Rucka is the one who made them friends pre-Cheetah curse, looking it up Johns seems to have made it to they knew who one another pre-Cheetah curse, along with being a member of a cult, but it doesn’t really seem to indicate anything deeper.
Rucka is the one who made them friends pre-Cheetah curse, looking it up Johns seems to have made it to they knew who one another pre-Cheetah curse, along with being a member of a cult, but it doesn’t really seem to indicate anything deeper.
Johns made them friends, or at least made Diana believe they were. He had Barbara deliberately turn to Cheetah.
I think Rucka made improvements on the set up
I think Rucka made her too sympathetic, so I'm glad it seems like Barbara in this movie is relatively more in-control and willing as Cheetah.
I don't see what's wrong with the dwarf version. I mean, he was pretty much pitch perfect in the Harley Quinn cartoon and nobody really seemed bothered by him being a misogynistic tool while also having dwarfism.
I think the movie seems to be going for a good balance of making her willing and have some agency in her down fall while also not making her a one note slasher villain like Johns who just wanted to kill people.
spoilers:end of spoilers
Though it seems she may be corrupted by the influence of whatever's granting wishes which causes her to slide into the Cheetah. If she ends up being a done-in-one villain who is freed from this influence, she will end up more sympathetic than Rucka's. Who keeps sliding back into villainy and escalating how monstrous she is due to her own hubris and deflecting blame onto others, chiefly Diana
Psycho has come under fire for the "Depraved Dwarf" stereotype/abelism when such parts are already few and far between. He can and has worked in some cases despite this, but it's shaky ground when you can just go for the Earth One version that captures the same themes while being of average height.
Which sounds like more of an ideal take on Cheetah in my opinion.
I get that, but I feel like his stature kind of lends itself to more uniqueness and memorability compared to the Earth One version.Psycho has come under fire for the "Depraved Dwarf" stereotype/abelism when such parts are already few and far between. He can and has worked in some cases despite this, but it's shaky ground when you can just go for the Earth One version that captures the same themes while being of average height.
I'd have preferred it if they went with Cale instead of Lord, though either version of Psycho would also be preferable to Lord.
I probably would've just combined Max Lord with a WW villian like the Duke of Deception or Doctor Psycho. He's just a front they created.
I wouldn't hold out much hope for the Wonder Woman 84 villains. I still remember Ned Flanders as Ares, Dr. Scenery Chewing and her buddy General Overacting, and their buddy Terrible Writing. After all, Wonder Woman itself was a pretty bad movie, on the lines of a bad episode of the 80s show The A-Team, but without all the good acting to save it. It's only saving grace was that it was still leagues better than....well, League, plus Superman and Batman vs Good Movies, and Man Of Weird Sci Fi Invasion Movies masquerading as a Superman Movie.
So...if they work down to the level of the first movie, expect bad bad guys, (and gals).
I never liked Lord's heel turn into an enemy for a character he barely had contact with prior to that. Or indeed the concept of his heel turn itself. I view the practice of "suddenly and without warning evil now" as the equivalent of weddings, marriages, and funerals on TV shows, the fabled shark jumping points for shows that have nothing else left. I'd have rather they created an entirely new bad guy than do that; Wonder Woman is beyond needing leftovers from other heroes.