10 Powers Wonder Woman Never Used Across Her 7 DCEU Appearances

As one of the “Big Three” members of the Justice League, Wonder Woman has displayed a plethora of powers in the DCEU, but her movie appearances have only scratched the surface of her well of abilities from the comics. As a storied character with a long history, Wonder Woman has had many strange powers over the years. Between the multiple iterations of the main timeline of the DC Comics, her origin has consistently changed the most out of the staple Justice League founders. As such, her powers are surprisingly varied.

Throughout Wonder Woman’s appearances in the DCEU, directors have shown off the character’s surprising amount of versatility. Appearing in 2017’s Justice League, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Flash, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods as well as her own two films, Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984, Diana Prince is separated from Superman nicely by having a wider range of abilities beyond just flight and super strength. Still, not every power she’s exhibited from the comics made the transition to the big screen, and with the DCEU wrapping up, it’s more pertinent than ever to take a look through her wider catalog of powers to see what could be in store for James Gunn’s new version of Wonder Woman.

Related: Every DCEU Movie Ranked From Worst To Best​​​​​​​

10 Talking To Animals

In Wonder Woman’s origin in the mainline DC Comics following the Crisis On Infinite Earths storyline, Diana’s very beginnings are magical in nature. Sculpted from clay, Wonder Woman is blessed at birth by several deities in Greek mythology, granting her a wide array of supernatural gifts passed down straight from the gods themselves. This included Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, who gave Wonder Woman “The Eye of the Hunter” and unity with all beasts.

What this translated into was the ability for Wonder Woman to speak to animals. Rarely using this ability, it was especially jarring when it did come up, Wonder Woman often surprising her compatriots with her kinship with woodland creatures. This ability was likely axed in the DCEU due to its possible overlap with Aquaman’s ability to communicate with sea creatures, a murky area of overlap that could cause some confusion with Diana’s fellow Justice League member.

9 Invulnerability To Fire

Another goddess to bless Wonder Woman upon her inception was Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home. Hestia’s power is channeled through the Lasso of Truth, used heavily in the DCEU. But the blessing of Hestia came with another, more defensive element, being total immunity to fire and flame.

Not only shielding Diana against harm from conventional fires, the divine protection even extends to supernatural flame, having protected her from the supernatural fires of Ares. Though Ares in the DCEU is shown to be able to generate heat strong enough to melt magical metal artifacts such as Wonder Woman’s sword, God Killer, he doesn’t really use giant plumes of flame as an attack. That could be reason enough for this power not to come up in the DCEU, keeping Wonder Woman that little bit more mortal in the realm of the film series.

8 Teleportation

Between flight, super speed, and the invisible jet, Wonder Woman has no shortage of ways to get around. Yet in the comics, she has been even more mobile, rarely showing off her ability to teleport. The exact mechanics of this ability have varied over the years, sometimes requiring Diana to utilize a sort of rope trick with her Lasso of Truth to create a portal through which she and others can travel. But in earlier appearances, Wonder Woman is able to simply warp to another location with so much as a thought.

The comics themselves rarely showcased this power, so it makes sense that it wouldn’t appear in Wonder Woman’s more recent film appearances in the DCEU. It would be difficult to create a high-stakes story for Wonder Woman to take on that wouldn’t be broken by the ability to simply appear anywhere. Not only that, it would make the Invisible Jet even more obsolete, despite being a much more fun visual for audiences to enjoy.

7 Astral Projection

Being more on the magical side of DC’s pantheon, Wonder Woman has possessed a wide array of metaphysical abilities in the comics. At one point, this included astral projection, allowing Diana to travel to distant lands in spirit form as her physical body lay dormant. This allowed Diana to travel into distant realms, though at the cost of leaving her earthly form vulnerable.

In her early days, magical powers such as this helped distinguish Wonder Woman from Superman. In the modernized setting of the DCEU, this power could’ve had potential, with Wonder Woman showing off the power similarly to the MCU’s Doctor Strange. Still, providing an explanation for this power makes it trickier to implement, with moviegoers being skeptical about random abilities that aren’t well-explained, the occurrence of which being common in the Golden and Silver eras of DC’s comics.

6 Forcing Changes Of Heart

The Lasso of Truth is one of Wonder Woman’s most well-known powers, being able to interrogate any man (or simply any person, depending on the version) without fear of deception. The lasso, like Wonder Woman, has also had a great deal of lesser-known powers, including the ability to incite changes of heart. This means that defeated foes could, after being wrapped up in the magical rope, be forced to change their ways for the better, warding off evil actions of villains for a long time to come.

