WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Wonder Woman #64
There's a new villain making DC Rebirth. When Greg Rucka left the series though Veronica Cale seemed to go with him, incompletely disappearing from the comic.
Now Ms. Marvel creator G. Willow Wilson has taken over Wonder Woman's comic and brought Veronica Cale back into the limelight. Wilson has added her own flair to the villain and sets up a fantastic dynamic between Woman Woman and herself in Wonder Woman #64. This new storyline combined with everything else in Veronica Cale's history is proof that whenever the inevitable Wonder Woman 3 happens, Veronica Cale should be the lead opposite Gal Gadot's Diana.
Related: Wonder Woman's Brother ARES is DC's Newest Superhero?
The easiest way to describe Veronica Cale is to imagine the female Lex Luthor. There's a lot more complexity to Veronica but this is the basic gist. She's a powerful, attractive, businesswoman who believes that the public's reliance on Wonder Woman makes them weak. Veronica Cale thinks that the average woman shouldn't look up to someone as "perfect" and unattainable as Wonder Woman but women like herself who built an empire out of nothing. Veronica s female empowerment just as much as Wonder Woman but disagrees with Wonder Woman's methods seeing her as little more than reckless vigilante.
This alone would make Veronica compelling DCEU fodder. Yet Wonder Woman #64 adds a sympathetic reason for Veronica's continuing grudge against Wonder Woman. In Greg Rucka's run on Wonder Woman it was revealed that Veronica Cale had a daughter, Isadore. Isadore was cursed and the only way to save her was to let her live on Paradise Island with the rest of Wonder Woman's Amazon sisters. Since Wilson's arc started though something mysterious but terrible has happened to Paradise Island. All manner of mythical creatures and gods are invading the mortal realm with no memory of how they got there. The belief is that Themyscira, and everyone who lives there, has been destroyed.
Veronica, unsurprisingly, blames Wonder Woman for the supposed death of her daughter. Diana promised Veronica that Isadore would be safe but at the very least Veronica's daughter is now missing. This adds a very human and compelling angle to Veronica's vendetta against Wonder Woman. Veronica's problem with Wonder Woman isn't just intellectual anymore it's personal.
Veronica's motivations and story make her a great villain regardless. Yet she would fill a role that's sorely missing within the DCEU. It's true that the cinematic universe does have Lex Luthor already in the form of Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal. However reception to Eisenberg's Lex Luthor has been, at best, mixed. In Batman v. Superman Eisenberg was less playing Lex Luthor and acting more like a hyperactive and super intelligent millennial on a temper tantrum. The DCEU needs Lex or a Lex-type figure. Lex Luthor is valuable for more than just his iconic status as a villain. Lex believes he's the hero of the story even when he's trying to murder Superman. The DCEU needs a villain with that level of conviction and Veronica could be the answer. Veronica is everything Lex Luthor is and more with her own tragic backstory.
Another Wonder Woman movie is only hypothetical for now. Yet it does seem inevitable given the Kristen Wiig's Cheetah will survive Wonder Woman 1984 to wreak more havoc in Wonder Woman's life but Veronica Cale deserves her own cinematic adaption as well.
Wonder Woman #64 is available now from DC Comics.
