Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman is one of the most acclaimed superhero movies ever made. Gal Gadot perfectly captured Diana’s strength, nobility, and unfaltering positivity, while Jenkins’ refusal to avoid anything that could be considered cheesy made Wonder Woman a refreshingly earnest counterpoint to the wry bathos of the MCU.
Like all the best superhero movies, Wonder Woman has a bunch of unforgettable action sequences. From the Amazons’ battle with German soldiers on the beaches of Themyscira to Diana’s climactic dust-up with Ares, the movie is filled with memorable set pieces. There’s one sequence that Jenkins had to fight to keep that ended up becoming the cornerstone of the movie’s marketing campaign and one of the most iconic moments in recent cinema.
When Diana, Steve, and their team arrive at the front in Belgium, they find all the Allied troops cowering in the trenches. They refuse to go out into the enemy’s firing line and march to their deaths through No Man’s Land, so Diana goes out alone. In glorious slow-motion, she walks across No Man’s Land, deflecting bullets with her bracelets and bombs with her shield. Thanks to Gal Gadot embodying Diana’s fierce heroism and Rupert Gregson-Williams’ music selling the epic scale of the conflict, this moment is suitably cinematic.
The No Man’s Land scene became the centerpiece of Wonder Woman and the focal point of all its posters and trailers, but it almost got cut from the shoot. When Jenkins first announced that she had to fight to keep this sequence in the movie, fans assumed it was Warner Bros. executives that tried to cut it, based on the studio’s reputation for meddling in DC movies like Suicide Squad and Justice League.
However, Jenkins felt bad that Warners got the blame and later clarified who the critics were. She explained in an interview with Cinemablendd, “It was not Warner Bros., it was my own people in England... who were like, ‘Why are you doing this scene? She’s not even fighting anything... We’ve already seen her block a bullet in the alley and then she’s going to go in and save this church tower – why do you need this other scene?’” Jenkins had the perfect response to these concerns: “I kept saying, ‘It’s about her – it’s not about anybody else. It’s only about her.” Most action sequences in superhero movies see the heroes fighting villains, but Wonder Woman’s No Man’s Land set piece is all about Diana’s personal journey.
Jenkins’ dissenting crew members had a valid point that there was another great action sequence right around the corner – liberating the village of Veld – but the No Man’s Land sequence serves as a precursor to that scene. Capturing the enemy trench on the other side of No Man’s Land is what allows Diana and the other Allied forces to get into Veld and save the villagers from their oppressive overlords.
The best action sequences have their own internal story structure. For example, the Battle of Helm’s Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has its own three-act narrative framework. Wonder Woman’s No Man’s Land sequence begins with Diana setting out to achieve a goal: crossing the battlefield to save a village full of people from their German captors. As she gets closer to the enemy trench, the gunfire and explosives become harder to fend off. The stakes are raised as Diana desperately wards off a barrage of firepower, but she pushes through it. Eventually, at the sequence’s explosive climax, she’s joined by backup from the Allied trench after the troops are inspired by her courage.
While Superman’s first flight in Man of Steel is a close second, Wonder Woman’s No Man’s Land sequence remains the greatest moment in the entire DCEU. This scene defines what it means to be a superhero. Diana faces impossible odds without a second thought because there are innocent people that need to be saved. There’s a telling dialogue exchange in which Steve, just trying to be realistic, tells Diana, “We can’t save everyone in this war. This is not what we came here to do.” Diana replies, “No... but it’s what I’m going to do,” before suiting up and climbing the ladder out of the trench to face down the might of the German Army. Almost every scene in the movie contributes to Diana’s characterization, but this one above all proves what makes her a true superhero.
Superheroes are supposed to be godly figures that audiences look up to, but due to their prevalence in the current pop culture landscape, that rarely happens. While Richard Donner’s Superman made audiences believe a man can fly, today’s moviegoers are desensitized to the spectacular antics of caped crimefighters. Not a lot of recent comic book blockbusters have made audiences fully appreciate the super-ness of their superhero characters, but Diana’s trip across No Man’s Land in Wonder Woman does just that.