Beyond simply not being very cinematic, this power is clearly an odd choice for a modern film series to implement. Forcing a change of heart via magical means is not a satisfying conclusion to any villains’ arc, especially the intimidating roster Wonder Woman has faced in the DCEU like Doomsday and Ares. Not only that, the ethical questions behind forcibly altering someone’s behavior could even make the power controversial to include, making it unlikely to see use in any future iteration of DC’s connected films.

5 The Powers Of Ares

The Greek god of war, Ares has been Wonder Woman’s primary antagonist in the comics for a long time. Despite Ares being weakened in the DCEU compared to the comics, he’s still an intimidating opponent with a wide array of powers. Upon his defeat in the comics, Wonder Woman became the new deity of war, absorbing these powers for herself.

Becoming the goddess of war gave Wonder Woman a deadly suite of possible powers, including resurrection, shadow manipulation, and mental command over soldiers. As cool as it would be to see Diana command the battlefield as a veritable goddess on screen, it certainly would’ve made her overpowered within the scope of the DCEU. Because of this simple fact, it’s unlikely that Wonder Woman will ever gain Ares’ considerable power should DC Studios succeed in rebooting the character.

4 Destructive Magic

A warrior from birth, it’s not often that Wonder Woman is thought of as a spell caster. Though not as famous for magical ability in the world of DC compared to supernatural savants like Constantine or Zatanna, Wonder Woman is still immersed in the magical side of the comics’ continuity. As such, she has demonstrated spell casting capabilities before, including powerful waves of destructive magic.

Even if she isn’t the most refined magic user, Wonder Woman houses an incredible amount of raw magical power within her. She’s even able to damage the Upside-Down Man, a terrifying magical entity and one of the most powerful villains in DC’s history. Still, as far as the films go, limiting the scope of Wonder Woman’s spell casting ability makes more room for the inclusion of future magic practitioners into DC’s movies without having too much overlap.

3 Super Breath

Similar to Superman’s own version of this power, Wonder Woman has demonstrated her own super breath in the comics. Though it doesn’t seem to have a freezing effect like Superman’s, it’s still incredibly useful for Wonder Woman to be able to produce directional gale force winds whenever she needs. Not a magical ability in nature, Wonder Woman’s super breath is more of an extension of her superhuman Amazon physiology, extending her incredible strength to her lungs to produce incredibly powerful gusts of air whenever she needs.

As cool as this ability is on a static page, it would likely look a little goofier in live-action. Not only that, it’s a power that doesn’t show up too often in the modern era of comics, meaning DCEU writers might not have even known of its existence. If the tone of Gunn’s new DCU is lighthearted enough, the power could see an inclusion, though considering Superman’s version of the ability is more iconic, it’s unlikely Wonder Woman will get the opportunity.

2 Magical Tiara

Wonder Woman is unique in her use of enchanted objects in addition to her native array of powers. Rather than being reliant solely on gadgets like Batman, or her own inherent abilities like Superman, Wonder Woman utilizes the best of both worlds as a truly capable heroine. The most well-known of her paraphernalia includes her invincible bracers, the Lasso of Truth, her sword and shield, and the Invisible Jet. But one magical accessory doesn’t get a time to shine in the DCEU, that being her magical tiara.

More than just a fashion statement, Wonder Woman’s tiara in the comics has held numerous powers over the years. The most famous use of the tiara is as a boomerang-like throwing weapon, popularized by Lynda Carter’s portrayal of Wonder Woman in her eponymous TV series from the 70s. In the comics, the tiara has also allowed Diana to telepathically control the Invisible Jet, a missed opportunity in the DCEU’s Wonder Woman 1984. Hopefully, future films can take more advantage of the iconic piece of headgear as part of Wonder Woman’s arsenal.

1 Inhibitive Bracelets

One piece of Wonder Woman’s outfit that has seen significant use in the DCEU is her magical bracers. Immune to nearly any form of attack, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman frequently utilizes the powerful armbands to deflect bullets and create magical shockwaves of pure energy. However, one lesser-known aspect of the bracers that never made the transition from the comics is their function as a limiter to Diana’s own power.

Not just a useful tool in battle, Wonder Woman’s magical bracers have been shown to actually hold back her true power in the comics. Upon releasing them, Wonder Woman gains a massive boost to her strength at the cost of control, going berserk in battle. The concept would make for an excellent scene in a future film, Diana shedding her restraints to go all-out in righteous fury on a villain that warranted no mercy. This little-known power of Wonder Woman is a must-include for her next iteration in a cinematic franchise.