Warning! Spoilers to Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman #2 below!
Future State's Wonder Woman Nubia proves herself worthy of her superhero legacy when she defeats one of Diana's oldest and most powerful enemies, the sorceress Circe. The mythological sorceress with a penchant for turning people into animals has been involved in many plots against Wonder Woman, eventually elevated into becoming a prominent magical threat for the entire DC Universe. In this case, Circe is summoned to battle but is easily defeated along with the evil Apokoliptan-Amazon villain Grail by this fabled lost Princess of the Amazons.
Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Harry G. Peter for Wonder Woman #37 (1949), this long-time foe of Princess Diana is a centuries-old sorceress devoted to the goddess Hectate who appeared destined to clash with the Champion of the Amazons. Whether inciting a war between individual pantheons in a bid for power, empowering Diana's enemies, or even impersonating the heroine herself, Circe has repeatedly escaped death. She occasionally allies herself with other villains like the Injustice Gang to fight Diana and the Justice League. Recently she appeared in Justice League Dark, helping her immortal enemy deal with the effects of being struck with the witchmark of Hectate while also admitting that she plays the villain simply to keep herself busy.
In Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman #2, Nubia's story by L.L. McKinney and Alitha Martinez takes place in the distant future following Yara Flor's time as Wonder Woman. The warrior princess finds herself the captive witness of Darkseid's daughter Grail who uses a specialized machine combining magic with Apokoliptian technology to summon Circe from her enchanted prison. In Grail's debt for her freedom, Circe is commanded to use her magic to remove Nubia's tiara, a powerful magical artifact that helps to protect her from Circe's infamous mind control. Tapping into power she never knew she had, Nubia takes down both Grail and Circe using a combination of her gauntlets and training, easily besting two individuals that have successfully fought powerful superheroes in the past. Having destroyed the machine that summoned her, Nubia crushes the necklace that maintained Circe's presence on Earth, banishing her back to her prison once more.
Considered by many to be the first African American female superhero, Nubia's origin has been repeatedly changed since her introduction in Wonder Woman #204 (1973). Although the reasons why she was forgotten in Future State are unrevealed, she roams the Earth during a time when most of the Amazons have abandoned their protection of Man's World and Themyscira has become a powerful and ominous paradise. Circe has proven to be one of Diana's most powerful enemies, reinforced by the longevity of their enmity and the range of ploys against her and those she allies with. Although she bears Nubia no ill will, Circe attacks and tries to bend the new Wonder Woman to her will to discover she is not only protected but can take care of herself.
With Grail having vanished and Circe imprisoned yet again, Nubia is left to continue her sister's mission of protecting the Earth, now from extraordinary magical and mythological threats. Although she requires no one's approval, Nubia has not only proved herself to be Diana's equal but also that the Wonder Woman legacy started by her mother Hippolyta remains in strong and capable hands in DC's future.