Fact vs fiction: Aging in sci-fi and fantasy
By WiC Staff
GAL GADOT as Wonder Woman in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure “WONDER WOMAN 1984,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Wonder Woman — (Wonder Woman) — 5,000 years old
When Gal Gadot portrayed Wonder Woman in Batman v. Superman and later in a standalone film, the character was a breath of fresh air for the DC Extended Universe. In an interview, Gadot said that the character was roughly 5,000 years old. (Among the producers, there seems to be some disagreement regarding the 5,000 figure, but for the purposes of this article, we will assume it is correct).
Wonder Woman, also called Diana Prince, is a demigod and was the founding member of the Justice League. Unlike the Doctor, Wonder Woman cannot regenerate, but she doesn’t age either. (Which can’t be the worst thing in the world).
In terms of age-related conditions, there is an established condition called Progeria, where children age at an exceptionally fast rate. Typically, most children diagnosed with this unfortunate condition do not live past the age of 13. So it’s biologically possible to age quicker, but what about aging more slowly or not at all?
Clearly, we all “age” at different rates. Two people of the same age can have drastically dissimilar appearances. The look of youth despite age comes down to a combination of lifestyle factors and genetics.
However, in terms of an actual biological condition where people do not age, we have witnessed this in human life. There is a condition, called Syndrome X, which is the subject of much medical focus. People who suffer with this condition, which is extremely rare, do not age. Instead, they keep the appearance of infancy.
One example of this was a woman living in Maryland who lived to be 20, but remained physically resembling a toddler until the time of her death. She has astounded the medical community, and little is understood about the cause of this extremely rare condition.
Furthermore, there is a type of fresh-water organism known as Hydra — it is a species which does not age and is considered biologically immortal. A study was conducted on the species and found that it did not age at all over a span of four years.