Wonder Woman 1984 - 10 Things You Need To Know About The Cheetah
Everything you need to know about the DCEU's latest Wonder Woman villain.
With Wonder Woman 1984 releasing this month DC fans are struggling to hold back their excitement. But those fans aren't just happy to see Gal Gadot reprising the role of the Amazonian princess in the long-awaited sequel - viewers also cannot wait to see Wonder Woman square off against her arch-nemesis, Cheetah, who will be played by Kristen Wiig.
Since Diana has been battling the cat-themed supervillainness for over 70 years in the comics, it feels more than a little overdue that Cheetah made her live-action debut.
Because the antagonist of the previous entry was a literal god of war, it may seem peculiar - even anticlimactic - for the latest adversary to be nothing more than a furrier version of Catwoman.
But the Cheetah is not to be underestimated. The feline fiend has proven time and time again to be Wonder Woman's deadliest enemy.
So, who is she exactly? How do her powers work? How can she hold her own against the protector of Themyscira and the daughter of Zeus? Read on and find out...
10. She Originally Had No Superpowers
Even though the Cheetah has held her own against the world's most famous superheroine dozens of times, she wasn't particularly intimidating at first. In fact, she had no superpowers for nearly 50 years!
The first Cheetah, Priscilla Rich, was an egotistical aristocrat who went mad with jealousy when she believed Wonder Woman was hogging the spotlight at her charity. And that's all it took for Rich to turn to villainy.
Believing the cheetah to be the ultimate predator (which is totally not true), Rich crafted a costume from a rug and became Wonder Woman's feline foe. For nearly decades, Rich regularly fought the Amazons using her claws, amnesia pellets, and her "hypnotic dance".
As Rich lay on her deathbed years later, her niece, Deborah Domaine, stumbled upon her Cheetah outfit. After being brainwashed by the cult leader, Kobra, to be his personal agent, Domaine became the new Cheetah. Despite lacking superpowers, Domaine's training with Kobra turned her into an effective and dangerous mercenary. In her first appearance, she successfully caused a dam to collapse, flooding an entire neighbourhood.
Nevertheless, Cheetah wasn't considered a major league threat for years. But one day, that all changed...