Connie Nielsen Wants to Play ‘Wonder Woman’s Hippolyta Again

Wonder Woman fans were dealt a heavy blow when James Gunn took over the DC cinematic universe at Warner Bros.

The Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad director, along with producer Peter Safran, is completely remaking the DC universe. And as The Hollywood Reporter reported in December 2022, Patty Jenkins‘ third Wonder Woman movie doesn’t fit into that vision, despite the first film being universally lauded as one of the only truly good DC superhero films. However, that doesn’t mean Gal Gadot‘s hero is gone for good, nor are the Amazons.

DC announced its big future plans for the film and TV universe in January, and an Amazon prequel series was part of that plan. HBO Max‘s Paradise Lost, which gets its name from a Wonder Woman comic, will be a Game of Thrones-like prequel series centering on Themyscira, the island home of the Amazons — how it came to be, its inner workings, its political intrigue, and more. The history of Themyscira is briefly covered in the first Wonder Woman film. That history revealed the Amazons aged differently than humans and the Amazonian queen and their general, sisters Hippolyta and Antiope, were part of the island’s creation along with the other warriors.

Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright played Hippolyta and Antiope in Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman: 1984, and Zack Snyder‘s Justice League. Ahead of the series premiere of Nielsen’s Danish drama The Dreamer (streaming now on Viaplay), we asked the star if she’d ever return to the franchise.

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“I love that character so much. I love what Wonder Woman gives to women and men,” Nielsen told TV Insider. “I saw [it] with my own eyes, my then 12-year-old kid sitting next to me with his friends at the premiere. And the moment they saw us jump into action, they looked at each other like [jaw drops]. They were astounded.”

“It proved to me that action has no gender,” Nielsen continued, reflecting on Wonder Woman‘s legacy. “It isn’t true that we are relegated to one gender expression. It just isn’t true. We can express whatever we want, no matter what gender we are. And I think that that is what Wonder Woman proved over and again. I think the Amazons have an incredible life brought on screen by Patty Jenkins and by Zack Snyder. It’s really almost like a full-fledged culture that people really, really felt.

“I think a lot of women, young women feel insanely empowered when they are watching those scenes. And I hope that they will continue to. And I hope that DC will continue to see the incredible impact on our culture and culture around the world for women when people watch this type of story.”

The 2017 Wonder Woman is one of film’s few examples of war stories centering on women as the soldiers. Jenkins’ portrayal of the Amazons made them the world’s mightiest warriors, as they were written in the comics, with their strength and skill being showcased through the Wonder Woman beach scene that truly never gets old and the still goosebump-inducing No Man’s Land scene.

Jenkins knew the importance of showing these women fearlessly riding into battle. Nielsen knows it, too. Would she and Wright ever be interested in a Hippolyta and Antiope-focused Amazons prequel?

“Of course,” she said. “I know both Robin and I love those characters so much. We are so in love with them.”

She wants to continue the story because of its impact.

“It’s been such a wonderful experience just seeing how people have just embraced these characters,” she said. “I’ve seen it so many times where people just really go like, ‘You know what, it can be tough out there, but we actually have got this, we’ve got this.’ And you know, I think women and young men as well need to be reminded sometimes that you’ve got this. And if what we do with our films can contribute to that, then our job is done. That’s what we want it to do.”

As Gunn assured on Instagram, and as evidenced by her cameo in the Shazam! Fury of the Gods end-credits scene, Gadot has not been “booted” from DC. Paradise Lost will be set long before her demigod’s birth, but given the agelessness of the Amazons, it’s possible Nielsen and Wright could be asked to reprise their roles as Diana’s mother and aunt. Nielsen certainly seems game.