Lynda Carter: ‘Wonder Woman’ Reboot Needs Female Screenwriter

The original Wonder Woman Lynda Carter said studio executives should hire a female screenwriter to revive the Amazonian princess.

Carter starred in Wonder Woman from 1975 to 1979 and said she believes attempts to reboot the property have failed because writers don’t understand the character’s values.

“I think they try to just make her a female version of a male superhero, and that’s not what she is,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “She is an Amazon Princess and she’s got really strong sisterhood values. She’s smart, and she just happens to be beautiful and super strong, and she has these great cool things like these bracelets and boomerang headband and non-lethal kinds of ways of dealing with people.”

Wonder Woman has not appeared on-screen since Carter’s series was cancelled, but there have been several attempts to bring the character back to life. The most recent, the CW’s Amazon, was recently put “on pause” because the script wasn’t right. In 2011, David E. Kelley wrote and executive produced a Wonder Woman pilot for NBC, but the network opted not to buy the series.

“Maybe they need a female writer who gets it. I’ve often tried not to say that, but I think it’s the truth. It’s like, ‘Hellooooo guys, get a female that understands what that’s all about,'” Carter said.

The 62-year-old continued, “You look at any society that suppresses women, and it’s violent. Look around the world… There’s a humanity that they’re missing. There’s got to be a sweetness, a kindness, a goodness in the character. The rest takes care of itself.”

Lynda Carter said when she first took the role, she was warned that it would be difficult and that women wouldn’t like her. That didn’t deter her.

“I was determined to create a character that thought of herself as just a regular person; she wasn’t all up about herself, and she just happened to have these powers, but she wasn’t impressed with herself,” she said.

“She was empowered. They were very worried about too strong of a Women’s Lib message, but it’s implied anyway,” Carter said. “You don’t need to pound someone over the head with [the dialogue]. Understatement can be very powerful.”