In anticipation of last week’s release of Wonder Woman 1984, HBO Max made the original 1970s TV series starring Lynda Carter available to stream. Carter, who is half Mexican, portrayed the titular superhero for three seasons, from 1975 to 1979.
Based on the DC Comics, the first season of Wonder Woman aired on ABC. Seasons 2 and 3 were broadcast on CBS with a new title, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman. Other than Carter and co-star Lyle Waggoner, the entire cast was replaced after the debut season. Now, all 60 episodes of the show are available for nostalgic audiences.
In a recent conversation between Carter and Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins, the O.G. Wonder Woman said that during the 1970s, she had to maneuver her way through a “sea of men…men writers, men directors, men producers, men actors, men studio executives” to build her character for the TV series.
“I was a pretty stubborn young girl and tried to do it my way,” Carter says. “I recall really having some very pointed discussions with the producers about not dumbing her down. I won the argument eventually…it was about the complex nature of women, the complex nature of who we are.”
SPOILER ALERT: In Wonder Woman 1984, which stars Gal Gadot as the Justice League heroine, Carter returns to the screen to play a new character, Asteria, who is described in the sequel as the “greatest warrior” of Themyscira, the all-women island where Wonder Woman is originally from. Wonder Woman explains that Asteria “stayed behind to hold back the tide of men” who enslaved the Amazonian people. In doing so, “Asteria sacrificed herself for a better day for others.”
Although only Carter’s eyes are shown during the first mention of her character, a scene that takes place during the end credits features Asteria walking through a marketplace and saving an infant by catching a large falling pole with one hand. When the mother of the infant goes to thank her and ask how she managed to do it, Asteria says, “I’ve been doing this for a long time” before giving a wink and walking away.
Now that a third Wonder Woman movie has already been confirmed by Warner Bros., could Carter be returning to the next sequel with a bigger role? Imagine her fighting beside Gadot and actually using both hands. Wonder Women unite!
