Professor Marston & the Wonder Women explores an icon's kinky, feminist origins
A new biopic examines the lives of Wonder Woman's creator, William Moulton Marston, and the two women who inspired her
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Wonder Woman's story, as contained within the pages of her comic book, has been triumphantly told on screen thanks to Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot.
Now comes the time to reveal her origins off the page, in a new biopic which explores the life of her creator William Moulton Marston, alongside the two women that inspired her feminist ideals, his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne.
The trio became engaged in a polyamorous relationship after Byrne studied under William at Tufts and Columbia, and it's within that love that Wonder Woman was born, encapsulating what Marston described as, "psychological propaganda for the new type of woman".
Their enthusiasm for BDSM found its way into Wonder Woman's early days, too: in almost every issue, the character was shown chained or tied up. A nod to sexual fetishism, yes, but her eventual escape was also a model of women escaping from their social chains in a strictly patriarchal society.
Directed and written by Angela Robinson, Professor Martson & the Wonder Women stars Luke Evans as William Moulton Marston, Rebecca Hall as Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and Bella Heathcote as Olive Byrne.
The film hits cinemas 27 October.
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