Isn't it time to swap out Ares for Zeus himself?

[daBronzeBomma]

Look, as far as the "Remote Overlord" villain trope goes, DC superheroes have done decent enough. Superman has Mongul, Batman has Ras Al Ghul, the Flash has Gorilla Grodd, Green Lantern has Krona, Aquaman has ... (checks notes) ... The Trench King? Ok, Sure.

And Wonder Woman has had Ares in her franchise at that position. But all these years later, feels like Ares has a mucher low ceiling as that big threat villain and there's not much in the way of new stories to go with him.

But Zeus?



Embodiment of the Patriarchy Zeus? THAT guy? Soo much potential there, even without the Deadbeat Dad angle.

Is it time for DC's Zeus to throw off any semblance of decency and be embraced as a top-tier force for evil?

I say it's way past time Zeus became an unambiguous bad guy in the Wonderverse.

But that might just be me. What say you?

[Jackalope89]

Maybe true neutral? As likely to be a foe as an ally? Which would fit more than "caring, but distant dad" or going the Hades route from the DCAU.

[Guy_McNichts]

I'd be for it.

The thing about Ares is, when he's portrayed as the "big bad" of the Wonder-verse, you really only have two options with him. You make him the source for all war who only wants to create more, and he becomes a one-note, Saturday morning cartoon villain...or you take a nuanced approach to explore the nature of violence and how it can be inevitable or even necessary, and he becomes a more neutral, ambiguous figure.

Zeus, on the other hand...if he's going to be presented as a significant presence in Wonder Woman's world and not an obsolete relic of the past...by all means, run full-steam with him as an overbearing representation of abusive patriarchy. That can make for a more appropriate and satisfying opponent for her to combat.

I'd also just be down to see Diana kick his worthless ass.


The only downside is I think if creators were to go down this road with the characters, they would definitely emphasize the father angle. Zeus as a villain can work just as well without being Diana's literal father, but I could see writers thinking it would add something to have her clash against a birth parent.

And we would have to pretend Diana fighting a father that she never needed is a source of conflict or drama.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Zeus works as a symbol of the patriarchy if you wanna go that route so he'd be a good overarching villian for WW.

[Gaius]

What Guy_McNights said. Would be interesting but I wouldn't trust most of the brain trust at DC to just use this as another way to double down on Daddy Zeus.

[Primal Slayer]

He's been an enemy plenty throughout WWs run. Athena usurped him with the help of Diana.

I don't think he should be a villain that she fights directly unless it's the end of her story. Defeating him should bring about a true twilight of the gods and change things in her world drastically.

[SiegePerilous02]

I used to be against it and favor the traditionalist take of keeping Ares as the villain. But Historia has sold me a great deal on Zeus and Heracles being the villains, along with Apollo and Poseidon. Ares can work as an antagonist who can be an uneasy ally on occasion, while the others are just unsympathetic sexists.

[Sebastianne]

I used to be against it and favor the traditionalist take of keeping Ares as the villain. But Historia has sold me a great deal on Zeus and Heracles being the villains, along with Apollo and Poseidon. Ares can work as an antagonist who can be an uneasy ally on occasion, while the others are just unsympathetic sexists.

I'm with you.

[Agent Z]

I'd be for it and have suggested such in the past.

[Perseus]

Personally, still want Ares to be the reason for why Diana leaves in the first place, I'll take him going mad with war consuming him or whatever and him giving Diana the 'new mission' to stop the spread of violence to prevent an end. BUt, yeah, always liked his more nuanced take. Zeus is definitely big bad material, only once he's overthrown like in Rucka, he's kind of one and done no?

[John Venus]

Diana leaves the island to fight Ares. The latter is on the redemption after that just like in the Perez version.

After that Zeus should become the 'final boss' of the WW mythos, the representation of patriarchy that Diana must overthrow.

[daBronzeBomma]

I think, like Mongul and Ras Al Ghul, Zeus can suffer many "minor" defeats that don't actually threaten his overall Reign until it's time to reboot everything again.

I think that we can easily have a Evil Wonder Trinity of Cheetah (who needs so much revamping its not funny), Circe (criminally underused), and Zeus.

[John Venus]

I would like to see Zeus overthrown (not stepped down like in Rucka's run) and becoming a recurring villain constantly seeking to regain the throne.

[thanatoskun]

I prefer to swap out Ares for Athena

[kcekada]

I don't think he should be the villain -- even if he is often at odds with Diana/the Olympian godesses/the Amazons. I think his biggest failing is his 'toxic masculinity', but he's not a villain in the truest sense of the word. Ares wasn't really a villain either (though he's been used that way at both DC and Marvel -- also used as a hero at Marvel). But Ares still works as Diana's first villain. Also, Zeus is just too big of a god to be recurring villain.