Wonder Twin Powers… ACTIVATE! The famous sidekicks from the ’70s Super Friends cartoon are coming to live-action in their own movie for HBO Max. Adam Sztykiel, who penned the screenplay for the upcoming theatrical feature Black Adam will write and direct. Sztykiel has experience bringing animated projects to the big screen, having written Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Roadchip and SCOOB!, as well as the cartoony video game adaptation Rampage. He also executive produced SCOOB!. (Rampage and SCOOB! were both also for Warner Bros.) The Wonder Twins will be produced by Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey (the Twilight and Maze Runner franchises) for Temple Hill.
The Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, are alien shapeshifters from the planet Exxor, who are accompanied by the space monkey, Gleek. The characters did not originate in the comics but were created by Norman Maurer, William Hanna, and Joseph Barbera for The All-New Super Friends Hour which debuted in October 1977.
By exclaiming “Wonder Twin Powers… ACTIVATE!” and tapping their fists together, Zan could turn into any form of water or ice and Jayna could become any animal, even mythological or alien species. The chittering Gleek had a stretchy tail that could be used as a lasso or propellor but usually wound up tripping him up.
Reportedly, their visual designs were meant to resemble celebrity siblings Donnie and Marie Osmond. Originally, they were rendered with lavender skin, then with average-colored skin and purple hair. Ultimately, they were depicted with olive skin tone with black hair and pointy ears.
The Wonder Twins appeared in the accompanying Super Friends comic book which further fleshed out their backgrounds, but that series isn’t considered canon.
Because nationally broadcast cartoons reach a bigger audience than comic books, there has been far more awareness of who the Wonder Twins are among the general public.
The characters were used in Cartoon Network shorts that spoofed their Super Friends appearances and Zan appeared in an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. They have also been parodied on That ’70s Show and The Family Guy.
David Gallagher played Zan and Allison Scagliotti played Jayna in the Season 9 episode of Smallville, “Idol.” Gleek made a cameo at the end of the Arrowverse crossover “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
More recently, The Wonder Twins have appeared on Teen Titans GO! in the episode “You’re Fired” and had cameos in Teen Titans GO! to the Movies and in The LEGO Batman Movie.
Though there were no vintage Wonder Twins toys in the ’70s and ’80s, they have since been made by Mattel for DC Universe Classics, in Mego style by Figures Toy Company, as LEGO Minifigures in connection to The LEGO Batman Movie, as part of Mattel’s preschool Imaginext line, and as Funko Pops.
In the comics, The Wonder Twins were introduced into the DC Universe proper in 1996 in the comic book Extreme Justice. They went on to appear in Young Justice and made cameos here and there. In 2019, the Twins were given their own limited comic book series which was meant to run for six issues but the first issue sold so well and was so well-reviewed that it was extended to twelve issues. They have continued to make sporadic appearances in the DCU.
Going back to what I said earlier, there is a greater awareness of The Wonder Twins among the general public than that of other characters that are mainly limited to comics. So there could be more interest in this than in other announced comic adaptations.
This should also be the LIGHTEST comic book movie yet. I would expect something along the lines of Shazam!.
Check back for updates as they arrive. Are you intrigued by the idea of a Wonder Twins movie?
