How Wonder Woman flies & why she has an invisible jet

Wonder Woman’s ability to fly is something most fans associate with her, but she wasn’t able to fly under her own power for most of her career.

It’s nice to think of Wonder Woman as a powerhouse of the DC Comics Trinity of superheroes, but that just hasn’t always been the case. While she’s always been a face of the company, it wasn’t until recent years that she truly took a spot at the center of the DC Universe. 

A lot of that can be attributed to the success of the character in the DCEU, but it’s impossible to deny that Wonder Woman has been an incredibly interesting character. Her background and stories have everything you would want from a comic book – love, intrigue, action, and powerful, mythic heroes in larger-than-life settings. 

Wonder Woman is often the first character to get a reboot when DC changes its publishing strategy, so her life and powers are often in flux. But perhaps none is more confusing than Wonder Woman’s relationship with flight.

Can Wonder Woman fly & why she has an invisible jet

Many fans associate the ability of flight with Wonder Woman, but for most of her publication history, she wasn’t able to. If you’re confused about it, here’s whether or not Wonder Woman can fly.

In one possible Golden Age origin, Wonder Woman’s Pegasus shapeshifts into the invisible plane.

Wonder Woman originally could not fly

The Golden Age Wonder Woman, who debuted in 1942’s All-Star Comics #8, only had enhanced strength, speed, durability, agility and reflexes. Notably missing from the list is flight, which the Golden Age Wonder Woman couldn’t do. 

When she first leaves Paradise Island, Wonder Woman just gets around without flight. Eventually, though, she is given instructions by her mother, Hippolyta, on where to find the Invisible Jet, which would become an iconic mainstay of Wonder Woman’s career. The plane would have multiple origins, from a tool built by Amazons to Wonder Woman’s steed Pegasus shapeshifting into a plane.

This version of Wonder Woman actually existed for years, albeit with an incredibly confusing history. Originally, she was considered the Wonder Woman of Earth-Two. After the universes are merged in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the World War II-era Wonder Woman becomes something of a plothole. She’s eventually revealed to be Hippolyta, thanks to time travel shenanigans. 

Hermes grants the infant Wonder Woman the gift of flight, but it only allows her to glide on air currents.

Wonder Woman could glide on air currents after Crisis on Infinite Earths

With the Silver Age came Crisis on Infinite Earths, and with that came Wonder Woman’s first major reboot. In her rebooted origin, Wonder Woman is given powers in the form of gifts from the gods. Hermes grants her the powers of speed and flight, but it’s not as simple as just being able to fly.

In this version, she only has the ability to glide on air currents, an ability adapted for Wonder Woman 1984. Because of this, she still relies on her Invisible Jet. In the post-Crisis timeline, the Invisible Jet is actually a Lansinarian Morphing Disc, which can transform into multiple shapes, including her invisible jet. 

The Disk is eventually revealed to be sentient and self-aware. When it dies, it winds up locked in the shape of Wonder Woman’s invisible jet. It lacks the ability to shape-shift or any type of personality, which does carry the unfortunate connotation of Diana flying around in her friend’s corpse. 

Following the universe reboot in Flashpoint, flight became one of Wonder Woman’s standard powers.

A more powerful Wonder Woman gains flight in New 52

Another reboot, another Wonder Woman revamp. Diana gets a huge power bump in The New 52, revealed to be not a clay statue brought to life but the demi-god daughter of Zeus. In this timeline, Hermes gifts Wonder Woman with flight, pure and simple. 

Wonder Woman’s flight is more on par with what other superheroes traditionally do now. However, she still has a version of her invisible jet that debuted in her new origin. 

In New 52, the Invisible Plane is built from the wreckage of the ship Steve Trevor crashed on Themyscira. The Amazons repaired it with the same material as Diana’s bracelets, granting it incredible power and upgraded so it would be invisible to human eyes. 

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