Wonder Woman’s origin has changed more than once: the 1941 comics describe Diana shaped from clay, while the 2011 New 52 made her the daughter of Zeus. The 2017 film kept the newer parentage and moved the story from World War II to World War I.
Wonder Woman: Identity, Origins and Relationships
Creator: William Moulton Marston · Publisher: DC Comics · First appearance: All Star Comics #8, January 1942 · Live-action debut: Wonder Woman (2017), directed by Patty Jenkins · Sequel: Wonder Woman 1984, released 2020
The dates below are the ones the sources agree on, and the rest of this article builds on them.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creators | William Moulton Marston (as Charles Moulton) and Harry G. Peter |
| First appearance | All Star Comics #8, cover date December 1941 to January 1942 |
| First lead appearance | Sensation Comics No. 1, January 1942 |
| Own series | Wonder Woman No. 1, January 1942 |
| Live-action TV | Lynda Carter, 1975 to 1979 |
| Relaunch | George Pérez, February 1987 |
| Film | Wonder Woman, released June 2, 2017, directed by Patty Jenkins |
| Sequel | Wonder Woman 1984, 2020 |
Quick snapshot
Identity and origin
- Home: Themyscira, originally Paradise Island in the comics (Encyclopaedia Britannica relaunch entry)
- Debut: All Star Comics #8, cover date December 1941 to January 1942 (Los Angeles Times timeline)
Creators and adaptations
- Creators: William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter (Encyclopaedia Britannica character entry)
- Live-action TV: Lynda Carter, 1975 to 1979 (Encyclopaedia Britannica character entry)
- Film: Wonder Woman, released June 2, 2017 (Los Angeles Times timeline)
Parentage across eras
- 1941 Golden Age: clay figure shaped by Hippolyta and given life by Aphrodite (encyclopedia-derived US court citation, Tier 3)
- 2011 New 52: Diana is the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta (Vanity Fair film explainer)
The 2017 film’s framing
- Setting moved from World War II to World War I (Inverse film report)
- A present-day Paris photo sent by Bruce Wayne prompts Diana’s flashback (Inverse film report)
Who is Wonder Woman’s real identity?
Where does Diana come from?
Diana comes from Themyscira, an island of Amazons. In the 1941 debut the island was called Paradise Island. The Los Angeles Times timeline says American pilot Steve Trevor’s plane crashed there, and Diana nursed him and then won an Amazon tournament that let her escort him back to America.
According to Nerdist’s character history, Diana entered that tournament in secret, against her mother’s wishes, and won by deflecting bullets with her bracelets. WIRED contrasts that 1941 Diana, a lovestruck teenager, with the ambassador George Pérez wrote in 1987, who opposes Ares as a champion.
What is Diana Prince’s role in the stories?
The brief for this article lists Diana Prince as Wonder Woman’s civilian identity. The sources checked do not support that for the modern era. Britannica’s account of the 1987 relaunch says Diana had no secret identity while serving as Themyscira’s ambassador.
Treat the civilian name Diana Prince as unconfirmed here. The research cannot date when, or whether, that identity was used, so a reader who needs it should check the original DC Comics issues.
The 1990s change is better documented. The syndicated Los Angeles Times timeline reports that Hippolyta set a contest, Diana lost the Wonder Woman title to Artemis, and she kept fighting under a new costume. Pérez’s relaunch and this later contest both reshaped who Diana is, even when the name stayed the same.
Is Diana in Wonder Woman a god?
The answer depends on the version. One encyclopedia-derived summary of the Golden Age origin has Hippolyta sculpt Diana from clay, with Aphrodite giving her life and other Greek gods adding gifts.
The New 52 changed that. Vanity Fair reports that writer Brian Azzarello and artist Cliff Chiang revealed in 2011 that Diana was the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, not made from clay.
The clay story and the Zeus story are incompatible origins. Read each claim against its own era, or the two versions blur into one.
Who is Diana’s father in the 2017 film?
Zeus. Vanity Fair reports that the 2017 film uses the New 52 parentage, while the clay story returns through Hippolyta’s account. /Film’s explainer on Diana’s father calls her a demigod daughter of Zeus, and says the Amazons are immortal in the film and comics. That second point rests on fan encyclopedic sources, so treat it as less certain.
Ares is the film’s antagonist, described as the big bad in a Hypebeast history piece. The Wikipedia film article goes further and says the climax reveals Diana as a god-killer, but that is a Tier 3 summary.
The clay-to-Zeus switch matters because it turns Diana from a made figure into a god’s child, and the 2017 film chose the second version.
Is Wonder Girl related to Wonder Woman?
The sources gathered for this article do not cover the Wonder Girl name, so this section can only report what is missing. The brief calls Wonder Girl a separate character name and says Donna Troy has used it. Neither claim has a source in the research.
Who has used the name Wonder Girl?
No character list can be confirmed from these sources. The sources also do not date any Wonder Girl appearance to a series, so a list would need to be built from DC’s own issue records.
This is the gap readers will hit first. Wonder Girl is one of the most common follow-up questions, and the research has no dated comics source for it.
Until a dated DC source is added, treat any name list for Wonder Girl as unverified.
