110 Fun Facts About Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman made her first appearance in October 1941 in which comic book?

All Star Comics #8 tucked her first story in as a backup feature behind the title's regular heroes; DC now marks its release date, October 21, as Wonder Woman Day.

Under what pen name did Wonder Woman's creator write the comic?

Charles Moulton stitched together two middle names: Charles from his publisher and Moulton from his own, William Moulton Marston.

Wonder Woman's creator is also credited with helping invent an early version of which device?

The polygraph grew from Marston's Harvard experiments on whether systolic blood pressure rises when a person lies; his test became one component of the modern lie detector.

Who reportedly told Marston 'Fine, but make her a woman' when he pitched a new superhero?

His wife Elizabeth, who held degrees in law and psychology, is credited with the line; she was also the household's wage earner, as assistant to the chief executive of Metropolitan Life.

In her original Golden Age origin, what was Diana sculpted from before being given life?

Clay was her mother's medium: longing for a child, the Amazon queen sculpted a girl and the goddess Aphrodite brought the statue to life, so Diana was born without a father.

After DC's 2011 Flashpoint reboot, Diana was rewritten as the biological daughter of which Greek god?

That origin carried into the DC Extended Universe films, where being Zeus's daughter is what makes her the 'god-killer'.

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Amazons' island home was given what new name?

Themyscira took its name from the Amazons' home city in Greek myth; before the 1987 relaunch the island had simply been called Paradise Island.

Who is Diana's mother, the queen of the Amazons?

Hippolyta has even worn the costume herself: in 1990s comics she took over as Wonder Woman and travelled back in time to serve as the heroine of the 1940s.

In the 1942 comics, Wonder Woman bought the identity of look-alike Diana Prince, who held which job?

Army nurse Diana Prince needed money to join her fiancé in South America, so Wonder Woman paid her, took her place and went to work at the hospital treating Steve Trevor.

In the comics since their 1987 relaunch, which figure from Greek myth made Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth?

Hephaestus forged it from the Golden Girdle of Gaea in the modern comics; in the 1940s it was a magic lasso that made captives obey any command, and truth-telling became its defining power later.

In the modern comics, Wonder Woman's bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remains of which mythical object?

The Aegis, the shield of the gods, supplied the material in the modern comics; in the 1940s stories the bracelets were worn as reminders of the Amazons' captivity under Hercules.

Marston took the idea for Wonder Woman's bracelets from a pair worn by which real woman?

Olive Byrne wore a pair of bracelets in place of a wedding ring while living in the Marston household; she was also the niece of birth-control pioneer Margaret Sanger.

Wonder Woman's plane, which she has flown since her 1940s comics, is famous for which property?

It is invisible, and in her first adventure it carried the wounded pilot Steve Trevor from the Amazons' island back to America.

Which magazine put Wonder Woman on its July 1972 cover under the headline 'Wonder Woman for President'?

Ms. was co-founded by Gloria Steinem, who chose the heroine for its first regular issue; within months DC, which had stripped her of her powers in 1968, gave them back along with her classic costume.

During her powerless late-1960s era, what business did Diana run?

A mod boutique was her day job while she fought crime without powers, in a makeover modelled on Emma Peel, Diana Rigg's character in the British spy series The Avengers.

What was the name of the blind martial arts mentor who trained the depowered Diana?

I Ching was written out as abruptly as he arrived: a rooftop sniper shot him dead in the 1973 issue that gave Diana her powers and costume back.

Which artist reinvented Wonder Woman in the 1980s with an athletic look stressing her Amazon heritage?

George Pérez relaunched the series from issue #1 in 1987 and stayed five years, pushing her further into Greek mythology than she had ever been.

Which Amazon debuted in 1973 as Diana's long-lost twin sister, raised in secret by the war god Mars?

Nubia, stolen as a baby and trained by the war god, returned in armour as a masked rival and challenged Diana to a duel for the title of Wonder Woman.

Which villain did Wonder Woman kill by snapping his neck to end his mind control of Superman?

