If you’re a fan of the DC Cinematic Universe, you probably want Man of Steel 2 or even a Plastic Man movie. How about a movie about the Wonder Twins? Yes, that is a serious question. If you were a kid growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, you know these two relatively unknown DC characters. Hey, no one would blame you if you didn’t. Their popularity level is no where near that of Superman, Batman, or even characters like Deathstroke and Blue Beetle. If you don’t read comics, then you’ll only know them from the Super Friends cartoon that aired as early as 1973. That’s back in the day and I must emphasize, those ’70s and even the ’80s kids who love their Saturday morning cartoons would be the ones familiar with the Wonder Twins. Why? Well, that’s because these two unusual heroic siblings debuted in the cartoon.
Fun Fact: the Wonder Twins have that in common with the much more popular DC anti-hero Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn did not debut in the pages of DC Comics, but in the classic Batman animated series. We have Paul Dini to thank for the creation of Harley Quinn, but unlike the Wonder Twins, our favorite clown femme fatale actually expanded beyond the animated series. Needless to say, she has grown to become a fan-favorite for the DC fanbase and has become one of the more recurring characters in the DCEU. It’s pretty hard to compare her growing popularity to that of the Wonder Twins, but guess what? It looks like that’s about to change. As of now, DC is reportedly working on a Wonder Twins movie. Wait, what? I know this sounds like a joke, but I assure you, it’s real. What’s even more unexpected is that they even have someone lined up to write the script and direct it. The man Warner Bros. has chosen is Adam Sztykiel, the same guy who wrote the script for the Black Adam movie. He has several other writing credits to his name, including Rampage and Due Date. While the Wonder Twins movie will apparently be his directorial debut, I’m just still trying to comprehend that Warner Bros. is actually interested in giving them their own movie.
Is anyone really interested in this? Perhaps the only people who would be interested are the ones who grew up watching the Super Friends cartoon, but let’s call it for what it is. Everyone enjoyed seeing the main players in DC, but the Wonder Twins were never anyone’s favorite superheroes. If they were, I think we would have seen more of them after Super Friends. Maybe this supposed movie will increase their popularity, but I still have a feeling it might not happen. I don’t want to be the skeptic, but I’m just trying to think what Adam Sztykiel could possibly do to make a movie work for them. Why don’t we dig deeper into the very nature of these characters so we could understand them. The Wonder Twins are a pair of alien siblings with two totally different powers. Zan, the male twin, has the power to transform into any form of water. Jayna, the female twin, has the power to transform herself into any kind of animal. Sounds typical enough, but here’s where it gets weird. Zan and Jayna each have a different half of a special kind of ring. When they put their fists together and connect both halves of the ring, they shout out their famous line and their powers activate. All you ’70s and ’80s kids out there are already hearing that line in your heads. “Wonder Twin powers activate!”
I just have to backtrack for a minute here and mention the supposed movie that was rumored to happen ten years ago. All I remember was being sent a fan-made poster of the Wonder Twins connecting their rings. The two names I remember seeing on this poster was Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. Now that was a shocker to see, but luckily, I was told a minute later that it was fan-made. Can you just imagine if it was real? For years, I just had it in my head that a Wonder Twins movie would never happen in a million years. But once again, I am reminded that I should never say never. Now this movie could still not happen and the skeptic in me still thinks that it won’t. I must say, however, that a part of me does want it to happen. This is the kind of movie I would see just because I am curious to see what they would do with it. When you get very unpopular characters like this in a movie of their own, it leaves a lot of options open. The expectation level is probably low for this, but Adam Sztykiel can use that to his advantage. The problem is, their powers are pretty lame, at least on paper.
The coolest version I have seen of these characters was back in Justice League Unlimited. They weren’t called the Wonder Twins, but they were heavily inspired by them. These two twins were white-skinned, bright-eyed aliens named Downpour and Shifter. They had the same powers and ended their episode by fighting Aquaman. It didn’t really end well for them, since Aquaman is, you know, the king of the seas. Still, Justice League Unlimited gave them something to do and made them look less comical than in Super Friends. I think that’s something Adam Sztykiel can take inspiration from, unless he does want to go the more comical route. If he does, I think he can benefit from making the Wonder Twins more reckless and impulsive. So transforming into water sounds lame, but can you imagine what Zan could get away with? Probably more than you think and that’s something we can see in the movie. As for Jayna, transforming into any kind of animal could be useful in a fight, but would she know how to use it? She could be at that stage where she only transforms into the animals she likes for fun. When a bad situation comes around, she’ll have to turn into more dangerous animals to defend herself and that could be too much for her to handle. And that’s when Zan can save the day by turning into a big tidal wave.
Okay, maybe not, but that’s the gist of my idea. If Adam Sztykiel can make the Wonder Twins looks like a naive and playful pair of twins who initially use their powers for fun, then that’s a start. He could develop them further by maturing them further down the line and make them use their powers for a better purpose. That’s just a thought, and that’s if the movie even happens. Again, I’m still skeptical, but I won’t toss this aside completely just yet. What are your thoughts, DC fans? Do you think the Wonder Twins movie will actually happen? Better yet, do you think it’s a good or bad idea? On paper, it might sound silly, but then again, so did Peacemaker.
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