Wonder Twins Movie Activates!
by Joal Ryan
Jun 8, 2002, 3:45 PM PT
The Wonder Twins' considerable--if unusual--powers have been reactivated.
Apparently thinking what's good for Spider-Man is good for Jayna and Zan, Warner Bros. is teaming with Gaylord Films to develop a live-action flick about the teen 'toon titans from the planet Exxor, the Hollywood trade papers reported this week.
No word if Gleek is attached.
Jayna and Zan, aka the Wonder Twins, and their pet monkey, Gleek, helped battle the likes of Lex Luthor, Captain Cold and other DC Comics baddies during the 1977-78 season of the ABC Saturday morning cartoon series Superfriends.
In the superhero universe, Superfriends, which ran in various incarnations from 1973-86, was Justice League of America lite. While the TV show featured many of the same heroes as the comic-book title that is JLA (Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc.), it also featured the kiddie-rific likes of hero trainees Jayna and Zan. (And, of course, Gleek.)
The Wonder Twins are perhaps best known for their mantra, "Wonder Twins powers, activate!" Shortly after reciting this mantra, the siblings then do the other thing they are perhaps best known for: Turning themselves into the universe's lamest crime fighters.
Like, maybe Jayna will transform into a zebra. And Zan? Poor Zan. He'll turn into a puddle of water. Or, if he's really steamed, he may just bust a move on Brainiac by turning into, you know, steam.
The Wonder Twins' shtick is that Jayna can take the form of any animal, and Zan can convert himself into any form of water.
Like ice cubes.
Gleek, meanwhile, is blue.
Okay, so Jayna and Zan aren't Spider-Man. And they're certainly not Superman (or Supergirl, for that matter). But according to the trades, Warners isn't hot on the Wonder Twins because they see them as successors to the recent spate of form-fitting, high-action superhero flicks. Rather, the studio reportedly sees the Exxor aliens as following in the animated-to-live footsteps of its upcoming family-friendly Scooby-Doo flick.
The Wonder Twins project is in its infancy, with no script, no director and, as of yet, no prospective Wonder Twin stars.
When pressed, the Webmaster known as Avia Free, of the Justice League International Headquarters fan site (with its offshoot Zan & Jayna FAQ), said he could see Christina Ricci ("dressed as a 'nice girl' for once") and "that fellow [Nicholas Brendon] that plays Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as Twin material.
What no Superfriends aficionado apparently can see is where Wendy, Marvin and Wonderdog fit into all this.
Wendy and Marvin, with their pet pooch, Wonderdog, were the super friends' original teen friends, during the show's 1973-74 season. Unlike Zan and Jayna, Wendy and Marvin couldn't transform into anything. Not even a mean mist. They were mortals, as was Wonderdog, who was not even blue (although he did wear a cape). The trio was written off the show and replaced by the Wonder Twins and Gleek.
And, on the eve of the Wonder Twins' big-screen close-up, Wendy and Marvin continue to receive little support.
"Wendy and Marvin were [expletive deleted] ridiculous stupid kids with no powers other than getting accidentally locked inside the villain's trunk," the Webmaster Seanbaby (of Seanbaby's Super Friends Page) said in an email interview. "At least the Wonder Twins made fools of themselves with fantastic abilities."
by Joal Ryan
Jun 8, 2002, 3:45 PM PT
The Wonder Twins' considerable--if unusual--powers have been reactivated.
Apparently thinking what's good for Spider-Man is good for Jayna and Zan, Warner Bros. is teaming with Gaylord Films to develop a live-action flick about the teen 'toon titans from the planet Exxor, the Hollywood trade papers reported this week.
No word if Gleek is attached.
Jayna and Zan, aka the Wonder Twins, and their pet monkey, Gleek, helped battle the likes of Lex Luthor, Captain Cold and other DC Comics baddies during the 1977-78 season of the ABC Saturday morning cartoon series Superfriends.
In the superhero universe, Superfriends, which ran in various incarnations from 1973-86, was Justice League of America lite. While the TV show featured many of the same heroes as the comic-book title that is JLA (Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc.), it also featured the kiddie-rific likes of hero trainees Jayna and Zan. (And, of course, Gleek.)
The Wonder Twins are perhaps best known for their mantra, "Wonder Twins powers, activate!" Shortly after reciting this mantra, the siblings then do the other thing they are perhaps best known for: Turning themselves into the universe's lamest crime fighters.
Like, maybe Jayna will transform into a zebra. And Zan? Poor Zan. He'll turn into a puddle of water. Or, if he's really steamed, he may just bust a move on Brainiac by turning into, you know, steam.
The Wonder Twins' shtick is that Jayna can take the form of any animal, and Zan can convert himself into any form of water.
Like ice cubes.
Gleek, meanwhile, is blue.
Okay, so Jayna and Zan aren't Spider-Man. And they're certainly not Superman (or Supergirl, for that matter). But according to the trades, Warners isn't hot on the Wonder Twins because they see them as successors to the recent spate of form-fitting, high-action superhero flicks. Rather, the studio reportedly sees the Exxor aliens as following in the animated-to-live footsteps of its upcoming family-friendly Scooby-Doo flick.
The Wonder Twins project is in its infancy, with no script, no director and, as of yet, no prospective Wonder Twin stars.
When pressed, the Webmaster known as Avia Free, of the Justice League International Headquarters fan site (with its offshoot Zan & Jayna FAQ), said he could see Christina Ricci ("dressed as a 'nice girl' for once") and "that fellow [Nicholas Brendon] that plays Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as Twin material.
What no Superfriends aficionado apparently can see is where Wendy, Marvin and Wonderdog fit into all this.
Wendy and Marvin, with their pet pooch, Wonderdog, were the super friends' original teen friends, during the show's 1973-74 season. Unlike Zan and Jayna, Wendy and Marvin couldn't transform into anything. Not even a mean mist. They were mortals, as was Wonderdog, who was not even blue (although he did wear a cape). The trio was written off the show and replaced by the Wonder Twins and Gleek.
And, on the eve of the Wonder Twins' big-screen close-up, Wendy and Marvin continue to receive little support.
"Wendy and Marvin were [expletive deleted] ridiculous stupid kids with no powers other than getting accidentally locked inside the villain's trunk," the Webmaster Seanbaby (of Seanbaby's Super Friends Page) said in an email interview. "At least the Wonder Twins made fools of themselves with fantastic abilities."
