Being a warrior and a hero, Wonder Woman has already killed various enemies, and her most horrific murder was too vivid for the DCEU. Comics don’t have to worry about that, and that’s why they were able to get Wonder Woman to commit violence that she can’t commit on the big screen.
Wonder Woman learned how to fight from the Amazons on Themyscira. This taught her a lot of combat abilities, and also prepared her to use them. Apart from her abilities, this training makes her such an effective hero. This helped her defeat God-like threats that she could not defeat by force alone. It also sometimes led her to disagreements with Batman and Superman, who are less inclined to kill. This happened most famously when she killed Maxwell Lord to free Superman from his control. But while Lord was probably her most impressive kill, her most horrific kill came when she was fighting the Gorgon Medusa.
Related: Shazam and Wonder Woman Make Marvel’s Bloodiest Murder Even More Disturbing
In “Wonder Woman # 210” by Greg Ruck and Drew Johnson, Wonder Woman must fight Medusa in a one-on-one deathmatch. Gorgon had previously killed a boy close to Diana, so the Amazon wants revenge. Medusa tries to make Wonder Woman meet her gaze in order to turn her into stone, but Wonder Woman has various precautions to prevent this, such as the blindfold worn under her helmet. In the end, Medusa manages to strip Wonder Woman of her armor and protection, but at the same time Diana grabs some of her snake hair and sprays poison into her eyes, blinding herself. She can then chop off her opponent’s head without fear of petrification.
Not only is beheading too extreme for a PG-13 rated movie, Diana blinding herself with acid also looks too graphic. But the violence shown in the comic is not gratuitous, despite its extreme; Wonder Woman, blinding herself, shows her ingenuity and dedication. There was no guarantee that she would ever be able to regain her sight (and indeed, she remained blind for quite some time after that, which is shocking considering that DC rarely allows heroes to get long-term injuries), but she was ready to do it. this sacrifice is for the greater good. And her graphic beheading of Medusa simultaneously goes back to an ancient myth and reveals Wonder Woman’s anger towards the villain.
Wonder Woman is the only major DC superhero who could do this to Medusa. Other heroes would have shied away from such cruel tactics or would not have dared to painfully blind themselves, but as a warrior trained from childhood to fight legendary monsters, Diana was able to do what needed to be done.
It’s a pity that this side of Wonder Woman is too graphic for the film, as it’s an amazing part of her character and what sets her apart from the rest of the Justice League.
