When you think of an iconic DC female supervillain, who pops into your head first? Is it someone who’s a feline femme fatale with cat like reflexes and razor-sharp wit and claws? You may be picturing Batman’s Catwoman, but did you know there are actually two DC supervillains who fit that description?
Cheetah is a ruthless villain from the Wonder Woman comics who is making her debut on the big screen in Patty Jenkin’s new Wonder Woman movie. Jenkins recently confirmed on Twitter that SNL favorite, Kirsten Wiig, is going to be taking up the mantle of the Cheetah character.
Here’s five things you should know about Cheetah:
1. She’s one of DC’s first female supervillains
Cheetah made her first appearance in Wonder Woman #6 in October of 1943. Just for reference, that’s only 3 years after Catwoman, 6 years before Circe, 20 years before the first appearance of Poison Ivy, and a full 50 years before Harley Quinn. Sorry, Margot.
2. But she hasn’t always been a “she”
Unlike Clark Kent and Diana Prince, who have always been Superman and Wonder Woman respectively. There have actually been four different Cheetahs- including one male Cheetah.
The various incarnations of the Cheetah include Priscilla Rich in th Golden and Silver Age and Deborah Domaine in the Bronze Age. Since the pos-Crisis era, the Cheetah’s identity has been Barbara Ann Minerva, and- very briefly- Sebastian Ballesteros, a man who stole the power of the Cheetah from Barbara, until she killed him, taking the powers back.
It is speculated that this current version of Cheetah will be the one portrayed in the new movie.
3. In fact, she’s complicated.
Wonder Woman often shows that she has sympathy for The Cheetah, whose character started off as a woman struggling with “split personality disorder” or dissociative identity disorder. She often struggles with the blessing and the curse that comes along with her powers. In later iterations, she’s portrayed as having an insatiable desire for human flesh, because of her transformation.
4. As far as supervillains are concerned, she’s got quite the resume
She is one of the founders of the Injustice League Unlimited, along with the Joker and Lex Luthor. This band of supervillains almost defeats the Justice League before they’re defeated by Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad.
Her appearances aren’t just confined to the pages of a comic book, she’s appeared in several of DC’s animated movies and Justice League animated series including the original Challenge of the Super Friends show where she frequently worked with Lex Luthor and The Riddler via the Legion of Doom. She’s also featured in the video game Injustice 2.
5. Her powers make her quite the match for the Amazonian princess.
At first, Cheetah was just a debutante in a costume but a DC reboot in the 80s granted her a much darker set of powers including superhuman speed and strength and the ability to transform into an andromorphic cheetah.
We’ll have to wait until 2019 to know for sure which pieces of the character’s comic history Patty Jenkins might have borrowed for Kristin Wiig’s iteration of Cheetah. One thing’s for sure though, there’s a wealth of information about this chaotic character to tide fans over while they wait for the movie to be released.
