Looking to continue on chapter two's success when it came to sequel films. The next film in the DC Extended Universe would be a sequel to Wonder Woman. Unlike many of the sequels which have featured some time jumps be it a few months or weeks following the conclusion of it's first entry. In the case of this Wonder Woman however we'd receive a direct continuation from the first film as we showed Diana Prince (Jaime Alexander) returning home to Paradise Island. Bringing with her the statue of the captured and defeated Ares (Daniel Craig) for it to be stored by her people. On her return Diana would be given a heroes welcome by her people even those who doubted her the most. After an emotional reunion with her mother Hippolyta (Kate Winslet) and general Philippus (Naomi Campbell). With Hippolyta wishing to celebrate her daughter's return and triumph, we'd also see Diana reunite with Antiope (Laurie Holden) who was truly impressed with what her niece had achieved.
On top of this Diana would also reunite with her close friend Mala (Tracy Spiridakos) and also Artemis (Elodie Yung). Having achieved her mission and won over many of her critics or rivals, it seemed the only person to still have some ill feeling towards Diana was Orana (Rose Leslie). This would be shown by a noted coldness to Diana and even to her fellow Amazons. On her return Diana well tell her people all about her time in the world of man. This included the story of how she bested Ares and her meeting with Nubia not too mention how she met Steve Trevor. During these stories Philippus and Antiope would notice how much Diana wished to return to the world of man. But this would be ruled out by Hippolyta who wished for her daughter to resume her life with her people. A time jump of one year exactly would then pass and we'd see Diana still longing to return home but despite this she'd put her best foot forward with her mother's wishes. This included personally mentoring a young amazonian by the name of Donna Troy (Ella Balinska).
Similar to Diana when she was growing up, Donna was not the most naturally skilled or talented warriors. But she had a strong will and sought to prove herself even at a young age. As we'd see in a similar fashion to Diana not only would Donna have to deal with being bested on several occasions by Artemis but she'd at least find some respect from that side. As when it came to Orana, Donna like Diana would be treated a lot harsher. This of course wouldn't be the first time Diana had acted in some ways as a mentor and we'd then come to the world and see Nubia (Nicole Beharie). Still very much looking to finish the mission and gain some revenge on those who had manipulated her and hidden the truth from her, as we'd learn Nubia had travelled all across the world under the guise of Candace Osei. We'd see Nubia finally finish her mission as she found Phobos (Oliver Stark). The last remaining son of Ares was very much shown to be a cowardly figure who was once working for Maxwell Lord (Channing Tatum).
Despite Phobos and his pleas to save himself and trying to show his own usefulness, Nubia would not hear him out or listen and instead cut him down where he stood. Having completed her mission Nubia finally wished to see Paradise Island for herself and after chatting with Steve Trevor (Josh Duhamel), she'd agree to pass on a message that he missed her. On top of this Nubia warned Trevor that Phobos appeared to have made some connections in his time on earth. Having followed Diana's instructions on how to contact the amazons, Nubia for the very first time would journey to paradise island. On arrival having slain the last child of Ares, Nubia would also be met with a heroes welcome and quickly reunite with Diana. With these two being close friends Diana would introduce Nubia to Hippolyta, Antiope and Philippus. Of this trio Nubia would form a quick bond with Antiope as the pair recognized one another as fellow warriors. She would also form a close bond with Artemis in this time for similar reasons.
However Nubia's presence didn't sit well with everyone as Orana continued to grow more angry and disillusioned with the changes in the Amazon culture and way. This festering rage as we'd learn would spread to a fellow Amazon warrior known as Clea (Rebecca Mader). Clea as we'd learn was once apart of a rival family which had contested Hippolyta's rule and because of this she herself had always seen or harbored resentment to Diana for living what in her opinion should have been her life. After numerous talks and discussion, this pair would elect to flee and head to the Man world themselves. Recognizing this act of abandonment as treason and also potentially dangerous to their land. Diana would elect to go after them this time with the approval of Hippolyta. But she would not be going alone as she'd be joined by Artemis, Nubia and Donna Troy. This would be Diana's first trip to the man world in over a year and quickly we'd see just how much things had changed. With Nubia now showing her around, Nubia would bring them to England where she would furth bring Diana to speed about how things have changed.
