DC Confirms Villain For Wonder Woman's Next Appearance, And Her Design Is A Nightmare

Published Sep 19, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows. DC shares a first glimpse at Wonder Woman's archnemesis design, which features several major changes to her traditional comic book appearance. Wonder Woman’s rogues gallery may not enjoy the same mainstream spotlight as Superman’s or Batman’s, but her enemies are just as memorable and vital to her mythos. Villains like the Greek god of war Ares, the mythical sorcerer Circe, and the twisted psionic mastermind Doctor Psycho are recurring foes that could easily overpower several of the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight's lifelong enemies. These villains are also tied to Wonder Woman’s themes of truth and compassion, which makes them indispensable to her fight for justice. Unfortunately, Wonder Woman’s rogues rarely appear in live-action, animation, or video game adaptations, largely because Wonder Woman herself has historically been sidelined from starring in her own solo titles. While Batman and Superman have enjoyed decades of movies, shows, and games that reintroduce their villains to new audiences, Wonder Woman’s enemies usually stay confined to the comics. Wonder Woman's lack of pop culture exposure has limited her cultural reach, meaning that iconic foes like Giganta and Veronica Cale have yet to receive their big break outside the page, and others like Cheetah and Doctor Poison only occasionally break through in certain adaptations. That said, Wonder Woman thrives in a highly popular adaptation of her extensive lore, with the caveat that it also takes place in the comic book medium. Absolute Wonder Woman is one of the highlights of DC's Absolute Universe, where Diana of the Wild Isle gets to fight brand-new versions of all her famous foes. DC Unveils Absolute Barbara Minerva's Cheetah's Transformation Absolute Wonder Woman #27; Written By Kelly Thompson; Art By Hayden Sherman While Diana is busy dealing with multiple simultaneous threats, Barbara Minerva is stuck in an Area 41 cell, trapped with the dead body of fallen Suicide Squad member Priscilla Rich. Despite her loyalty to Diana, Barbara succumbs to the pressure and accepts Urzkartaga's offer of power beyond her wildest dreams, which the deity promises would allow her to match Diana's might. In Absolute Wonder Woman #27, Diana will meet face to face with Barbara, who has transformed into an even bigger, more monstrous version of Cheetah than Priscilla Rich. The Absolute Universe's Priscilla Rich debuts alongside the Suicide Squad sporting a visibly incomplete Cheetah transformation, with an animalistic anatomy but patches of human skin and certain human features sprinkled throughout. Barbara Minerva's Cheetah form looks even less like a human being, towering above Wonder Woman, with an oversized head, extremely long limbs, and glowing eyes. She also sports human features, but they're plastered on top of her body. Cheetah's human hands look like tattoos on top of her arms, and her human mouth is stuck screaming in the back of her animal head. Barbara Minerva Is The First Ark M-Like Absolute Wonder Woman Villain Diana Is Set To Fight The Kind Of Villain Absolute Batman Is Already Used To So far, Absolute Wonder Woman has leaned mostly into mythical antagonists to match Diana's new underworld origin, but Barbara Minerva’s monstrous Cheetah transformation proves this timeline is ready for more body-horror foes. Parallel to Wonder Woman, Batman has been fighting nightmarish villains like Absolute Mister Freeze, Absolute Scarecrow, and Absolute Killer Croc, and he's yet to fight the shapeshifting Absolute Joker face-to-face. Even though Diana is much more powerful than the Dark Knight, the second Absolute Cheetah is the first villain of this type that Wonder Woman will face. The Absolute Universe has only scratched the surface of Wonder Woman’s rogues' gallery, leaving plenty of classic villains ripe for terrifying redesigns. Villains like Doctor Psycho, Silver Swan, and Angle Man could be stripped of their traditional comic tropes and reimagined as grotesque threats. Recent additions to DC lore like Matriarch, the Sovereign, and Grail also have the potential to be adapted into living nightmares that push this hardened Diana to her limits. Doctor Poison in particular stands out as a prime candidate for a truly horrifying transformation once she returns from being brutally thrown into outer space by Diana. Which Wonder Woman do you want to see in the Absolute Universe? Absolute Wonder Woman #27 is available December 23 from DC Comics