How Can Anyone Step Into Lynda Carter's Classic Role?

I'd say that the all-time best choice of an actor for a superhero role was the casting of Lynda Carter as TV's Wonder Woman. Christopher Reeve was great as both Clark Kent and Superman, and Tobey Maguire was outstanding as he balanced the complementary roles of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. However, no actor ever captured the essence of their superhero personas quite as well as Lynda Carter did.

Lynda provided the perfect look for the Amazon princess, and more. She played her role with consummate innocence, as befitted the newly arrived Amazon, without sacrificing credibility in her role. What's more, her outstanding beauty and physical proportions remained wholesome and sweet, despite her revealing costume and statuesque figure.

There are some who feel that we can never find another Wonder Woman. Many feel that Lynda Carter has made it impossible to find anyone who can fill her shoes (and her costume). Batman was easily replaced in the years after Adam West; after all, the Bat-costume can cover a multitude of flaws, and besides, Adam's portrayal was always meant to to be goofy and utterly unrealistic. Just as it has been difficult to find anyone to inherit Christopher Reeve's role as Superman, it has been nearly impossible to imagine anyone but Lynda as Wonder Woman.

That doesn't stop some from trying, though. Catherine Zeta-Jones has been mentioned on occasion; however, while she is quite lovely, she doesn't quite have the flawless facial beauty that Lynda Carter exemplified. Lucy Lawless has been mentioned too, thanks to her role as Xena. However, while Lucy is an absolutely outstanding actress, she doesn't have the right look either. Lucy's own warrior princess was more masculine, and while she's certainly attractive, she doesn't have the pure beauty that the Amazing Amazon is expected to radiate.

I did see one fellow on the web mention supermodel Stacey Williams as a possible candidate. She is about as close as one can possibly get. She has the perfect face for this role, and she even has the statuesque height that would befit the Amazon princess. If she can act with the same wide-eyed innocence that Lynda brought to this role, then that would be an added bonus. I think it's unlikely that we'll ever see Ms. Williams fill the Wonder-costume though, especially since she has mostly dropped out of the public eye. >

So will we ever see another flesh-and-blood Wonder Woman? Someday, maybe... but it will probably be a long and painful search. That actress, whoever she is, has an extremely tough act to follow.

Scientific interests:

   Arachnology, Human tissue analysis, Elispot technology