It has been announced that Kristen Wiig, the well-known actor who had a long run on Saturday Night Live and has been a part of some funny movies such as Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters, is going to play Cheetah, the lead villain in Wonder Woman sequel. This news has caused shock and surprise among the netizens. But, no matter what your first reaction be, Wiig’s career makes her a perfect choice to play a character like Cheetah, and it is a commendable casting decision.
To begin with, before any further details are known about the role, it must be noted that it often happens that comedic actors are not given due consideration when they play superhero roles, and eventually they turn out to be awesome. Reason being, a comedic actor, has the ability to connect with the audience and make them relate to the character, those are the things which do well in the superhero genre.
To quote the best such example, Michael Keaton had been famous for funny roles before he was chosen to play Batman in Tim Burton’s version of the character. Allan B. Rothstein went on to write a letter to the Los Angeles Times editor on the subject, and his views were echoed by many others at that time.
“He might have made a good Joker, but his comic style, which he seems unable to shake (but can amplify), has doomed this promised ‘serious’ treatment of Bob Kane’s character to the same tired, boring level of artificial ‘camp’ that made the TV series a hit yet simultaneously doomed it to an early cancellation,” Rothstein wrote. However, it was soon realized that those were the exact qualities which made Keaton not only a popular comedy actor but, made fans connect to his Bruce Wayne/Batman. Wiig is akin to Keaton in that aspect. Her Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters performances depended on her ability to relate, and hopefully, she will connect with the audience the same way that Keaton did.
The one problem which Wiig will have to deal with is the fact that there have been various Cheetah portrayals over the year.
The first lady to play Cheetah, Priscilla Rich was a first timer with a dual personality.
As can be seen, she was a wider character. That was something in the zone of what Wiig repeatedly played on SNL, like the loud actress playing the game show, Secret Word.
However, it is almost ruled out that the Priscilla Rich version will be the inspiration for this movie.
Stronger chances are that the Cheetah in Wonder Woman 2 will be more similar to the Barbara Ann Minerva version of the character. Minerva was seen in the George Perez’s Post-Crisis Wonder Woman reboot.
An archaeologist by profession, Minerva became the evil Cheetah during her expedition of the far-flung African regions. She faced off Wonder Woman because she wanted to include her lasso of truth in her historical items collection, but, got defeated. It was her hurt ego that kept bringing her back. With the passage of time, she became a regular villain who would always jump into the picture whenever a mega villainous team was in need of a female member.
Wiig might play this version, but, this Cheetah would turn out to be a CGI created villain. Therefore, it would be a waste of Wiig’s talent. Therefore, in our opinion, the most likely version of Cheetah that we will see in Wonder Woman 2 will also be the one which would suit Wiig the best. That’s the Rebirth Cheetah.
After Greg Rucka took charge of writing Wonder Woman’s iconic 25-issue DC’s Rebirth run, the most important change he made to the mythos was the significant revamp of Barbara Ann Minerva’s past.
In this version, she is a wealthy child who lost her mother at a tender age. She loves books and myths and languages. She is not suited to her father’s concept of a proper lady, and she disconnects from her family. She picks up her mother’s maiden name, Minerva, and goes on to become one of the most reputed archaeologists existing. Her only obsession is to discover the Amazons.
Although, despite her finding artifacts of Amazons and even being able to speak their language, she failed to locate Themyscira, the Amazons home.
That’s when her life gets transformed when Wonder Woman lands in “Man’s World” and Minerva is employed to be her translator.
They became good friends and stay with each other (at the same time, Minerva falls in love with Etta Candy, Wonder Woman’s military supervisor). Wonder woman gifts her a special communicator to use if she faces trouble, something identical to the signal watch of Jimmy Olsen. But, when Barbara Ann is trapped by wicked Veronica Cale and her plan is to wed Minerva to the god Urzkartaga. Cale (and the sons of War God Ares, who are her masters) theorize that if Minerva became a demigod, she would be able to locate Themyscira for them.
That’s when Cale’s colleague, Doctor Cyber, rendered the communicator ineffective and Wonder Woman never got Barbara Ann’s signal for help before it was too late and Minerva had become Cheetah.
That’s the kind of role which would be apt for Wiig.
The 2014 movie Skeleton Twins, is a great display to see how Wiig will play this role.
That film showed Wiig play a lady who was attempting to commit suicide but just then she received a phone call that her twin brother (a character played by Wiig’s former SNL co-star, Bill Hader) had tried killing himself unsuccessfully. That’s when she brings her twin home, and they evaluate the difficulties faced by them, and in the process, they discover some of the life’s lost joys too.
Wiig was quite compelling in the movie as a person who wanted to make more out of life but was clueless about what it was, and that’s the kind of a feel which suits Barbara Ann Minerva, a lady who strives for greater objectives, but, always finds herself in the muddle. The DC Rebirth’s Minerva is a sincere, tragic character which we could relate to before she was converted into Cheetah due to that evil plot, and Kristen Wiig can do wonders in such a character.
She would be realistic as a gruff, devoted archaeologist who becomes Wonder Woman’s good friend, enjoying the glory of her friendship and then becoming a dark person when she feels that her friend didn’t save her from the horrors of being converted into Cheetah. The role is humane, and in our opinion, Wiig will perform it superbly.