Maxwell Lord, bound by her lasso, said killing him was the only way to free Superman; footage of the act was then broadcast worldwide, turning the public and her fellow heroes against her.

Which psychiatrist claimed in Seduction of the Innocent that Wonder Woman's independence made her a lesbian?

Fredric Wertham's 1954 book and his Senate testimony fed a panic over comics, and publishers responded by adopting the Comics Code to censor themselves.

In 1982, a stylized 'WW' emblem by designer Milton Glaser replaced which symbol on Wonder Woman's costume?

An eagle had spread across her bodice since 1941, but DC could not trademark the national bird; the double-W from Milton Glaser, of 'I Love NY' fame, gave it a symbol to license.

When Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America in the 1940s, what role was she given?

Secretary it was: despite her powers she mostly stayed behind at headquarters taking the team's minutes while the men went off on the missions.

On October 21, 2016, which organization named Wonder Woman an honorary ambassador?

The United Nations made her honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls; staff petitioned against an 'overtly sexualized' figurehead, and the role ended after less than two months.

In a 2015 comic, Wonder Woman officiated which ceremony while Superman looked on?

A same-sex wedding: when Clark Kent says he hadn't known she supported it, she replies that her country is all women, so to her people it is simply marriage.

Who debuted in 1942 as Wonder Woman's best friend and sidekick in the comics?

Etta Candy, a student proud of her love of sweets, led her sorority sisters, the Holliday Girls, into the heroine's wartime adventures.

In Absolute Wonder Woman (2024), where was Diana raised instead of on the Amazons' island?

Hell is where the gods hand the infant Diana to the banished sorceress Circe, who means to let her die but ends up raising her as a daughter and teaching her spells.

In the comics, which Amazon healing device saved the life of crashed pilot Steve Trevor?

The Purple Ray healed him after the island's doctor had given him up for dead; in the 1942 telling Diana built the device herself, working on it for days.

Besides her 1940s team, which superhero team from 1960 has Wonder Woman regularly joined?

Justice League of America was DC's 1960 remake of her 1940s team; editor Julius Schwartz swapped 'Society' for 'League' because it reminded young readers of baseball's leagues.

Who starred as Wonder Woman in the live-action television series that ran from 1975 to 1979?

Lynda Carter became the face of the character for a generation even though the show ran only three seasons; four decades on she returned for a cameo in the 2020 film.

Which pageant title did the star of the 1970s Wonder Woman series win in 1972?

Miss World USA capped a sharp change of course: she quit the band she had toured with as a singer, went home, and within about a month had won three pageant crowns in a row.

Who played Steve Trevor in the 1970s Wonder Woman series?

Lyle Waggoner, dark-haired where the comics' Trevor was blond, kept his job when the show jumped to the 1970s by playing the original's son, Steve Trevor Jr.

In the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series, how did Diana Prince change into her costume?

By spinning around: by the star's own account she suggested the move while filming the pilot, when the producers were stuck for a way to show the change.

After a WWII-set first season on ABC, which network aired the 1970s Wonder Woman series?

CBS moved the story from the 1940s to the 1970s when it took over: Diana returns from her island decades later, looking no older, to work with the first Steve Trevor's son.

Which future Oscar nominee played Diana's sister Drusilla, also called Wonder Girl, in the 1970s Wonder Woman series?

Debra Winger's Drusilla is sent from the island to fetch her sister home and instead gets caught up in a Nazi plot to learn the secret of the Amazons' bracelets.

Who starred in the 1974 ABC television film Wonder Woman that preceded the 1975 series?

Cathy Lee Crosby's heroine was a blonde, Bond-style spy with no superpowers and without the comics' costume; ABC passed on that version and tried again a year later with a pilot closer to the comics.

In the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series, where was the Amazons' hidden island located?

The Bermuda Triangle hid Paradise Island: in the pilot, Steve Trevor is shot during a 1942 dogfight and parachutes onto its shore, where the Amazons find him.

A 2011 Wonder Woman television pilot was filmed but never aired; which actress starred in it?

