Published 14:16 IST, December 26th 2020
Who is Barbara in 'Wonder Woman 1984'? Here's all you need to know
Read further ahead to find out who is Barbara Ann Minerva in the recent film, 'Wonder Woman 1984', and also the character's story through the years.
Wonder Woman 1984 was released yesterday on December 25, 2020, after being highly anticipated for a long time and delays due to the ongoing pandemic crisis. This instalment features Diana Prince standing against a new archenemy Cheetah or Barbara Ann Minerva. Read further ahead to know more about Barbara’s character and how it has changed over the different generations of the DC Multiverse.
Who is Barbara in Wonder Woman 1984?
The Cheetah has been seen as an enemy as well as a friend of Wonder Woman as she tries to balance her human and animal instincts. In the recent instalments, the character of Cheetah is known as Barbara Ann Minerva. She is an archaeologist who is obsessed with artefacts and will go to any extent of risk to retrieve them.
Her rather over-ambitious attitude gets her into trouble this time as her fanatics with mythology take her into the deep wilderness of Africa. There she is stuck and ends up being pushed to perform some historical rituals that transform her into a half-human and half-cheetah with a longing for blood. Barbara who was initially an ally and admired of Wonder Woman holds a grudge against her and blames her for not being able to save her which made her lose her sanity.
Wonder Woman 1984 was the first movie that saw the live-action version of Barbara Ann Minerva. The 2020 flick from the DC Extended Universe had Kristen Wiig playing the pivotal character of Barbara. The franchise has included four incarnations of the Cheetah so far since its debut, the first was Priscilla Rich who played the Golden and Silver Age Cheetah followed by Deborah Domaine playing the Bronze Age Cheetah.
In 2001, Sebastian Ballesteros briefly portrayed the Cheetah and the only male to represent the character. Barbara Ann Minerva has been representing the Post Crisis and the current version of the Cheetah. IGN ranked the Cheetah as the 69th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time back in 2009.
Updated 14:16 IST, December 26th 2020