Patty Jenkins teased that Cheetah a.k.a. Barbara Minerva could make a comeback in a potential Wonder Woman 3. Cheetah is played by Kristen Wiig in Wonder Woman 1984, which sees her team up with Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord. Thanks to the Dreamstone, Minerva is able to transform from an overlooked museum worker into a high-powered apex predator. When Minerva wishes she were exactly like Diana Prince, who she works with at the Smithsonian Institute in the film, the character gets a lot more than she bargained for.
At first, her powers manifest in unseen ways. Minerva is transformed into the talk of the office, with many of the coworkers that once overlooked her vying for her attention. Eventually, she develops strength similar to Diana's, discovering that her coworker may be more than she appears. Eventually, Minerva is at odds with Diana, who wants to destroy the Dreamstone. Minerva does everything in her power to stop her, protecting Maxwell Lord, who let the Dreamstone become a part of his physical form.
Minerva is eventually defeated by Wonder Woman in the film's climax after she evolves into a human-cheetah hybrid, one that has all the agility, speed, and strength of the fastest animal alive. Despite her defeat, though, fans may get to see Minerva again. Jenkins teased as much on her Twitter after a fan asked about the character's future. Jenkins thanked the fan for the question, before saying that fans will just have to wait and see, alongside a few winking emojis.
The prospect of seeing Cheetah again brings about mixed feelings. While any chance to see Wiig onscreen is a delight, reception to her character has been quite mixed. Wiig dominates the first half of the film with her charm and her character's unique tics, but eventually, Minerva falls into the trappings of her clichéd transformation. Still, she proves to be a formidable villain when it comes to fighting Diana Prince, if only because Wonder Woman had accidentally forsaken her powers when she made her own wish to see her doomed love Steve Trevor again.
During Cheetah and Wonder Woman's climactic battle, Wiig's character transforms yet again into something else entirely. Some on the internet have compared the character's transformation to the maligned 2019 musical adaptation Cats, saying that Minerva's full fledged transformation into feline predator recalls the terrifying effects used in that failed movie-musical. It doesn't help that the pair's fight happens in the dark where viewers are unable to see Cheetah in all her glory. Barbara Minerva's fate is left open-ended when Wonder Woman 1984 concludes - Wiig's character is left where she was defeated, transformed back to her normal self. The door is certainly open for her to return. Maybe a revamp of her look could help make that just a little bit more exciting.
Source: Patty Jenkins