Monolith’s Wonder Woman Has One Big Advantage Over Other DC Games

Announced back in December 2021 during the Game Awards, Monolith’s Wonder Woman game is still nowhere to be seen three years later, but that hasn’t hampered many fans’ excitement for the upcoming DC project. Developer Monolith has already proven with the Middle-earth: Shadow games that it can handle an IP with decades’ worth of lore and world-building, and it’s exciting to imagine how that experience could translate to an IP like Wonder Woman.

Just like other long-standing DC icons like Batman and Superman, there’s plenty of source material for Monolith to draw inspiration from for its Wonder Woman game. But unlike those other two flagship heroes, Wonder Woman has a unique advantage when it comes to villains, an advantage that gives Monolith some interesting opportunities.

Wonder Woman’s Villains Aren’t as Well-Known as Other DC Heroes’

Batman’s rogues’ gallery has become one of the most recognizable in the entire entertainment industry. Thanks to mainstream movies like Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and the Tim Burton movies that came before them, villains like The Joker, Riddler, Scarecrow, and Bane are all household names. Popular video game series like Injustice and Batman: Arkham have also gone a long way in cementing some lesser-known Batman villains in the public consciousness, such as Deadshot and Red Hood.

Superman has had the same treatment for some of his rogues’ gallery, with Doomsday, General Zod, and Lex Luthor all making frequent appearances over the last few decades in various pieces of mainstream Superman media, such as the Christopher Reeve-led live-action movies, Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, and the more recent Superman & Lois.

By comparison, Wonder Woman’s rogues’ gallery is much more obscure. Though Ares appeared in 2017’s Wonder Woman, it was only for a few minutes right at the end, and while Cheetah and Max Lord both appear in Wonder Woman 1984, that movie’s poor reception kept those villains from entering the mainstream. On top of that, there are countless Wonder Woman villains who haven’t appeared at all in recent DC media, such as Circe, Giganta, and Doctor Psycho.

Wonder Woman’s Obscure Rogues’ Gallery Gives Monolith Two Possible Routes

Due to the immense popularity of some of Batman’s villains, most modern Caped Crusader adaptations feel they need to go out of their way to deliver a distinct version of these iconic adversaries, often changing their origins, visual designs, and motivations. Monolith’s Wonder Woman doesn’t need to go to the same lengths with its own villains, as they’re all still relative unknowns. This allows Monolith to rely on the source material a bit more heavily, and present comic-accurate versions of these villains.

But Monolith is also free to do the exact opposite. A frequent criticism of many modern versions of Batman’s rogues’ gallery is that the villains have been changed too much from their best-known comic counterparts, and thus feel inauthentic. Monolith’s Wonder Woman is in the rare and fortunate position to avoid these potential criticisms as well, as there are simply fewer fans likely to cause an uproar if Monolith decides to change a villain’s origin or design.