Wonder Woman 2 is apparently getting ready to introduce a supervillain that fans have wanted to see on the big screen for some time.
The Patty Jenkins sequel’s working title – Magic Hour - seemed to hint that Circe would be the movie’s main antagonist. However, a new report from That Hashtag Show suggested that the movie will pit Diana Prince against the Barbara Ann Minerva version of DC Comics fan favorite Cheetah.
Len Wein and George Pérez introduced this version of the character in 1987 as a British archaeologist. She became an avatar of the Cheetah God after making her way to the lost city of the Urzkartagan tribe in a dense African jungle.
THS didn’t confirm how much influence the source material will have on Cheetah in Wonder Woman 2, but they did reveal that Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) will encounter the supervillain in the 1980s-era Soviet Union. In addition, Diana will apparently reunite with Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), Charlie (Ewen Bremner), and Sameer (Saïd Taghmaoui). How Trevor will come back from the dead wasn’t clear.
According to the report, Warner Bros. is actively seeking an actress to play Cheetah, and their first choice was apparently Emma Stone. But The Wrap's Umberto Gonzalez later confirmed that the Academy Award winner had passed on playing an unspecified villain in the November 1, 2019 release (which actually may be good news to fans who want to see her play Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl):
Emma did indeed pass on the villain role (she gets offered everything there, though), but not sure if it’s indeed Cheetah. Waiting to hear back from studio.
"” Umberto Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) February 26, 2018
Offering the role to Stone may indicate that the studio is looking to cast a big-name actress. With production slated to begin on May 28, it's likely that we’ll have some news on that front in the near future.