Who is Wonder Woman’s main lover?
The sources do not name a main romantic partner for Wonder Woman. The one relationship they describe is not romantic: Steve Trevor’s crash on the island brings Diana into the outside world.
Did Superman have a child with Wonder Woman?
The research does not confirm this. Child storylines differ by continuity, and the brief’s claim cannot be tied to a specific series or film. Treat it as unclear.
Who did Wonder Woman have a baby with?
The sources in this article do not answer that question. Romantic partners differ between comics continuities and adaptations, so any single name needs a dated source from the storyline itself.
Fan answers to this question often mix storylines from different eras. Check the issue or film before repeating a name.
Without a dated source for each storyline, a confident answer here would be guesswork.
What are some adjectives that describe Wonder Woman?
How was Wonder Woman created?
William Moulton Marston, a psychologist who wrote as Charles Moulton, co-created the character with artist Harry G. Peter. The first appearance came in All Star Comics #8, dated December 1941 to January 1942. Marston’s stated goal, in a press release, was clear.
“to set up a standard among children and young people of strong, free, courageous womanhood; and to combat the idea that women are inferior to men.”
William Moulton Marston, creator, quoted in a press release via the San Diego Union-Tribune
What powers does Wonder Woman have?
The sources describe few powers directly. The 1941 comic introduction presents her as lovely, wise, and fast. It is the earliest description the research supplies.
“As lovely as Aphrodite — as wise as Athena — with the speed of Mercury and the strength of Hercules — she is known only as Wonder Woman.”
Unnamed 1941 comic narration, via the Los Angeles Times timeline
Later commentary links the character to broader values. In a Vulture feminist history, a 1972 commentator is quoted on what the character stood for.
“Wonder Woman symbolizes many of the values of the women’s culture that feminists are now trying to introduce into the mainstream: strength and self-reliance for women; sisterhood and mutual support among women; peacefulness and esteem for human life.”
Unnamed 1972 commentator, quoted by Vulture
Strong, free, courageous, wise, and lovely recur across these sources. They describe the creators’ intent and the comics’ own language more than any single later version of the character.
How did the 2017 film change the origin?
Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, was released on June 2, 2017, according to the Los Angeles Times timeline. Gal Gadot played Diana after she first appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). The Los Angeles Times also calls the film the first female-led entry in the modern superhero renaissance.
Inverse reports that the film moved the story from World War II to World War I, and that it opens with a present-day Paris photo sent by Bruce Wayne that prompts Diana’s flashback. The Wikipedia film summary says Gadot describes Diana as naive about gender norms, with a feminist outlook that “everyone is equal.” That is a Tier 3 paraphrase.
Wonder Woman 1984 followed in 2020, with Jenkins and Gadot returning and Kristen Wiig cast as Cheetah, according to Britannica.
The Paris framing and the WWI setting are the two clearest departures from the 1941 comic, and both are documented in the Inverse report.
Confirmed facts and open questions
Confirmed facts
- Creators: William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- First appearance: All Star Comics #8, cover date December 1941 to January 1942 (Los Angeles Times)
- Relaunch by George Pérez in February 1987, with Themyscira’s Greek mythology backstory (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- The 2017 film moved the story from World War II to World War I (Inverse)
What’s unclear
- Diana Prince as a civilian identity: listed in the brief, but Britannica says Diana had no secret identity under the Pérez relaunch
- Wonder Girl and Donna Troy: no dated source in the research
- Romantic partners and a child with Superman: no source in the research
- The $822 million worldwide gross attributed to My Comics Collection, a Tier 3 source rated low confidence
- Amazons as immortal in the film and comics: supported only by fan encyclopedic sources
- Persian roots of the Amazons: speculation in a Pacific Council commentary, not confirmed by primary sources
- Gadot’s description of Diana as naive about gender norms: a Tier 3 paraphrase
Britannica and the Los Angeles Times anchor the dates, so readers who need certainty about Wonder Girl or romantic storylines should check a dated DC source before repeating any claim.
Related reading: Two-Face: Harvey Dent’s Origin, History and Portrayals · Ghost Rider Explained: Johnny Blaze, Carter Slade and the Films
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created Wonder Woman?
William Moulton Marston, a psychologist who wrote as Charles Moulton, and artist Harry G. Peter created the character, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
When did Wonder Woman first appear?
Wonder Woman first appeared in All Star Comics #8, with a cover date of January 1942 to January 1942.
Who played Wonder Woman in the 2017 film?
Gal Gadot played Diana in Wonder Woman (2017), after first appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
What is the island home of Wonder Woman?
Diana’s home is Themyscira. The comics first called it Paradise Island, and the name changed in the 1987 relaunch.
In which war is the 2017 Wonder Woman film set?
The 2017 film is set in World War I. The original comics were set in World War II.
Is Wonder Woman 1984 a sequel to the 2017 film?
Yes. Jenkins and Gadot returned for Wonder Woman 1984, released in 2020, with Kristen Wiig as Cheetah, according to Britannica.
Henry William Bennett Murray is a staff writer for CivicInsight.uk, covering UK public affairs, policy and civic life. He works under Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Langford, following the newsroom standards for sourcing, verification and fact-checking set out in our editorial policies.