WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Wonder Woman!

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This week we learned that Antiope, Robin Wright's character from Wonder Woman, will return for Zack Snyder's Justice League, which arrives in theaters this summer. However, fans of Wright's character should temper their excitement for Antiope's resurgence, as her role will likely be restricted to the film's opening scene - in fact, it's possible we've already seen a fragment of Antiope's role in the Justice League during the film's trailer. Still, any amount of Robin Wright is a good thing, especially in this part.

Antiope was a key figure in Wonder Woman, serving as a role model for her niece, Diana (played by Gal Gadot). An Amazonian warrior of tremendous strength, Antiope tragically died early on in the film, taking a bullet for Diana on the shores of Themyscira. Antiope trained Diana in combat and encouraged her to use her power to fight while her mother, Hippolyta, advised her not to. Of the two maternal figures, Diana ultimately followed Antiope's example. She chose to follow Steve Trevor into the human world to face Ares, the god of war, head on.

So if Antiope dies in Wonder Woman, how could she possibly return for Justice League? Chances are we won't have to keep up with a convoluted storyline explaining Antiope's resurrection. Much as audiences loved Antiope, and House of Cards star Robin Wright, they probably wouldn't be satisfied with an overly complicated reasoning for Antiope coming back to life. The more logical method for bringing her back would be to include her in a flashback scene - specifically, the intended opening battle in Justice League's prologue.

Before the recorded history of Earth, the Amazonians allied themselves with Atlantis and Mankind to defend the planet from an army of Parademons. Together, they vanquished the alien invaders and subsequently broke off into three separate factions. The Old Gods (Zeus among them), bestowed relics upon each faction- objects known in DC fandom as the Mother Boxes. The boxes, and by association the three empires, were more powerful together than they ever could be apart. This suggests that if and when the Parademons return to earth (which, spoiler alert, they will), the Amazonians, Atlanteans, and Mankind will have to reunite to defend the Earth once more.

Justice League Trailers Amazons

After the war, each of the three empires resigned to their respective worlds. As suggested by the Justice League trailer, Mankind buried their Mother Box. Meanwhile, Atlantis sank. Finally, the Amazonians retreated to a hidden island, Themyscira. There they lived peacefully, but still trained for the eventuality that war found their paradisaical home. On the island, Diana was forged from clay to become the Godkiller, given life by Zeus and the rest is history. We've already seen Diana's story, but what we haven't witnessed onscreen is the story of the Amazons during and directly after the battle that united the three empires. This is where Antiope and Hippolyta will most likely come into play.

The assumption is that Antiope and Hippolyta will be relegated to Justice League's first act. This could include scenes of Antiope and Hippolyta during the opening battle scene and, in addition, scenes of them handling their Mother Box in the aftermath. In the best of all possible worlds, we'd get to see Antiope and Hippolyta fighting back to back - both literally and figuratively. Preferably they'd pull something as awesome as Antiope vaulting off of a shield held up by her Amazonian troops during the attack on Themyscira.

Again, any amount of Robin Wright is a good thing for your movie, and the same goes for Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta. While Justice League might not have time to delve further into their relationship and their leadership of the Amazonians, it should at least give people more of the eye-popping action that made Wonder Woman so great.

Next: Why Wonder Woman Should Lead the DCEU

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