Adrianne Palicki's unaired pilot, written by David E. Kelley for NBC, also featured Pedro Pascal, who returned to the franchise nine years later as a villain in the 2020 film sequel.

Who directed the 2017 Wonder Woman film?

Patty Jenkins took over after first choice Michelle MacLaren left over creative differences; her only previous feature, Monster, had won Charlize Theron an Oscar.

The 2017 Wonder Woman film moved Diana's origin from the comics' 1940s setting to which conflict?

World War I put her in the trenches: in one sequence she climbs out alone, crosses No Man's Land under enemy fire and storms the trench on the far side.

Who played Steve Trevor in the 2017 Wonder Woman film and its sequel?

Chris Pine's Trevor dies at the end of the 2017 film, so the sequel, set in 1984, brings him back by a wish, inhabiting another man's body.

Which actor played Sir Patrick, the cabinet member revealed to be Ares in the 2017 Wonder Woman film?

David Thewlis hid in plain sight as a politician pleading for an armistice: Diana kills the German general she takes for the war god, the fighting goes on, and only then does Sir Patrick unmask.

Which actress played Antiope, Diana's aunt and trainer, in the 2017 Wonder Woman film?

Robin Wright's Antiope trains Diana in secret, then dies on the beach taking a bullet meant for her niece; she returns in the flashback that opens the 2020 sequel.

Elena Anaya's Isabel Maru in the 2017 Wonder Woman film is a version of which comics villain?

Doctor Poison first menaced Wonder Woman in 1942; in the 2017 film, a notebook Steve Trevor steals from the chemist exposes her new weapon and draws Diana to the front.

As of 2025, which film holds the box-office record for a solo female director, a mark Wonder Woman set in 2017?

Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, was the first film from a solo female director to pass $1 billion; Wonder Woman's 2017 record had already fallen once, in 2021, to Jia Ling's Chinese comedy Hi, Mom.

In the 2017 Wonder Woman film, the 'Godkiller' that Diana takes when she leaves the island is what kind of weapon?

A sword it seemed, until Ares shattered the blade and told her the truth: the weapon left behind to kill a god was Diana herself.

Which country banned the 2017 Wonder Woman film because its star had served in the Israel Defense Forces?

Lebanon, which officially boycotts Israeli products, pulled the film just before it was due to open, though the same star's Fast & Furious films had played in its cinemas.

Which science-fiction honor did the 2017 Wonder Woman film win in 2018?

The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, voted by science-fiction fans, went to the film ahead of Get Out, Blade Runner 2049 and The Shape of Water.

Before acting, Gal Gadot won which pageant title in 2004?

Miss Israel sent her on to Miss Universe 2004, which by her own account she set out to lose, turning up late and refusing to wear an evening gown.

Which character did Gal Gadot play in the Fast & Furious franchise?

Gisele Yashar came her way soon after she lost out on a Bond-girl part: the casting director who had tested her for Quantum of Solace put her forward for Fast & Furious.

In which film did Gal Gadot first appear as Wonder Woman?

Batman v Superman came just in time: by her own account she was on the verge of quitting acting when the studio asked her to audition for a role it was keeping secret.

Kristen Wiig played which villain in Wonder Woman 1984?

Cheetah is what her Barbara Minerva becomes: a shy gemologist who first wishes to be like Diana, then asks to be made an 'apex predator'.

What is the wish-granting artifact at the center of Wonder Woman 1984?

The Dreamstone grants each person one wish but takes something precious in return, and in the film's history it has already brought down whole civilizations.

On its US release on December 25, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 streamed simultaneously on which service?

HBO Max got the film the same day as cinemas, a pandemic one-off that did not stay one: two weeks after announcing it, Warner Bros. said its entire 2021 slate would be released the same way.

Who composed the score for Wonder Woman 1984?

Hans Zimmer took over from Rupert Gregson-Williams, who scored the 2017 film; Zimmer already knew the territory, having written the music for two earlier films in the same DC series.

The star of the 1970s TV series has a mid-credits cameo in Wonder Woman 1984 as which legendary Amazon?

