Wonder Woman played by Jennifer Lawrence
Steve Trevor played by Jensen Ackles
Cheetah played by Emma Stone
Circe played by Charlize Theron
There's not a whole lot that I can say about the reasons I picked this cast. It seemed pretty natural and smooth, and the characters seemed obvious for the story that needs to be told here. Since Wonder Woman's origin story has never been told on film (at least not in a live action medium), it becomes necessary to do so here as her tale is not so widely known in popular media. While I recognize that I am going against my previous statement regarding Superman not fighting his greatest villain in Earth's Mightiest Hero by having Diana throw down against not one, but two of her biggest nemeses, there is still someone bigger and badder who I plan to break out later in the series. But more on that later. For now, lets move on to the plot of this film.
ACT 1
We start in a flashback, with a narration explaining some of the backstory behind Themyscira and the Amazons, all done in a Lord of the Rings-style montage. We see them enslaved by Hercules, transformed into his personal harem. We see Queen Hippolyta (Lucy Lawless) beaten and implied to have been repeatedly raped by Hercules. We then see a revolution, with Hercules' male followers killed by the Amazons. We see Hippolyta fighting Hercules one on one, but neither of them seem to be able to best the other. Finally there is a burst of golden light on the battlefield, and the narrator explains that the Goddess Hera intervened and gave the Amazons the Island Paradise of Themyscira to be a safe haven from the cruelty of man. However, not all of the Amazons were content with this new home. Hippolyta's sister, the Sorceress Circe, who was just as heavily abused by Hercules, wanted to lead the Amazons on a crusade across the world and kill all men. Seeing her sister as weak, she challenged Hippolyta for the right to rule the Amazons - but lost. She was stripped of her powers and exiled from Themyscira forever. Saddened by the loss of her closest family member, Hippolyta crafted a small figure out of clay and prayed to Hera for a daughter - a wish that was granted. With a flash of light, the figure of clay becomes a baby girl - Diana.
We cut to modern day in the skies. Steve Trevor is on a routine patrol over the Aegean Sea with his wingman, Barbara (Callsign "Cheetah"). The two of them throw some banter around, and we see that Trevor is a serious misogynist, whereas Barbara - despite being a fighter pilot - is intimidated by Trevor who makes her lose confidence in herself. In the midst of this talk, the two are attacked by several unmarked jets. We see a quick aerial battle where both Steve and Barb are shot down, with slight implication that Trevor's earlier put downs caused Barb to lose confidence and choke at the key moment. We see Steve's eject system fail, and Steve closes his eyes as he resigns himself to his fate before we see his plane crash into the sea.
From here we cut to Themyscira, with Diana walking through the city, talking to her mother, Queen Hippolyta (Lucy Lawless). This is mostly just an introduction of an older Diana, her personality, skills, desires, dreams, etc. She is curious about the World of Man, as she is the only inhabitant of Themyscira who was not alive for their enslavement at Hercules' hands. During this, she sees the fire-trail of Trevor's plane crashing into the ocean, and is told to lead a small group of warriors to investigate. We then cut to a reprise of the scene we saw after the credits of Earth's Mightiest Hero, with Steve coming to consciousness on a beach and being chased and eventually captured by Diana. He is brought back to Hippolyta's palace and interrogated, it is determined that he will be allowed to live but must be returned to the world of man. Diana volunteers for this task, and the two board a ship to take Trevor home. The two get to know each other on the trip, and they make quick time and avoid rough waters and storms. Diana attributes this to a small offering of gold she drops into the water with the line "Though I know that Poseidon will not interfere with our journey, there are other, more... protective lords of the sea who I would not wish to cross spears with this day."
ACT 2
The two of them arrive in Washington, and Diana takes Steve to the Pentagon. On the way, Diana shares her philosophy of gender equality with Steve, and these ideas begin to take hold with him. However, when they arrive at the Pentagon, they are both quickly surrounded and apprehended by Military Police. They are both taken before MP Special Agent Amanda Waller (Jennifer Hudson), who accuses Trevor of treason against the United States by aiding the terrorist group calling themselves the Oblivion Front. When Trevor demands to know why such ridiculous charges are being brought against him, Barbara Minerva steps forward, revealing that she had survived the crash and was picked up by a rescue carrier. She retells the story of how Trevor joined forces with the attacking jets and shot her plane down. When Trevor tries to protest, he is cut short by Waller and thrown into jail, while Diana is taken in for questioning.
