Warner Bros. Pictures has released a synopsis for its Wonder Woman movie that clearly indicates that the film, which is slated to debut next summer, will be an “origin saga,” and hints that will take place in the World War II era.  Patty Jenkins is directing the new Wonder Woman film, based on a script by Allan Heinberg and Geoff Johns (DC’s Chief Creative Officer).  Heinberg, who also co-wrote the story on which the script is based, was the chief creator behind Amazon, the Wonder Woman prequel TV series that was in development at the CW, and which concentrated on Diana’s life on Paradise Island (see “Amazon Dead”).

The official studio synopsis indicates that the film also deals with Diana’s life on Paradise Island (Themyscira), and chronicles her transformation into Wonder Woman in the face of a global threat:

"Wonder Woman hits movie theaters around the world next summer when Gal Gadot returns as the title character in the epic action adventure from director Patty Jenkins. Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny."

Created by psychologist William Moulton Marston during World War II, Wonder Woman began her comic book career fighting fascism, and it would make sense that the “massive conflict” referred to as “a war to end all wars” in the synopsis would turn out to be WW II (though ironically it was World War I that was known in its day as “the war to end all wars,” but don’t expect to see Gal Gadot in the trenches on the Somme).  Marvel was careful to introduce Captain America to film audiences in the proper historical perspective (also WW II), and it would appear that Warner Bros. and DC are going to do the same for Wonder Woman, though the synopsis doesn’t explicitly state the film’s historical time period.

Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, which is slated to debut on June 2, 2017, will be Warner Bros.' only superhero entry in next year’s summer movie season (see “Warners Shifts, Adds to DC Movie Slate”).  If Suicide Squad, which debuts next month, can salvage the damage done to the DC Cinematic Universe by the overly serious Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, it will be up to Wonder Woman to keep the momentum going in Warner Bros. and DC’s long climb toward cinematic parity with Marvel and Disney.