DC is a universe centered around hope. Superheroes, by their very nature, are people who stand up against impossible odds and still find a way to give us a happy ending. They fight against all manner of evil and despair to save the day, be it rescuing the entire world or making one kid feel safe. Superman is the living embodiment of that hope. He’s the original superhero, the center of the DC Universe that defines what it looks like to be a good hero, and someone that everyone looks to when evil clouds the horizon. He’s always been DC’s number one symbol for what its heroes stand for, but he might not be alone in that, because another Justice Leaguer stands alongside him.
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Wonder Woman has always stood as one of the most important DC heroes, being a member of the Trinity and founder of the Justice League. However, the newest dark future of the DC Universe (as revealed in Wonder Woman #25) reveals that even when the paragon of hope that is Superman can’t save the day, Wonder Woman is still able to be the symbol everyone looks up to.
Wonder Woman Becomes the Symbol of Hope in the Darkest of Times
Wonder Woman #25 shows us a potential future where the evil Amazon who calls herself the Matriarch has taken over the world, and her daughter Lyssa has hunted down every hero who once protected it. After each one was captured, they were executed, but in their final moments, every hero alluded to the same thing. It didn’t matter how powerful or complete their victory was, because each hero spent their final moments saying that Wonder Woman was their final hope, and that she would save the day.
The battle for the world was called the “Wonder War”, obviously named after Wonder Woman, who was still out there, fighting. The most impactful moment came when Superman was executed, because his final words reveal everything about how important Diana really is.
Old, ragged, and depowered, the imprisoned Superman simply told his executioner that he still had hope, and it was all founded on two words: Wonder Woman. Superman, the very symbol of hope for the entire DC Universe, found his hope in someone else and died with a smile on his face. This isn’t the first time DC has made Wonder Woman the center of hope, either. In the much darker Absolute Universe, Wonder Woman is the hero who best represents it, has been called the heart of the universe, who understands it best, and who still chooses to be nothing but hopeful, believing things can get better. These moves show that DC isn’t just saying Wonder Woman can bring hope; they’re making her into a symbol of it on the same level as Superman.
DC’s Trinity Are Paragons of A Better Tomorrow
So what does putting this much focus on Wonder Woman’s ability to not just generate hope but be hope do for her character? For one, it shows just how important she is. Despite being such an inarguably crucial figure for DC, it’s never felt like she’s had the spotlight a character in her position deserves. Batman and Superman get loads of attention and projects, and for good reason, but Wonder Woman doesn’t get nearly as much.
That seems to be changing, especially with the new focus, which shows that DC is willing to push Wonder Woman the same way they do Superman and Batman. We’ve always known that Wonder Woman was this paragon of pure hope in-universe, but we never really saw it expressed like this before now.
All in all, allowing Wonder Woman to stand beside Superman as a symbol of hope, especially with how hard DC has been pushing Superman as the epicenter of all hope these past few years, shows that they believe in her character. It could signal a brand new era of Wonder Woman content, which, given that this is happening both in the main and Absolute universes, seems all the more likely. For a long time, it felt like fans and DC alike didn’t know what to do with Diana, because almost everything she represented was already covered by Superman or Batman.
They always saw that overlap as a problem, but it’s actually a strength. The Trinity, all representing hope to varying degrees, is actually crucial to DC because they are the ultimate example of heroism, and all heroism is based on hope. Wonder Woman and Superman should be similar and be paragons of hope together, because that’s who each of them is, and the world can always use more hope.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