Diana opts to fight her way out of custody (breaking Steve Trevor out and taking him with her), and the two of them wonder what happened that caused Barbara to lie about what happened above Themyscira. Steve mentioned that there was something different about the behavior of his former wingman, while Diana mentions that she sensed something strange, not quite human about her - that she carries herself more like an Amazon than a woman from the world of man.
We cut to Barbara herself, who is being scolded by Circe (who will not be named in this scene) for failing to ensure Diana's execution at the hands of the US government, saying that the "gifts" that she has bestowed upon her should have been enough for Barbara to convince the government to kill them both straight away. While Barbara tries to protest, Circe cuts her off and orders her to handle the matter personally. Barbara screams as we cut to black.
There is some further character development as Steve and Diana evade the government as we build towards the last act. So...
ACT 3
Diana and Steve are attacked by Barbara, who has now received some animal traits resembling a cheetah, including razor-sharp claws, superhuman agility, strength and stamina. She easily overpowers Steve and begins to attack Diana. After a vicious battle, Diana emerges victorious, and demands to know why she attacked them. Cheetah laughs and replies by telling Diana that no matter how hard she tries she will never return to Themyscira. When Diana asks in shock how she knows about Themyscira, Circe arrives in person.
"It seems that you inherited your mother's strength," as Circe reveals that she is not nearly as powerless as the Amazons supposedly left her. She unleashes a ruthless magical barrage upon Diana, who is forced back, entirely unprepared for such an assault. When Diana asks her who she is, she reveals her identity and calls herself Diana's aunt. She explains that many years after her exile, she languished old and alone on a deserted island in the Mediterranean Ocean, where she was found by the goddess Hecate. Seeing her as a worthy champion, Hecate returned Circe's powers to her and amplified them tenfold, granting her eternal youth and power over form and mind. She still dreams of a world without men, and knew that if her sister thought that Diana had been killed by men in her journey that Hippolyta's wrath would be unstoppable, that she herself would lead the crusade against men that Circe herself once championed. Then she would challenge her sister once more, and with the power of Hecate within her, she would become the queen of the Amazons and - by extension - the world. She reveals that she was the one who compelled the pilots of the two other planes to attack Steve and Barb over Themyscira, knowing the events their arrival on "my sister's little paradise" would spark. "But it seems you were too strong for these pathetic worms, so I'll have to kill you myself. It's better this way, though. I can easily twist the minds of everyone here into believing you were executed by their government, and that is what my dear sister will hear - and I get to kill you myself. Delightful. I get my vengeance and my genocide, all in one delicious little murder. Wonderful how the gods reward the faithful, isn't it?"
Diana and Circe fight, Steve and Cheetah fight. Circe transforms a number of US soldiers into beastimorphs to attack Diana while she bombards her with magical blasts. Diana still wins, Circe is captured. Steve manages to trick Cheetah into attacking soldiers instead of him, resulting in her arrest. Steve and Diana say goodbye as Diana returns to Themyscira to put Circe into imprisonment. However, when she returns, she realizes that she misses the world of man, and misses Steve even more. Against her mother's wishes, she returns to Washington and shows up at Steve's apartment, saying that she is going to stay in this world. "You told me about a man in Metropolis who protects his city from injustice and chaos. It is best for the world that I use my strength and skill to do the same. After all, if one little wonderboy can protect a city... then this Wonder Woman can protect the world."
Blackout
Post Credits Scene
Steve comes home to his apartment, and another man in military garb (Nathan Fillion) comes in behind him. They talk some quick banter before Steve notices a fire a few blocks away. He turns back to his friend and says "Hang on a second, I have to make a quick call..." but looks up to see something emanating a flash of green light from off screen, which he follows with his gaze as we hear the sound of shattering glass. "Not enough to have a girlfriend with superpowers, was it Hal?"
