Is the Wonder Woman theme original?

Question

After watching the new Wonder Woman trailer I noticed the prominent use of the 5-note (if I'm counting correctly) theme that's played at the end (starting at 2:05). Yes there's a lot of reverb or some other accoustical effect here, but the core theme appears to be 5 notes.

I rewatched the Batman v. Superman UE on blu-ray and noted that the theme is played on multiple occassions, always tied to Wonder Woman being on screen. My question is: is this theme an original piece scored for BvS and reused in the Wonder Woman trailer, or is this taken from some prior music used in older media? Perhaps the Linda Carter show, Justice League cartoons, or some other Wonder Woman piece?

Answer 1

Composer Hans Zimmer says in this video interview:

It was really important for me to figure out how to find, like this banshee wail ... but it had to be feminine.

After, you know, a hundred thousand experiments that all went wrong I suddently remembered this friend of mine, this cellist, Tina Guo, who, when you meet her, is very elegant, quite ... regal ... and then when she grabs her cello she becomes ... it's like a sword ... it just becomes ... she does become the banshee, she does become the Wonder Woman.

Once I figured that out, you know, all of it is about casting and these musicians we work with, we cast them as if they were actors ... I just had to find the right actress. And suddenly it all sort of started to fall into place.

He reiterates the same origin of the theme this interview:

One thing that has bugged me forever is that our superhero movies are so masculine and male generated. I wanted Wonder Woman to be… I wanted the music to be full of more female… but you know, I wanted a banshee wail, like you’ve never heard before.

So my friend Tina Guo, who’s an amazing electric cellist, basically typecast her, because whenever she picks up her cello that very nice, very sweet, very polite, young woman turns into a warrior princess in one go…

There is a different sound you get from the drummers when we have Sheila E. playing amongst them. It just gives you a different sound. It gives you just as much ferocity, but it’s a different type, so we were looking at things like that.

Answer 2

This theme does seem really similar to the cartoon X-men theme with a middle eastern twist. Here's the links:

X-MEN theme:

Random Middle Eastern cello music:

And it also does sound similar to Led Zeppelin's Inmigrant song because of the mixture of the vocal line with the guitar effect:

Hope it helps, it had been bugging me for a long time.

Answer 3

The reason it sounds familiar is because if, like me, you grew up watching the X-Men cartoon, then listen to that theme and there is definite similarity

Answer 4

I was wondering the same thing. I know I heard it before and finally I got it.

The new wonder woman song is a tweaked version of the get smart theme song from the tv show. Check it out and you will see I am right.