Should Heracles remain a villain past the Amazons' origin story?

[Mutant God]

Yes. I think the combo of him and Zeus work better as recurring representations of evil patriarchy than Ares does.

I think it would be funny if he was the opposite of that, if in modern times Heracles is more "woke" and considers himself a feminist but still acts brutish representing toxic male feminist.

Almost like a more stronger version of PC Principal from South Park lol

[John Venus]

Ares should be Diana's starter villain. I still think the moment in Gods and Mortals where Diana defeats him is an important part of the mythology. After his initial defeat he becomes a trickster villain like he was during Greg Rucka's first run.

Hercules could be the recurring villain. You could have him represent toxic masculinity. Maybe he becomes a Tate style influencer after returning to the modern day.

Zeus should be the final boss of the WW mythos. With the endgame being Diana managing to overthrow him.

[WonderScott]

I like Ares position in Diana’s and Wonder Woman’s origin story and my interpretation of him is he’s the brutal and bloodthirsty aspect of war. The manifestation of the ugly sides of conflict and wielding power and empowered thusly. In that sense he’s a good opposite to Diana and her mission of peace and equality and equity.

Heracles makes a great adversary for Diana on multiple levels and across many themes. There’s a lot to explore there with his popularity as a mythological figure and his history with the Amazons and our contemporary culture. There’s an opportunity to explore and portray toxic masculinity with Heracles in some ways that’s different than you might do with say Doctor Psycho. He’s an opposite to Diana in a sense and I’d also use Achilles Warkiller to compare and contrast the heroism of the past with the heroism of the present. To me, Diana’s clay origin needs to be “the” origin, so that gets rid of some of the family connectedness.

As far as Zeus, Hera and the other Olympians, I kind of think they need their own stories told to set them up as ongoing characters. Zeus is tough to redeem (I’m not saying he should be redeemed), if we don’t know what he means to the cosmos and what the cosmos means to him now compared to then. One of the things I liked about Azz's run was Hera’s story arc that played off her traditional, stereotypical interpretation as a vengeful harridan and turned her into something else. So I guess I need some sort of stories that have the Olympians acknowledge their pasts and the harm they’ve caused and carry that into how they act now - for better or worse, depending on the character. If they’re only going to be the manifestations of concepts and less “human” as characters, I probably need less of that.

I have a whole series in mind that explores the nature of divinity in the DCU and the Olympians, Titans of Myth, and New Gods have key roles.

[Alpha]

I have a whole series in mind that explores the nature of divinity in the DCU and the Olympians, Titans of Myth, and New Gods have key roles.

Ok I'll bite, what do you see as the relationship between the New Gods and divinity?

[WonderScott]

Ok I'll bite, what do you see as the relationship between the New Gods and divinity?

I’m not a full tilt Kirby historian, but if IIRC he had the New Gods take place after a Ragnarok of sorts and had these beings become the divinities of newer concepts, some of them somewhat based on technology as a differentiator from classical pantheons. A way to explore divinity in a new context with new characters and family drama.

Sine the New Gods and Apokoliptans are side by side with other Earthly and galactic pantheons, I’d like to play with the “old” versus “new” divinities and what makes the divine in nature and power. Are they all divine through similar origins? Are they fueled by the same sources of power? Are there nuances and differences between them and how they came about and exist?

I know in past stories they’ve connected the New Gods and other pantheons in the past, but I think it’s a good time for cosmic reset and to have some fun with them as characters. What’s it look like when Athena, Granny Goodness, Cythonna, X’Hal and Isis come across one another?

What does the least powerful god look like and where do they rank compared humans, superheroes and the most powerful gods?

Similar to magic in the DCU, I’d like know their similarities and differences; like is divine magic different from the Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos magic and/or Homo Magi magic and/or eldritch magic and/or 5th dimensional magic and so on.

It’d deepen them as characters and make some rules for them I guess, so there'd be some kind of anticipation or anxiety when they’d show up and interact with mortals or other divinities. (And be a lot of fun to develop and write.)