Wonder Woman's God-Killer Sword Origin Explained

NOTE: This Article is SPOILER-FREE!

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Wonder Woman is power-punching its way into theaters this week (read our review), bringing with it the myth and legend of one of DC Comics’ biggest icons.

In order to translate Wonder Woman from the comic book page to the big screen, the filmmakers employed many different iconic artifacts and weapons (like the golden Lasso of Truth) from the character’s seventy-five years of existence. And none of those artifacts is more important to the story of the Wonder Woman movie than The God Killer Sword.

Read on for a Spoiler-free rundown of how the God Killer Sword factors into the Wonder Woman movie, as well as the comic book roots behind the legendary weapon.

In The Movie

In the Wonder Woman movie, the origin of the god killer sword is tied to Ancient Greek mythology. As the origin story goes, Zeus’ son Ares, God of War, sought to dethrone his father and kill the other gods, while bringing war and havoc to Zeus’ beloved creation, mankind. Zeus then created The Amazons to protect mankind from Ares; but The Amazons were eventually enslaved by Ares, forced to suffer under his thrall.

Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) and her sister General Antiope (Robin Wright) broke free of Ares’ shackles and led The Amazons to freedom. Ares continued his reign of terror against the gods, finally slaying Zeus after an epic battle. With his final breaths, Zeus sewed seeds for his revenge: he created the mystical island Themyscira to hid the Amazons from Ares’ wrath, and he also endowed them with a weapon, The God Killer, to finally slay Ares once and for all.

Growing up on Themyscira, Princess Diana is told this origin story over and over again, eager for the day when The Amazons can fulfill their rightful duty. So, when a man named Steve Trevor falls out of the sky, bringing tale of a great war consuming the world, Diana knows Ares must be behind it – and so she takes the sword from its sacred vault, and sets off to use it against the God of War.

In The Comics

In DC Comics, The God Killer sword was given Slade Wilson/Deathstroke The Terminator as part of a contract the hitman took on. The mission was to kill a Greek Titan named Lapetus, which required The God Killer to accomplish.

The comic book version of The God Killer can shift its shape and weight, becoming other weapons like a bo staff or twin blades. It has crackling energy it can unleash in blasts, and is also semi-sentient, directing and/or controlling the wielder. It can also redirect any force inflicted upon it, two-fold (like a punch from Superman), and can reform itself if destroyed. As another major power, the sword can take a deity’s memories and transfer them into the wielder.

Needless to say, the comic book version has some pretty fantastical attributes. How many of those attributes make it into the Wonder Woman movie? You’ll have to see for yourself (no SPOILERS here!).

More Wonder Woman News

SYNOPSIS: Before she was Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), she was Diana, Princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, Diana meets an American pilot (Chris Pine) who tells her about the massive conflict that’s raging in the outside world. Convinced that she can stop the threat, Diana leaves her home for the first time. Fighting alongside men in a war to end all wars, she finally discovers her full powers and true destiny.

Wonder Woman is directed by Patty Jenkins, from a screenplay by Allan Heinberg & Geoff Johns, story by Heinberg & Zack Snyder and Jason Fuchs, and stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Lucy Davis, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner and David Thewlis.

Wonder Woman opens in theaters June 2, 2017.

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