This includes a special government unit from America which was put together and funded by Maxwell Lord. This team would be known as Argus and would be headed by General Phil Darnell (Colin Firth). Joining him as his second in command would be Steve Trevor and per Max Lord's request we'd learn that Nubia would be joined in the field by Vanessa Kapatellis (Astrid-Berges Frisby) and Etta Candy (Orla Brady). Unfortunately in recent times Lord has been forced to pull away from Argus due to a politician named Brad Covington (Jim Beaver). We'd learn that Covington and Darnell personally had some history with one another and would frequently come into conflict as Covington looked to stone wall Argus. This also meant the plan to keep Lord close and monitor exactly what the businessman was doing was brought to a halt. Since last time as we'd learn Lord in secret had been working with Paula Von Gunther (Sophia Marceau) and Doctor Poison (Rachel Weisz). It would be through these connections that Lord had become aware of a faction known as Villainy Incorporated.
With Diana's return it would be through the government and Argus that she would have her first meeting with Veronica Cale (Emily Blunt). Cale as we'd learn similar to Maxwell Lord was a business magnate who specialized in technology. Her company Empire Enterprises would be a great source of weaponry and equipment for the government and argus. Shown in some ways to be reminiscent personality wise of Miranda Priestly in that she is a cold, critical and sophisticated woman. Cale in some ways was a total opposite to Lord in that she was always upfront and brutal honest to a point. This was shown in while she respected what Diana had done and her efforts before in the wars, she felt her world view was naive and her message of love and peace to be ineffective. This would lead to a civil yet at times tense relationship between the pair. With Diana and her allies looking to trace Orana and Clea, it seemed this was building to a collision with Villainy Inc as with two rogue amazons loose in the world, they quickly would become affiliated as such.
The collective known as Villainy Inc was a shadowy faction which sought world domination and extinction of it's threats. This included Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. As we'd learn in their recruitment of Orana and Clea, it said that Villainy Inc was looking to learn all they could about Paradise Island and the Amazons. What led the rogue amazons to this group as we'd learn is Orana seeking out Maxwell Lord who she'd remembered from Diana's stories. While Orana and Clea began to learn their place in the world, we'd see Diana still trying to settle into this new world herself. During her next visit to Argus she'd meet a close friend of Steve Trevor by the name of Dale Gunn (Mekhi Phifer). A long time soldier and ally of Trevor, Dale had long heard the stories and legends of Diana and was thrilled to meet her in person. The same could not be said for Isabelle Modini (Hannah Alicia-Kim). A recent recruit into Argus who very much faced the same struggles which Etta Candy had faced as a woman in a man's world. She was also far from impressed with Diana who in her opinion never had to work for anything in her life.
While Diana tried to fit into Argus, we'd see both Artemis and Donna Troy face their own challenges in adapting to the world of man. While Artemis was unimpressed with what was in her words a brutal and putrid land, Donna was captivated with the world she had witnessed and would go out to explore it on her own when she could. In doing so she'd make her very first friend a young woman named Cathy Perkins (Annalisa Cochrane) who like her was someone new to town. These two would very much bond as fishes out of water while we'd see Artemis in a similar fashion to Nubia begin to impress Argus higher ups thanks to her soldier like mindset. In a stark contrast to Wonder Woman, Artemis would earn the respect of Modini swiftly and continued to form a close friendship with Nubia. It would be during this time that Diana first met Brad Covington, also aware of the stories and legend Covington thanked Diana for her service but warned her that Argus is not the place for her to be as he will be stopping this operation very soon.
From here we'd slowly see Villainy Inc in it's glory as Max Lord, Paula Von Gunther and Doctor Poison would stand before them with Orana and Clea. It would be here we'd begin to meet their members and those in their ranks and realize this was an assembly of female supervillains. This would begin with scientist Adrianna Anderson (Zooey Deschanel). A former scientist and researcher who worked closely with Veronica Cale, Anderson was in fact a rare person who would be identified as a friend by Cale. Sadly as we'd learn her physical body died when experiencing testing on her cybernetic cyberwalker system crashed. While her physical body may have died, her mind remained alive in the cyber walker system and with the help from those in Villainy Inc she was able to construct a new cybernetic body turning her into Doctor Cyber. As we'd learn Cyber led and ran a a human trafficking operation. While some of those who were collected would be apart of her research, others would be used as follows of Zara (Adria Arjona).
