Then in 2011, DC Comics semi-rebooted their shared setting with the publishing initiative “The New 52” (referring to how 52 new DC comic series began publishing from #1 onward). The reboot folded popular characters from the Vertigo and Wildstorm publishing imprints into mainstream DC, and reset the Justice League and ilk to be younger.
The New 52 “Wonder Woman” series, written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Cliff Chiang, reimagined Wonder Woman’s origin. Now, she was the daughter of Zeus. Notably the retcon was present in-universe; Hippolyta told Diana she was made from clay to hide her daughter’s true nature from her, the way a parent tells their child a stork delivered them. (Plus, Hippolyta didn’t want to invite the wrath of Zeus’ vengeful wife Hera.) This didn’t stop the other Amazons from mocking Diana with the nickname “Clay,” though.
The twist on her origin dilutes the original themes of Wonder Woman, but it has thematic resonance in this particular run. Azzarello and Chiang’s “Wonder Woman” is about Diana being confronted with ugly secrets her sisters kept from her.
For instance, she learns that her fellow Amazons reproduce by abducting, raping, and then killing male sailors. The baby girls born from this become new Amazons, while the boys are given to Hephaestus, Greek god of the forge, as slaves. (Though he instead treats them as his sons, reapplying Marston’s theme of loving submission to parental love.) At the end of the run, Diana reforms Themyscira by welcoming men onto its shores, because anyone can be an Amazon.
Reading Azzarello’s “Wonder Woman,” you get the sense he doesn’t just agree with the philosophies that are core to the book and character — to him, Themyscira isn’t a haven for women, but a misandristic injustice, its very existence violence by exclusion (and more) towards men. He spends his time blowing up the tenets of “Wonder Woman,” from remaking the Amazons from people of peace into literal Feminazis to turning Diana into a much more violent character. (This is the run where she started wielding a sword.)
So, is Azzarello changing Wonder Woman’s origin to something less “silly” part of that larger attempt to change the tone of the character? See, I think it wasn’t entirely his call. One has to remember that the New 52 was enacted in preparation for DC’s coming cinematic universe; the new issue #1’s were to attract and familiarize new readers, and the stories were tailored to be filmed.
Making Wonder Woman into the daughter of Zeus feels like a corporate decision to make her more “accessible,” because comic book movies almost always sand off of the “silly” edges of the source material. As early as 2014, “Batman V Superman” producer Charles Roven was calling Wonder Woman the daughter of Zeus, i.e. the origin that had been canon for a few years at that point. It’s almost like the comics adjusted to make way for the movies, not the other way around.
It also fits with the modern Christianization of Greek mythology. (Think of how many works, from “Hercules” to “Percy Jackson,” portray Hades as basically Satan.) Many Americans worship the Son of God, so the daughter of (a) god is a heroic figure they can grasp onto.
Yet this retcon rattled “Wonder Woman” fans. It removes queer subtext, makes Diana’s strength come from her connection to a man, and turns a feminist symbol into the offspring of Zeus, “myth’s #1 rapist and symbol of patriarchy.”
There have been varying iterations over the course of the movies and TV shows, but who is Wonder Woman’s father in DC Comics? Read More