Wonder Woman 1984: What Happened to Cheetah?

Wonder Woman 1984 left one of its main characters with a fairly open ended conclusion (or lack [...]

By Brandon Davis

Wonder Woman 1984 left one of its main characters with a fairly open ended conclusion (or lack thereof). Kristen Wiig checked into the DC Comics film as Barbara Minerva, the character who goes on to transform into Cheetah. Cheetah's origin in the film was quite different by comparison to that of the pages of DC Comics where she gets her powers from an African tribe but her future stories might follow the comics more closely. Then again, they might not. Either way, it seems like there is more on the horizon for Cheetah as she was last seen... looking at the horizon.

Spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984 follow!

In Wonder Woman 1984, Barbara got her wish of becoming Cheetah by wishing it into existence while touching the Dreamstone (which is basically the movie's version of the Chaos Crystal from DC Comics). It came at a cost of apparently losing that which she values most, which might have simply been being a good person, in Barbara's case. When the movie came to an end, everyone in the world of Wonder Woman 1984 decided to renounce their wishes after Diana's message of hope was heard all around the globe. Cheetah reverted to Barbara and she is last seen at the satellite station which Max had been using to send a global broadcast. She looked out at the sunset and this was the last we saw of her.

Now, Wonder Woman 3 has been confirmed, and it seems there is more Cheetah on the way. Jenkins, during a watch party of Wonder Woman 1984, teased, "We'll just have to see..."

The interesting thing about this is that Wonder Woman 3 is expected to take place in a the present day of the DCEU. This means it will be set after the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League, plus Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Aquaman, and future movies like The Flash and The Suicide Squad. Not only does this mean other characters and heroes from those titles could theoretically appear in Wonder Woman 3 but it means Barbara would have aged quite a bit if she is going to be appearing in this film. Etta Candy, for example, had aged up and passed away by the time Wonder Woman 1984 took place, decades after the first Wonder Woman movie.

Cheetah is one of Wonder Woman's most iconic adversaries on the pages of DC Comics, so it's not unlikely that she would continue to be a villain should she appear in Wonder Woman 3. Barbara was not near a TV screen or radio to hear Diana's message of hope, so peace and goodness might not have fallen upon her as it did for seemingly everyone else. Perhaps she has maintained some of the changes to her genes and will not be aging in te time between Wonder Woman 1984 and the present day DCEU, resulting in a return to Cheetah form for a more intense showdown with Diana? Perhaps she will pursue other means of becoming Cheetah, this time falling in line with the comics and then leading to a permanent transformation? There is a chance she could help form or become a part of a live-action Legion of Doom going forward but only time will tell.

Do you want to see more of Kristen Wiig as Cheetah in Wonder Woman 3? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram!

Wonder Woman 1984 is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max.

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