Wonder Woman 1984’s Cheetah Is What Amazing SpiderMan 2s Electro Couldve Been

Wonder Woman 1984’s Cheetah Is What Amazing Spider-Man 2’s Electro Could’ve Been

Wonder Woman 1984 sees Diana face off against a friend-turned-foe and the Cheetah storyline succeeds where Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed with Electro.

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Wonder Woman 1984’s Cheetah Is What Amazing SpiderMan 2s Electro Couldve Been

Warning: SPOILERS for Wonder Woman 1984.

Wonder Woman 1984 brought to life the classic DC Comics villain, Cheetah — and the character succeeded in every way that The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s Electro failed. Released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, the highly-anticipated Wonder Woman sequel explored a new era of the DCEU. Directed once again by Patty Jenkins, the action ventured from Washington D.C. to Egypt and beyond as Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) investigated the wish-granting Dreamstone. In the process, she clashed with friend-turned-foe Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig).

Wonder Woman 1984’s version of Barbara actually shared a lot of thematic DNA with Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx). Max served as one of the villains in Andrew Garfield’s second Spider-Man outing. Both were lonely outsiders, perpetually forgotten, and borderline invisible, to those around them. Both had a fascination with their titular superheroes. Both experienced extreme transformations that drastically altered their appearances and imbued them with amazing abilities. However, Electro was widely criticized. Conversely, Wiig’s Cheetah has been extremely well-received — so much so, fans have already lamented that there wasn’t even more of her.

There are several prominent reasons for the disparity. Firstly, Max Dillion’s nerdiness was so overwrought that it crossed the line into laughably cartoonish. Foxx has proven himself a supremely talented, charming actor. Regardless, his version of Max Dillion was more akin to how nerdy Peter Parker himself would’ve often have been portrayed in a different era. On paper, that could be an interesting correlation but didn’t translate. Instead, Max was often pitiful rather than sympathetic — a trait made worse by his whiny, stalkerish tendencies, which belied an inherent sense of entitlement. Another issue was the contrived nature of his transformation. And in the wake of it, Max was propelled to villainy so extremely that it felt almost like he’d merely been waiting for the means to act on his darker impulses. As such, what little sympathy he had garnered was rapidly wiped out.

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Meanwhile, Wiig was allowed to lend the wildly-intelligent-yet-grounded Barbara her natural charisma. While Barbara was similarly overlooked by the world, she never felt entitled to attention. Her resulting low self-esteem merely prompted her to lament her own perceived shortcomings. As such, she was sympathetic in a way that many (especially women who’ve gone unappreciated in similar environments) could relate. Though the expanding world of Wonder Woman 1984 couldn’t see her value, audiences and Diana could. They could see her warmth and kindness, which made her infinitely more sympathetic. It also made it more poignantly tragic when she gave in to her relatable vulnerabilities — only later learning the painful cost but then too addicted to her new self to turn back.

In regards to her transformation, it was also more gradual and layered with elements of wish fulfillment. (Who wouldn’t want to be able to stand up to harassers?) As such, there was much that kept audiences invested in her, even as she stood violently against Diana and further lost herself. Rather than freak accidents, Barbara’s fate remained tied to her agency throughout. Even if the choices she made were poor, they were understandable in their motivations beyond just rage. Furthermore, they tied into and emphasized the themes that ran through Wonder Woman 1984. Max, meanwhile, served no such function beyond furthering Sony’s eagerness to get to the Sinister Six.

By the time it came to the respective final acts, they yet again differed greatly. Spider-Man’s final battle with Electro was a cacophony that proved more of a distraction from the already overstretched plot than necessary to it. Cheetah’s full CGI, meanwhile, was more subdued, bathed in moonlight, and only featured in one battle. As such, it didn’t detract from the true emotional center of Barbara and Diana’s conflict. Fortunately, Foxx has been teased to be getting a second chance at the role in the MCU’s upcoming Spider-Man 3. The hope has been that it can learn from some of the mistakes inherent within The Amazing Spider-Man 2. An equally wise move, however, could be to take note of what Jenkins and Wiig were able to accomplish so successfully in Wonder Woman 1984 at the same time.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/wonder-woman-1984-cheetah-spiderman-electro-comparison/

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