Diana wears Asteria's golden winged armor for the final battle; the cameo reveals the warrior is alive and living among humans.

Where does Diana work in Wonder Woman 1984?

The Smithsonian is where she meets new colleague Barbara Minerva, and where the FBI sends a haul of stolen antiquities that includes the wish-granting artifact.

Which 1973 Saturday-morning cartoon teamed Wonder Woman with Batman, Robin and Aquaman?

Super Friends ran on ABC for more than a decade; the heroes' headquarters was inspired by a real building, the Union Terminal railway station in Cincinnati.

Wonder Woman's first feature story appeared in January 1942 in issue #1 of which title?

Sensation Comics put her on its first cover and kept her as its lead for a decade, until she was dropped after issue #106 and the title turned to mystery and horror tales.

Which comics publisher, whose son later ran Mad magazine, hired Wonder Woman's creator as a consultant in 1940?

Max Gaines brought the psychologist in to answer critics who called comic books a menace to children; his new consultant's advice was that what comics needed was a female hero.

Who wrote Wonder Woman's New 52 relaunch in 2011, with Cliff Chiang as artist?

Brian Azzarello, known for the crime series 100 Bullets, promised 'a horror book', not a superhero one, and his three-year run with Chiang rebuilt her origin from the ground up.

During reshoots of the 2017 Wonder Woman film, a green cloth digitally hid what about Gal Gadot?

Her pregnancy was five months along when the extra scenes were shot, so a green cloth laid over her belly let the editors paint it out afterwards.

The Amazons' hidden island home in the 2017 Wonder Woman film was shot on the coast of which country?

Italy won out after the designers weighed 47 countries, and the visual effects team later added digital cliffs to its Cilento Coast.

In Wonder Woman 1984, which actor played the failing oil tycoon who gains the power to grant wishes?

Pedro Pascal already had Wonder Woman history: he had a role in a 2011 television pilot about the heroine that was filmed but never broadcast.

In the present-day scenes that open the 2017 Wonder Woman film, Diana receives an old photograph in which city?

Paris is where she is handed a photographic plate showing her beside four men, the keepsake that sets her remembering the war.

Which How I Met Your Mother star voiced Wonder Woman in the animated hit The Lego Movie?

Cobie Smulders voiced her as one of the film's Master Builders, in a cast that also had Jonah Hill as Green Lantern.

Besides sitting on her head, Wonder Woman's tiara has long doubled as which kind of weapon?

A boomerang, and an unbreakable one in the early comics. On 1970s television its ruby star also worked as a radio link to her mother.

In the animated film DC League of Super-Pets, which kind of animal ends up as Wonder Woman's pet?

A pig named PB, a potbellied superhero fan who gains the power to change her size and idolises Wonder Woman long before being adopted by her.

When the 1970s Wonder Woman series moved to the present day, Steve Trevor's actor returned as whom?

His son, Steve Trevor Jr., became her new partner, and the writers dropped the romance so the pair stayed nothing more than good friends.

Danny Huston's villain in the 2017 Wonder Woman film shares his name with which real German general?

Erich Ludendorff really did direct Germany's whole war effort in 1918, though the real general survived the fighting and lived on until 1937.

Nicole Kidman was in talks to play the Amazon queen in the 2017 Wonder Woman film; which actress got the part?

Connie Nielsen, the Danish star of Gladiator, trained six hours a day for the part and read a history of real warrior women to prepare.

Which Shaun of the Dead actress played Steve Trevor's assistant in the 2017 Wonder Woman film?

Lucy Davis, also Dawn in the British original of The Office, played the assistant who befriends Diana on her arrival in London.

Which television director was first hired for the 2017 Wonder Woman film but left over creative differences?

Michelle MacLaren, a two-time Emmy winner as a producer of Breaking Bad, was picked when the studio went looking for a woman to direct.

In the 2017 Wonder Woman film, Chief introduces himself to Diana in which Native American language?

Blackfoot is actor Eugene Brave Rock's own native language, and it was his idea for the smuggler to greet Diana in it.