A manipulative priestess, Zara was skilled with pyro abilities which made her followers believe she was a higher power and do her bidding. This is why they wouldn't question being drafted in for Cybers' experiments and testing. Aiding this duo would be the twisted Saturna (Ruby Rose) who acted not only as a enforcer for the pair but also a torturer. While we'd see these numbers of course grow, Maxwell Lord would return to the public eye with a cover story of some threats being made against him leading to go into hiding. Lord would look to put himself back into Argus on realizing that Diana was back with her fellow Amazons and we could see that Diana still to this day did not trust Lord. Unfortunately any attempt to investigate Lord again would be affected by Covington's involvement in shutting down Argus. During one of Zara's rallies it seemed some of her followers looked to recruit Cathy Perkins. Their attempt to kidnap her however would backfire as Donna Troy was on the scene to fight and defend her friend.
As we'd see however Troy despite her best efforts would soon be overwhelmed thanks to Saturna and her weapon abilities not too mention the surprising involvement of Clea who by this point had been fully converted to the villainy inc way of life. Orana meanwhile however recognizing Donna Troy being brought in would begin to suffer a bout of conscience and this would lead to a surprising change of heart as she reached out to Argus and met with Artemis. Tipping her off to this operation, Artemis in turn brought this back to Argus only for Brad Covington who was increasingly looking to establish his power over the operation. Max Lord meanwhile would attempt to bring some normality to Argus and deflect some questions about himself Max Lord would host a gala in which we was introduced to his girlfriend and socialite Priscila Rich (Emmy Raver Lampmann). During this Gala Diana, Nubia and Artemis looked to make a plan realizing that Argus' hands were tied. Offering to help them would be Etta and Vanessa both of whom wanted to shut down this trafficking operation. Willing to break the rules for them as well would be Dale Gunn but as Trevor and Darnell advized now is not the time for all of them to step out of line.
Arriving at this illicit base of operation Diana, Artemis, Nubia, Etta and Vanessa would soon find themselves up against the full force of Zara's followers and Cyber's experiments. While battling these cyber enhanced people and also the cultists, Diana would look to breach the compound with the aid of Artemis and Nubia. Once inside Artemis would find herself confronted by Saturna who was armed with a spiked whip. As we'd soon find there was something not quite human about Saturna thanks to her strength and resilience and it would in fact take a combination of Nubia and Artemis to not only take down but kill Saturna. During this conflict Orana looked to help Donna and Cathy escape only to be confronted by Clea. This led to the two former friends and allies fighting with a heart broken Orana being forced to break Clea's neck. On freeing Cathy, Donna and several other captives Orana would help guide them to Etta Candy while Vanessa also entered the field and began to chase after a fleeing doctor cyber. Diana meanwhile battled against Zara and during the fight Diana would be able to cut down the priestess of the flame. Unfortunately what wasn't counted on was Cyber having the protection of Hypnota (Julianne Hough).
A former stage magician who has the ability to enter the minds of others. Hypnota would enter Vanessa's mind and give her flashes of the White Swan. This would overwhelm Vanessa and allow Cyber and Hypnota a chance to escape. Helping Vanessa get her grip with reality would be Donna Troy while we'd see Orana meet with Diana and the others. Apologizing for allowing her rage to fuel her, Orana sought death for her crimes but Diana instead spared her and told her to return home to make amends. Artemis would elect to take her back while Donna wished to stay with Diana and further find out what was going on. In retaliation to his orders being ignored Brad Covington looked to turn Argus against Diana and demanded she be arrested for illicit operations. While Darnell was able to save Nubia/Etta and Kapatellis with them being employees, Diana wasn't a member of Argus officially. Steve and Dale would also want to fight this and in turn they bring Diana to Russell Abernathy (Nick Searcy).
Reaching out to Abernathy would give Diana a place to hide out. As we'd also learn Abernathy actually left the government not long after Lord started working there. Believing Lord to be a rot which had set into the government Abernathy very much showed Diana a more cynical view on life. He was also one of the rare people to know of Villainy Inc and had done his research into their designs. It would be through Abernathy that we learned some codenames of other members of Villainy Inc which included Giganta, Blue Snowman and Cheetah. While Abernathy gave this talk to Diana we'd see Max Lord meet with Brad Covington, here it was revealed that Covington was a puppet for Max Lord and finally had began to grow scared and concerned for what he was involved in. Wanting to stop interfering with Argus, Covington found himself met by Priscila Rich who revealed herself to be the costumed villain Cheetah. Cheetah would then slit Covington's throat killing him before he could expose their plans.
