Cheetah Was Meant To Be Wonder Woman 1984's Main Villain, Not Max Lord

Cheetah was originally Wonder Woman 1984's main villain, but director Patty Jenkins realized they also needed Maxwell Lord for the film to work. The filmmaker reteamed with Gal Gadot for the upcoming Warner Bros. and DC Films sequel, which will bring the Amazonian Goddess back to the big screen. This will be her next movie outing after 2017's Justice League. This time, she will face new foes in Kristen Wiig's Barbara Ann Minerva aka Cheetah and Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord.

Wonder Woman 1984 will also see the return of Chris Pine's Steve Trevor despite the character's tragic fate at the end of the original Wonder Woman movie. By the time the sequel picks up, decades have passed since Diana first left Themyscira to join civilization during World War I. Now, there's global tension once again as the film will be set in the 1980s - at the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Other specific narrative details for Wonder Woman 1984 are still scant at the moment, with marketing doing a great job keeping spoilers in check. That includes the motivations behind Minerva and Lord to go after Diana. In an interview with Total Film (via ComicBookMovie), Jenkins revealed the sequel's story demanded two villains. Initially, Cheetah was going to be story's main antagonist, but they eventually realized that for the movie to work, Lord also needed to be a key player. Jenkins said:

It turned out that the story was the thing that gave birth to the need for both. It wasn't that I thought I needed both. Cheetah was the villain that we were focused on having in this movie, but then Max Lord, throughout the history of Wonder Woman comics -- he serves a very mechanical purpose, often.

Promotional images reveal that Minerva and Lord are somehow linked in the film. It's uncertain what the true nature of their relationship is, but one image indicates that Minerva may have some romantic feelings for the powerful businessman, though it doesn't seem like the feeling is mutual. This is backed up by another Wonder Woman 1984 still where she shows up to save Lord, who was captured by Diana's Lasso of Truth. Thus far, there's no information about how the two get together. However, since the film starts off with the two ladies being friends, it's safe to say that the involvement of Lord will create conflict between them, ultimately leading to a fall out.

Assuming this is how the narrative of Wonder Woman 1984 plays out, it's possible that Lord is merely using Minerva for his own benefit - taking advantage of her feelings for him. In the trailer, she asked Diana about being in love, as if she's new to those types feelings. It's also worth noting that Minerva undergoes a heartbreaking transition in the movie as she begins as this naive, but good-natured woman to the villain of the story. The catalyst to all that could be her blinding attraction to Lord, who's known for selling dreams and aspirations. This fits in the director's aforementioned comment about the film needing both villains to work. Unfortunately, fans will have to wait a little while longer as there's another slight delay in Wonder Woman 1984's theatrical release from June to August due to the coronavirus pandemic.

More: Wonder Woman 1984 Is Already Fixing The Original Movie’s Villain Mistakes

Source: Total Film (via ComicBookMovie)