Evolution of Wonder Woman “Margins to the Centre”

The character of Wonder Woman has always reflected how society understands gender, power, and femininity. Since her first comic-book appearance in 1941, she has stood as both a feminist symbol and a pop-culture figure whose meaning changes with the times. Her screen portrayals especially Lynda Carter’s in the 1970s television series and Gal Gadot’s in Patty Jenkins’s 2017 film show how women’s representation in media has evolved over the past fifty years. The transformation from Carter’s graceful, idealized heroine to Gadot’s assertive warrior captures a broader cultural move: women shifting from the margins of visibility to the centre of narrative and moral power.

Wonder Woman has always been more than just a superhero. She represents independence, empathy, and justice while also revealing the contradictions of trying to embody feminist ideals in industries still shaped by masculinity. Carter’s portrayal in the 1970s offered an early image of empowerment that balanced beauty with kindness. She fought villains and saved lives, but always with politeness and glamour, a version of strength that still fit male expectations of the time. Godot’s interpretation defines power differently. In Wonder Woman (2017), she is decisive, physically dominant, and guided by her own sense of ethics. Her confidence and leadership are not softened for comfort, and her identity no longer relies on male validation. As Hains (2019) notes, Jenkins’s direction “allows Wonder Woman to be heroic on her own terms,” a statement that captures the film’s break from the older model.

Carter’s Wonder Woman was characterized by elegant and classy, traits coded as feminine virtues. She symbolized an almost mythic perfection, strong but never intimidating, assertive but still gentle. That balance made her appealing but also confined her within gender expectations. Gadot’s version is far more grounded. Her strength includes physical might and emotional honesty. She shows frustration, doubt, and grief, which makes her human after all. The change is also visual: the bright costume and high-heeled boots of the 1970s give way to battle-worn armor designed for movement and protection. This evolution, as McAllister (2021) notices, shifts the audience’s gaze “from spectacle to strategy,” signalling that her value lies in courage and conviction rather than appearance.

Both portrayals challenge stereotypes in their own way. Carter’s Wonder Woman disrupted television norms by presenting a woman who was intelligent, capable, and morally upright in a genre dominated by men. Yet her world was still shaped by the 1970s belief that female empowerment had to remain attractive and non-threatening. Gadot’s Wonder Woman, guided by a female director, breaks free of that compromise. Jenkins builds a narrative of female community. Themyscira is a self-sufficient society of women who train, govern, and protect one another. The camera work supports this vision by refusing to sexualize its heroine. This shift aligns with Laura Mulvey’s (1975) theory of the male gaze while Jenkins’s film rejects it.

The two versions also shaped real-world expectations differently. Carter’s portrayal suggested that women could be powerful if they stayed elegant and restrained, mirroring the cautious optimism of second-wave feminism. Gadot’s Wonder Woman, however, emerged at a time when audiences demanded fuller, more commanding female leads. Her presence at the centre of a blockbuster reframed what Hollywood considered bankable. Busch (2020) argues that the film “legitimized female heroism as both commercially viable and culturally resonant,” paving the way for later hits like Captain Marvel and Black Widow. Beyond box-office numbers, Gadot’s portrayal showed that heroism could be emotional, collaborative, and deeply moral without being diminished by gender.

Carter’s Wonder Woman inspired many women to see strength and beauty as compatible, though she still reflected the pressure to be perfect. Gadot’s interpretation expands that definition. Her version shows that vulnerability is not weakness it is part of courage. Hains (2019) notes that Gadot’s performance “creates a psychological space where female heroism is not derivative but self-defined,” giving audiences a heroine who feels attainable rather than idealized. This has broader social meaning because when women see complexity and imperfection in their heroes, they are invited to imagine themselves as equally capable of change, leadership, and moral choice.

The evolution of Wonder Woman also parallels the wider history of feminism in popular media. Jenkins’s film appeared amid global conversations about equality, from the #MeToo movement to renewed debates over representation in Hollywood. While Wonder Woman (2017) was celebrated as a feminist milestone, it also faced criticism for centering Western ideals of empowerment. These tensions reveal that progress is never straightforward, each victory invites new questions about inclusion. Yet despite such critiques, the film’s cultural impact is undeniable. As McAllister (2021) observes, its importance lies not only in what it depicts but in “making the female gaze itself visible and viable within Hollywood structures.”

From Lynda Carter’s poised heroine to Gal Gadot’s determined warrior, Wonder Woman’s evolution reflects how society continues to renegotiate the meaning of power. Both portrayals matter. Carter’s made space for women in a genre that barely recognized them, and Gadot’s transformed that space into a platform for genuine equality. Together they show how representation can move from the symbolic to the embodied—from women existing within systems to actively reshaping them. Wonder Woman, still evolving, remains a reminder that visibility and strength can coexist with empathy and that the fight for balanced representation is ongoing.

 
Bibliography
Busch, Amanda. 2020. “Rewriting the Hero: Wonder Woman and the Evolution of Female Power in Blockbuster Cinema.” Journal of Gender and Media Studies 12 (2): 45–62.
Hains, Rebecca C. 2019. “Superheroines, Feminism, and the Female Gaze: The Case of Wonder Woman.” Feminist Media Studies 19 (4): 509–525.
McAllister, Ashley. 2021. “Armour and Agency: The Politics of Costume and the Body in Wonder Woman (2017).” Cinema Journal 60 (3): 88–106.
Mulvey, Laura. 1975. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Screen 16 (3): 6–18.