This as we'd learn would begin a planned attack on Argus by Villainy Inc and here we would be introduced to both Blue Snowman and Giganta for the first time. In Blue Snowmman we had a brilliant inventor known as Bryana Brilyant (Olivia Thrillby). The daughter of a reputable scientist, Bryana had often been overlooked or disregarded for being a woman. Shown to be angered at constantly being overlooked she turned to crime and villainy inc who recognized her talents. Meanwhile Giganta would be a sadder case as Doris Zuel (Bryce Dallas Howard) was once a hard working doctor and scientist who even had worked for Argus at points. But following a terminal diagnosis she sought to save herself but instead mutated herself into the giant woman known as Giganta. This attack very much would be multi pronged with Snowman and Giganta going on an all out onslaught while Hypnota would influence the minds of agents turning them against one another.
Rich meanwhile would out herself as cheetah when inside the building. In the process she'd even wound Max Lord to keep up pretenses of his innocence. Doctor Cyber meanwhile looked to gain entry to Argus systems while Paula Von Gunther stood watch and lastly Doctor Poison would provide weaponry to help further defeat Argus agents. While General Darnell looked to lead many of his people to safety we'd see Hypnota influence Dale Gunn leading to him attacking Steve Trevor in a short fight until Steve managed to knock him out. Hypnota would then confront Vanessa again who this time had strengthened her mind thanks to the Amazons and in turn white Swan would finally be able to kill Hypnota and break her spell on everyone. Shown to be one of the more vicious assailants Blue Snowman was purely fueled by anger and Nubia attempted to each her to no avail. Realizing that there was no reasoning with Snowman Nubia would be forced to cut her down. While Wonder Woman fought against Cheetah, we'd see Donna Troy and Steve Trevor band together to combat Giganta.
Steve aware of Doris from her previous work tried to reason with her and it appeared for a moment that this may work as Giganta began to question what she had become. Unfortunately Giganta would then remember her fate if she stopped and resume her attack when Donna Troy was able to wrap her arms around Giganta's neck. Looking to grow in order to escape Giganta was halted when Nubia used Blue Snowman's weaponry on her to keep her on ice while Trevor promised to look for a cure. Diana meanwhile continued to fight Cheetah and managed to disarm and knock out Priscila Rich to end the fight. Realizing her time was running out Doctor Cyber looked to flee only to turn to see Paula Von Gunther pointing a gun at her. Revealing this to be a ruse, Paula opened fire and shot Doctor Cyber in the head killing her instantly. On seeing her team failing Doctor Poison would attempt to flee only to be captured and beaten in a short fight by Etta Candy.
In the fall out from this attack Maxwell Lord tried to spin things as a secret mission of his to take down Villainy Inc. Revealing that thanks to her efforts Paula Von Gunther had been given amnesty and would soon be working with Argus. Lord's words didn't sit well with Steve Trevor or Phil Darnell as Steve introduced Tim Trench (Jere Burns) to Maxwell Lord. A slimy individual and private investigator, Trench had been following Lord in secret for sometime and had proof he had been working with Phobos among others. Looking to spin this knowing his connections, Lord called himself a necessary evil which for now Darnell and Trevor would have to agree. However they also had the ability to expose him once and for all and in turn, that meant he would be forced to play more by their rules as opposed to them playing by his. We'd then see in a farewell Nubia return to Paradise Island with Vanessa coming along with her having approved her as a suitable amazon trainee.
Having communicated with her mother, Diana had for now been allowed to stay in the world of Man and spend some more time with Steve. In this time she would also be officially sworn into Argus as would Donna Troy who would continue to stay also in order to further both her training and experience more of the earth. Of course for Diana she would have to live with the fact that one of her greatest foes Paula Von Gunther would at least for now be considered an ally at Argus. Meanwhile following his chat with Argus, Max Lord would receive a phone call from the head of villainy inc themselves. During the call this would be revealed as Veronica Cale and she made it crystal clear that not only would she becoming for Max Lord and everything he has. But that she will also kill that naive Amazon also as the Wonder Woman sequel came to an end! In a post credit scene set in present time we would see Rick Flag in a private facility finding the frozen body of Giganta and ordering it to be transported to a new location for his boss. |