The look of the 2017 Wonder Woman film was inspired by the paintings of which American portrait artist?

John Singer Sargent guided the look, and the director shot on 35mm film rather than digital video because she felt it added to the escapism.

Gal Gadot, the big-screen Wonder Woman, spent her two years of Israeli military service in which role?

Combat trainer was her job: after boot camp she led soldiers through gymnastics and calisthenics, reporting for duty at five each morning.

In the 2017 Wonder Woman film, the glowing golden lasso carries the name of which Greek goddess?

Hestia, goddess of the hearth: in the modern comics it is her sacred fire that gives the lasso its power to draw out honest answers.

Hired in 2005 to write and direct a Wonder Woman film, which filmmaker left two years later without a finished script?

Joss Whedon wanted Angelina Jolie for the lead and had Steve Trevor narrate his drafts, but he never completed the screenplay.

Which star of Young Frankenstein played Diana's mother, the Amazon queen, in the 1975 Wonder Woman TV pilot?

Cloris Leachman wore the crown only for the pilot; Carolyn Jones and then Beatrice Straight took over the role in later episodes.

In the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series, Diana Prince's wartime cover is a clerical post in which service?

The Navy made her Yeoman First Class Diana Prince, chosen as Steve Trevor's aide for her clerical test scores and her deliberately plain looks.

In a 1977 episode of the Wonder Woman TV series, fugitive war criminals create a clone of which dictator?

Adolf Hitler's clone, grown by Nazi fugitives in South America, forces her into a rare break from her no-kill rule when she reverses the cloning.

In the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series, which item gives Diana her strength away from her island home?

Her magic belt was the source of her power off the island, so in some first-season episodes villains stole it and left her with ordinary human strength.

Which actor, later a famous Star Trek film villain, played the baddie in the 1974 Wonder Woman television film?

Ricardo Montalbán, later Khan and the host of Fantasy Island, played the code-book thief Abner Smith opposite a heroine who showed no superpowers.

Which hit-making writer of legal dramas wrote a 2011 Wonder Woman television pilot that NBC turned down?

David E. Kelley, creator of Ally McBeal and The Practice, saw every major network pass on the idea before NBC ordered a pilot and then rejected it.

The 2009 animated film Wonder Woman cast which lead actress after its casting director saw her in Waitress?

Keri Russell voiced Diana opposite Nathan Fillion as Steve Trevor and Alfred Molina as the war god Ares.

Which pop singer voiced Wonder Woman in the 2018 animated film Teen Titans Go! To the Movies?

Halsey joined a cast of surprise voices that also included the rapper Lil Yachty as Green Lantern.

In the 1975 Wonder Woman TV pilot, Diana enters the Amazons' contest in a mask and which other disguise?

A blonde wig, plus the mask, hid the princess from her mother, who had forbidden her to compete; she won the tiebreak by deflecting bullets.

In the opening of Wonder Woman 1984, young Diana is pulled from an Amazon race for doing what?

Taking a shortcut after falling from her horse meant she missed a checkpoint, and her aunt told her that nothing worthwhile is won dishonestly.

Besides forcing out the truth, Wonder Woman's magic lasso in the 1940s comics made captives do what?

Obey every command of whoever held the other end: its creator meant the lasso as a symbol of feminine charm, and the truth-telling took over only later.

Before a 1987 comics relaunch renamed it, what was the Amazons' hidden home called in Wonder Woman stories?

Paradise Island was the name for more than four decades, and its Amazons were promised immortality only for as long as no man set foot there.

In the earliest Wonder Woman comics, besides horses, the Amazons rode a leaping breed of which animal?

Kangaroos were the model for the Amazons' mounts, which the comics called kangas, and Diana's own was named Jumpa.

In Wonder Woman's original origin story, which Greek hero used trickery to conquer and enslave the Amazons?

Hercules first lost a duel to the Amazon queen, then won by deceit and kept her people as slaves until a goddess relented and helped them escape.

Which Wonder Girl, introduced in 1965, is usually shown as a founding member of the Teen Titans?

