted Joss to deliver a good script, but I am very dubious about the movie now - if the character isn't treated seriously, the movie will likely end up a campy, crappy mess.

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"Top Gun" a sequel. Pitch: 80 F-14 Tomcats are in Iran for the Shah. The Grumman Co. (Apollo 13) has 4000 employees in a compound training the pilots. Students, tired of being spied on by the Shah's Savak while attending school in America, revolt, then President Reagan gives his personal Bible to the new Islamic Republic leader. From one of the families there, a woman pilot of the F-14 emerges. She however crashes trying to land a F-14 on a pitching US air-craft carrier, after the "second seat" pulls the eject handle. Ends in Arlington Cemetery with Taps being blown. News announcer: "The F-14's will be obliterated on the ground if the USSR makes a move for the Iranian border, the air-to-air missile tech is top secret." Roll credits from right to left.

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The problem with a female superhero movie is the same as all others, it's hard to encapsulate the comics into a movie, history, continuity, etc.
It is also hard to give the character the right tone or root for the movie. Too often the director takes the character for granted and there's no resonance to people or current events.
Captain America should be a period piece but how does fighting nazis in WWII get to the american psyche that is dealing with terrorists.
The difference between a Blockbuster Spider-man and X-men (1 and 2) and a mediocre Superman Returns and X-men 3 is how it resonates.
Superman Returns had so many problems, but can be summed up in why the world didn't need a superman (movie) So Superman feels lonely? So what? Superman isn't about alienation, He's about Inspiration.
X-men 3 lost it's heart, it didn't delve deeply into the pressure to conform, to be cured of being a Homosexual, or geek, or any sort of Uniqueness that made us identify with the mutants in 1 and 2.
So a teen supergirl who is basically dealing with a little sister complex is great.
A she-hulk that is dealing with being a woman but stronger than a man, cool.
A Wonder Woman who needs to reconcile the warrior woman with a still present Man's world, that's a movie that I want to see and non-comic book geeks want to see.

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I feel compelled to stress that Catwoman was not a comic book adaption. Other name of the movie there was nothing in that movie taken from any incarnation of Catwoman who has appeared in the comics. That's was bait and switch marketing to get people in the seats. It was basically the same concept as Eddie Murphy's "The Distinguished Gentleman" where he used name recognition and people assumed it was the person they knew.

As for female super-heroes, Wonder Woman is the most recognizable name to the general public. There aren't really any other female characters who's name alone will suck in a non-comicbook fan. But that's not really a big deal because that's used to suck in the comic fans. The suck in the general public with big name stars

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Upon reflection, how about the Jessicas? Drew and Jones, I mean. I think Bendis' Alias would make a terrific film and very against the grain of the normal superhero genre. Also, X-23 would make a great film. I'm not too jazzed by DC's women characters who were iconic in their day but have been bypassed by increasingly sophisticated tastes. Black Canary is the only one who could still work on the big screen. Part of the problem is that the young male demographic that gets action films greenlit don't really like women and aren't interested in them unless the women are naked or pathetically hanging on to some man's sleeve. She Hulk works because of the humor with trying to hold down a day job (it ain't easy bein' green) but I think she's too much of a ballbuster for most young males.

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They'd need a good script and a good actress first. I have a feeling that in Catwoman and Tomb Raider and other female superhero movies, they design a skimpy costume first and plan a film around it.

Black Canary isn't recognizable, though. Supergirl's lame, and they would have to wait until the memory of the Catwoman disaster fades before making another Catwoman (although she is my favorite).

What about a film version of Birds of Prey? There would be a lot of women in it. I remember the TV show, but a movie would be really cool. Women would actually want to see it, and they can drag their boyfriends to it. What if a superhero movie was targeted to women first?

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By the way, Birds of prey has the daughter of Catwoman and Batman, as well as Batgirl and the daughter of Black Canary. Ta-da! Combination.

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@jessica

Birds of Prey does not have the daughter of Batman and Catwoman...that was The Huntresses' backstory in the tv show, but that was taken from an Earth 2 version of the character that was very rarely used. Huntress in Birds of Prey the comic is Helena Bertinelli, daughter of a mafioso who was killed.

To everyone talking about Black Canary, she is a great character but she is so tightly tied to the Birds of Prey, Justice League, and especially Green Arrow. I can't see her standing on her own.

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Do you think that the female roles in the superhero movies are strong enough? - even where they dont have powers eg lois lane?
The strongest female superhero was jean grey but obviously she is dead now. Was a huge fan of hers. I think they always do well when they have internal conflict they have to overcome. I think the wonder woman would be good but her stereotype may just not fit with a modern audience.

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I don't read comics much, but I love the superhero movies. Wonder Woman was my favorite growing up and nobody can deny that Lynda Carter did a great job with that role. I liked catwoman and electra and tomb raider and thought they were very entertaining. I don't care about some message and I think comic book enthusiast can't see the forest for the trees if they cannot just watch the movie for it's entertainment value. It's true the supergirl with Helen Slater was a bit campy, but even that was sort of entertaining and at least she was some nice eye candy. I do agree that a good script should be written for any female superhero and there is no law written that says the story has to stay even 50% to the pre written history of the character. In fact maybe it's time to re-write thier stories so that they are more relevant to currant times. I will go and see any female superhero movie they come out with, But my vote is currently for WONDER WOMAN.

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