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Poor Wonder Woman. Despite being one of the best known, best loved superheroes of all time, she’s had a tougher time than most with finding her way to the screen. After David E. Kelley tried and failed to bring her to life at NBC, The CW decided last year to take its own crack at the character with a Smallville-esque drama titled Amazon. Allan Heinberg (Marvel Comics’ Young Avengers) was hired to write the series, a casting call was sent out, lead actress rumors began to swirl, and the series looked on track to debut during the 2013-2014 season… until today, when The CW decided to hold off on greenlighting the pilot.
But all hope’s not lost. While the network has wrapped up most of its pilot orders, some sources say Amazon still has a shot at a late pickup for this fall. And if that doesn’t pan out, the network still hasn’t ruled out the possibility of slotting it in for midseason or 2014-2015. Keep reading after the jump.
Deadline reported today that The CW has ordered eight pilots this year in total, none of which were Amazon. The CW was reportedly unhappy with Heinberg’s script and felt the project needed a little more time to develop. However, the network isn’t giving up on the series entirely. Instead, it has simply decided to hold off on the superheroine series a little while longer. That likely means it’ll be in contention for the 2014-2015 season, though THR notes that Amazon could still hit this fall if the next draft of Heinberg’s script works out.
Amazon began casting this past November, and though a lead has not yet been locked, the network reportedly has its eye on a few actresses already. While not all projects begin casting this early in the development phase, Amazon‘s heavy reliance on a strong lead inspired producers to get a bit of a head start. The series will serve as an origin story for her character, much in the way that Smallville did for Wonder Woman’s Justice League teammate Superman.
Wonder Woman fans can take some comfort in the fact that The CW has a marked interest in adding her to their slate. The network has found great success in DC characters, first with Smallville and then with last fall’s Green Arrow, in Arrow. In addition, it’s worth pointing out that The CW has proven a willingness to stick with troubled projects in the past. One of this year’s orders went to The Selection, which was originally greenlit for a pilot last year but then sent back for some retooling.
