Will Race Stop Olivia Munn from Being Wonder Woman?

Self-proclaimed geek girl Olivia Munn loves Wonder Woman, and she's very open about it. Recently, during a press junket for The Newsroom in Singapore, she came out to say that she would love to play the role of the superhero in a film adaptation, but doesn't think it's likely — and she's getting right to the realness: "It would be great, though, if the producers could make Wonder Woman an Asian-American, but that’s probably not what they would do."

And why not? Well, there has been notorious backlash against "race-swapping" in superhero movies. In 2010, Donald Glover launched a Twitter campaign to play the role in the Spider-Man reboot, but of course the Internet exploded, arguing that Spider-Man was white. Sure, in the comic books, the hero is white, but is anything about his experience white? Supporters of Glover argued that casting a black man as the character would give reason for the reboot, allowing an opportunity to show a level of diversity. But it was a no-go, and Andrew Garfield was cast instead.

Munn seems to be resigned to the fact that she would have no real chance to play Wonder Woman, but can this reticence be attributed solely to her race? On fan sites, many commenters are against Munn in the role of Wonder Woman because she is a "fake" geek girl, and because she doesn't have the acting chops. But would the same questions come up if Munn were white? The Chinese-American actress has had roles in Iron Man 2, Magic Mike and plays journalist Sloan Sabbith on Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom. Her credentials aren't shabby.

Munn should be considered for the role as much as anyone else. Hell, Megan Fox has been rumored to be the favorite as the star, and though her performance in Jennifer's Body was ... perplexing, I don't think that makes her a higher calibre actress than Munn.

Whether the Wonder Woman film will ever materialize, though, remains to be seen. Joss Whedon made a failed attempt to create the film before he gave up and went on to The Avengers. Hollywood just doesn't seem to know how to get a grasp on Wonder Woman's complexity — naysayers of a Wonder Woman film in general say that the superhero's storyline is alienating, that her costume is "too skimpy" for action scenes, that she's too feminist — but those are just lame excuses.

We need a lasso of truth on this one — where is our Wonder Woman?