Given that Wonder Woman has been the one undisputed DCEU success story so far, it’s no surprise that Warner Bros. are eager to get a sequel in production as quickly as possible. Most of the original cast is returning, too, with Gal Gadot stepping back into the costume for the fourth time and Patty Jenkins back in the director’s chair. We’re also going to get Kristen Wiig as the villainous Cheetah – a were-cheetah woman with superhuman speed, reflexes, durability and very sharp fangs.
Now, it’s looking as if the film’s shooting locations might clue us in as to how Dr. Barbara Minerva will receive her feline power-set. It’s just been confirmed that the production will be headed to Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, which are off the coast of Morocco and Mauritania. First and foremost, these should provide an excellent place to shoot more Themyscira-set scenes, but they could also be used to film the origin story of Cheetah.
From what we’ve gathered from previous announcements, the sequel will follow the villain’s origin as seen in 1987’s Wonder Woman #7, in which Dr. Minerva is hunting for an artifact in Africa that leads her to an encounter with the reclusive Urzkaratagan people. Following an attack on the tribe, only she and a shaman remain. Said shaman is about to claim the Cheetah powers in revenge when Dr. Minerva kills her in cold blood and seizes them for herself instead.
I’ve got to say that this lost African tribes and great white explorer stuff all sounds a teeny bit racist, but I’m sure they’ll iron all that out in time for shooting. Regardless, I can’t wait to see Kristen Wiig doing her best big cat impression, and I just hope she takes a morsel of inspiration from Michelle Pfieffer’s Catwoman in Batman Returns.
One thing’s for sure, and that’s that she’s going to have to be one talented cat-fighter to be able to stand up to the Doomsday-battlin’ DCEU Wonder Woman, who’s apparently at the height of her powers in this 80s-set sequel.