Donna Troy got a name of her own only later; the Wonder Girl title was first used in 1959 for tales of the teenage Diana.

Which sorceress from Homer's Odyssey is a major recurring villain in the Wonder Woman comics?

Circe has troubled Wonder Woman since 1949, and in the 1991 crossover War of the Gods she set whole pantheons of gods fighting one another.

Which feminist leader, raised on Wonder Woman comics, pushed DC to restore the heroine's powers in 1973?

Gloria Steinem was offended that the most famous female superhero had been stripped of her powers, and the classic costume returned along with them.

In Wonder Woman 1984, Diana's unspoken wish brings her lost love Steve Trevor back in what form?

In a stranger's body: his soul takes over another man whom only Diana sees as Steve, and she has to give up the wish to regain her full strength.

Which rival Amazon briefly replaced Diana as Wonder Woman in the 1990s comics before being killed in the role?

Artemis won a contest for the title that Diana's mother had quietly steered, and her death in the role fulfilled a prophecy that Wonder Woman would die.

Which veteran newspaper illustrator drew the first Wonder Woman stories but went uncredited as her co-creator?

H. G. Peter was 61 when he took the job, and he traded his usual Gibson-style technique for an Art Nouveau cartooning look for the new heroine.

Bound by the golden lasso in the 2017 Wonder Woman film, Steve Trevor is forced to confess he is what?

A spy for the Allies, he blurts out: the lasso drags the admission from him along with news of a great war consuming the outside world.

In the bedtime story young Diana hears in the 2017 Wonder Woman film, what feeling turns the war god against humans?

Jealousy of humankind makes him plot their destruction in her mother's telling, and he kills all but one of the gods who try to stop him.

Which blockbuster director criticised the 2017 Wonder Woman film as a backward step for female heroes?

James Cameron called the film's Diana an objectified icon, a harsher verdict than that of cinema audiences polled on release, who graded the film an A.

In the 2017 Wonder Woman film, where at the front in Belgium does Diana advance alone against the enemy guns?

No Man's Land is where she storms the enemy trench alone and frees the nearby village; one critic ranked it among the most mythic scenes ever filmed.

In the comics, the injured Steve Trevor wakes among the Amazons and gives Diana which lasting nickname?

Angel, because the delirious airman took the island for heaven and the woman who had saved him for one of its residents.

One of Wonder Woman's best-known comic-book exclamations invokes which ancient Greek poet?

Sappho, the poet of Lesbos, gets the shout-out, and readers have long taken the catchphrase as a knowing nod to love between women.

Which lyricist, also behind the Happy Days theme, wrote the words to the 1970s Wonder Woman TV theme song?

Norman Gimbel wrote the words to Charles Fox's music, the same partnership behind Killing Me Softly with His Song.

The theme song of the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series was rewritten for season two to drop mentions of which enemy?

The Axis no longer fitted a show now set in the 1970s, so the words were rewritten, and a later re-recording gave the tune a disco beat.

Wonder Woman's creator openly called her propaganda for a new kind of woman, one he believed should do what?

Rule the world was his frank ambition for her kind: he designed the heroine as a model of the loving leader he thought should run society.

Which Wonder Woman villain was introduced in the 1940s as a gorilla mutated into a human woman?

Giganta only gained her power to grow to giant size in a 1978 TV cartoon, and the comics borrowed the idea for her years afterwards.

Which actor played Wonder Woman's creator in the 2017 biographical drama Professor Marston and the Wonder Women?

Luke Evans played the heroine's inventor opposite Rebecca Hall and Bella Heathcote, in a drama written and directed by Angela Robinson.

The winged armour Diana wears in the final battle of Wonder Woman 1984 comes from which 1996 DC miniseries?

Kingdom Come, painted by Alex Ross, is set in an alternate future where a new generation of heroes has lost its moral compass.

Before creating Wonder Woman, comics writer William Marston made his name in which profession?

Psychologist, and a self-help author too: his belief that comic books could educate children is what first drew him into the industry.