Warning: contains spoilers for Wonder Woman: Black & Gold #6!
In Wonder Woman 1984, Cheetah was granted abilities comparable to Diana and promptly abused them, but in Wonder Woman: Black & Gold #6, another classic villain has a chance to wield the heroine's powers, resulting in a very different ending.
In Wonder Woman 1984, Cheetah wishes she could be like Diana, causing her to gain Wonder Woman's powers, while the titular heroine loses them. The power goes to her head and she wishes to become unlike anyone else, choosing to be an "apex predator" instead. Ultimately, Cheetah becomes a villain who is hungry for more power and she has to be defeated. While the filmmakers wanted to create a story where Wonder Woman saves the day with a conversation, Wonder Woman: Black & Gold goes one step further in how gaining power teaches size-changing villain Giganta a major lesson.
The story "Attack of the 50-Foot Wonder Woman" has the creative team of Christos Gage, Kevin Maguire, Adriano Lucas, and Clayton Cowles. After breaking out of prison, Giganta begins life anew in a small town, where she is very accepted. To prevent Wonder Woman from catching up to her, she buys a spell that will take Diana's powers from her - giving them to Giganta instead. Unfortunately, the spell does more than that, swapping their powers and causing Diana to grow to an immense size.
Diana's inability to control her new powers causes problems since the town is now in danger from a very confused - and large - Wonder Woman. Initially, Giganta tries to face her head-on, believing her new abilities will allow her to stop Diana - particularly since the heroine has always been able to stop her in the past. However, Wonder Woman's foe soon realizes neither of them is able to properly use their swapped powers effectively and a new tactic is needed. She employs Wonder Woman's most underrated ability - comion.
When it comes to powers, Giganta acknowledges it isn't about the actual abilities - it's about how they're used and what else the brings to the table. This is where Cheetah falters in Wonder Woman 1984. Having powers does improve her self-confidence, but rather than using that to overcome the unhealthy dynamic that made her so miserable, she merely takes a new place within it. Her journey comes to an abrupt end, with no indication of what will be next for her. Contrarily, Wonder Woman: Black & Gold #6 allows Giganta to become a hero briefly, saving the town she's come to be part of from Wonder Woman without fully needing her new powers. She learns not all fights come down to who hits harder or is faster, but to what a person is fighting for and how they choose to do it.
In the end, Giganta is the one who saves the day. Even though the villain is arrested, Diana puts in a good word for her since her actions showed she's capable of redemption. Wonder Woman often aims to redeem her opponents and Giganta could now largely be on the right path to a better life. She put the lives of the people around her in front of her own freedom and it seems likely that she'll get another chance to be free - from prison and crime. Cheetah's journey in Wonder Woman 1984 doesn't end with conclusive redemption, but Giganta's story puts a satisfying twist on the concept of gaining Wonder Woman's powers and not just being defeated, but coming to see the world in a different way.
