Chris Pine’s “Wonder Woman” character was inspired by Lois Lane, and hell yes

If you think the alley fight scene in Wonder Woman looks familiar, there’s good reason for that. Director Patty Jenkins pulled from many, myriad influences in the making of the film — including 1978’s Superman, which majorly influenced Diana (Gal Gadot) and Steve’s (Chris Pine) scuffle with the bad guys.

"That alley scene, I love," Jenkins said at a recent Wonder Woman Master Class at YouTube Space LA. "I was like, we have to have a moment where Diana’s encountering the problems of man’s world, and what a beautiful opportunity to pay a direct homage to that scene."

In Superman‘s alley scene, a mugger tries to take off with Lois Lane’s (Margot Kidder) purse, but she’s having none of it. The mugger then shoots at Lois, but Clark Kent/Superman (Christopher Reeve) blocks the bullet, and catches it in his hand — all without Lois realizing.

Jenkins — who called Superman a “perfect film” — praised Lois as a brave, dynamic character.

"Lois Lane is such an amazing character in that movie, with such great dimension, which inspired how we approached [Steve, who also had] to be a great, full-blown, wonderful participant in this story."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBu2pWm7-E?feature=oembed

Back to the alley fight scene, Wonder Woman‘s is similar, but has some interesting differences. Most notably, when confronted by the bad guys, Steve stands in front of Diana to protect her, but when one fires at him, Diana blocks the bullet with her badass bracelet — and Steve, after fumbling around with the hot bullet, is the one to catch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1fOJ8sghp4?feature=oembed

“Steve’s no dummy, so [he’s] like, ‘That’s awkward, but that’s useful. That’s slightly uncomfortable for me as a man, but at this moment, also very helpful.’ And I love that about their dynamic. [He’s] the guy who’s like, ‘This is not exactly something I know how to deal with, but I’ve been needing someone like you for quite some time.’ So, you have that tension between the two of them.”

In this moment, when Diana was just acting on an instinct to protect Steve, she also realizes that she can block bullets.

"I love, in an origin story, the moments that a superhero discovers and tests their own power," Jenkins explained. "What an exciting, exhilarating thing to be like, 'Oh, I can climb this, I can do this.' [Those are] some of my favorite scenes of every superhero movie."

The feeling is definitely mutual, and we especially loved Diana’s discovery.