Wonder Woman’s Most Important Ally Just Got a Major Power Upgrade, and It’s About Time

Steve Trevor is easily the most important and essential side character in Wonder Woman’s mythos. He’s the Lois Lane to her Superman, the Alfred to her Batman. He’s her number one confidant and her connection to both Man’s World and the normal life that is so essential for her to learn about to spread her message of peace. His arrival on Themyscira is literally the inciting incident that gives her the chance she’d long waited for to save the world. Yet, despite this essential importance to Wonder Woman’s mythos as both a love interest and supporting character, he’s hardly ever given anything to do.

The long and short of it is that not a lot of people know what to do with Steve Trevor, which has led fans to think that he’s boring. That even stayed true in the modernized, revolutionized Absolute Universe, as Wonder Woman’s extended cast remained underdeveloped, but no more. Absolute Wonder Woman #25 has finally given Steve Trevor a path towards major relevance, and it’s all thanks to a deal he made with Hecate. Now Steve is a witch, just like Diana, and that means he has some serious power to help her save the world. Best of all, it reflects exactly where Cheetah went wrong with the same idea.

From “Boring” Man to Servant of Magic

The “Heretic” is all about fear, and that’s in no small part thanks to the twin gods Deimos and Phobos, who cast a web of fear around Gate City. Diana inoculated herself with a potion of fearlessness and went off to fight, but Steve and the others at the Hieron eventually let the mystic anxieties get the best of them and downed their own potions. With no fears to slow him down, Steve immediately gathered weapons to help Diana. Just when he questioned his decision, Hecate herself appeared and asked Steve if he would give up his life for Diana. Of course, he said he would, and she empowered him as her Emissary. When we next saw him, Steve sported four extra spectral arms and the magical might required to send even Cheetah sprawling.

Given his new powers and the obvious cost they will have in later stories, this is a clear move to give Steve more of the spotlight. This is a massive deal, as not only does it do wonders to fix this series’s biggest problem, but it also resolves the biggest issue with Steve Trevor. He was designed with a very specific role in mind, being Diana’s link to Man’s World and her love interest. However, as Wonder Woman’s comics moved away from war stories and Diana herself became less connected with normal superheroic adventures, focusing more on fantastic and divine elements, Steve’s place eroded more and more. Storylines started needing to go out of their way to include him, which wasn’t bad on its own, but it was a problem that Wonder Woman (1987) exacerbated one hundredfold.

Wonder Woman’s post-Crisis reboot reimagined her entire origin, including Steve Trevor, aging him up and making him more of a father figure to Diana, even pairing him off with Etta Candy. For about thirty years, Wonder Woman lived through some of her most influential stories and developments without Steve, which meant that, when he finally returned to his classic role, nobody knew what to do with him. Steve lacks critical years of development in the Iron and Modern Ages of comics, which has left a good number of writers fumbling to make him work. He clearly needs a new direction or action to take, and this shift to making him a servant of Hecate is perfect. It directly ties him into the main plot and gives him a reason to stand beside Diana in more than a superlative role. Importantly, it also parallels Barbara’s fall to being Cheetah perfectly.

Selfish Obsession Versus Selfless Love

Steve Trevor and Barbara Minerva don’t share many character traits, but their most defining and important one is their love for Diana. However, while Steve loves her selflessly, Barbara loves Diana like an obsession, and that key difference is demonstrated masterfully in their super-powered new directions. Barbara became Cheetah out of both desire and self-preservation. She doubted Diana’s willingness or ability to save her, and thus, when Urzkartaga tempted her with claiming divinity for herself, she took it. See, as much as Barbara loves Diana, she is also deeply jealous of her. She believes she deserves to be as powerful and important as Wonder Woman, and so she bonded with the evil god to attain the glory she thought she deserved.

Now that she’s done just that, Barbara acts like she did all of this for Diana, and is entitled to her love. Compare that to Steve’s actions. Just like Barbara, he accepted divine power, but he specifically did so to help Diana, and never for himself. Urzkartaga had to tempt Barbara with her own glory to win her over, but Steve accepted whatever consequences and pains that may come without hesitation because it meant that he could help Wonder Woman in any way, big or small. He would give up his life for Diana without question, even without the fearlessness potion. He expects nothing in return. He loves Diana as she is, and his own desires or failings never factored into the equation.

Steve and Barbara are perfect parallels, both being people who love Diana and are loved by Diana. Wonder Woman failed to save Barbara because Barbara refused to let go of her own desires, but, just like how Diana gave up her arm to get Steve out of the Underworld, Steve chose to put someone else before himself. He’s learned from Wonder Woman, while Cheetah has only watched her without understanding. They are two sides of the same coin, and a true fight between the man Diana saved and the woman she couldn’t is inevitable. This is the best Absolute Wonder Woman has used its side cast so far, and I could not be more excited to see how these two develop.

Which direction would you take the mainline Steve Trevor, and what do you hope to see his Absolute version do? Let us know in the comments below!

Absolute Wonder Woman #25 is on sale now!

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