One of the great revelations of Wonder Woman 1984 is the story behind Diana’s golden armor. In the original comics, it originated in the alternate future world of Future kingdom. The new film reveals it as the property of an old Amazon called Asteria. It is she, according to legend, who is left behind in the World of Man, so that the Amazon race can escape to Themyscira. Asteria was never heard from again. Diana tells Steve Trevor that she searched the world for her, only finding her armor.
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But in the middle of the scene credits from Wonder Woman 1984, we discover that Asteria is alive and well, and living in the modern world. In fact, none other than Diana Prince’s original TV, Lynda Carter, play it. But is Asteria a real character from the pages of DC Comics, or did Patty Jenkins just invent her? Well … yes and no.
Amazonian alternative land
DC Comics
A character called Asteria exists in the comics, but is a profound, deep cut. It appears in the 1998 non-continuity comic book The best of Elseworld: Supergirl and Batgirl. This story shows an alternate Earth where the main champions are Supergirl and Batgirl, not their male counterparts. The prominent super team of that world was the Justice Society of America. The Earth 1098 JSA has some familiar names, but there was a powerful-looking lady on the list that no one had seen before. Her name was Asteria.
Although we know little about her in history, it seems likely that she is another Amazon warrior. It certainly looks like paper. But outside of that single appearance on Earth-1098, Asteria never appeared in another comic book again. Above is an image of his only appearance on the The best in the other world comic.
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It is likely that Patty Jenkins and Geoff Johns simply took the name from a hat. This is similar to how Superman: the movie General Zod was named after another villain from the comic book Phantom Zone, but he doesn’t look like him or act like him. Zod is just a cool name that the producers liked. But it seems likely that Asteria is prepared for much more in a potential third Wonder Woman movie.
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DC Comics
There is evidence that DC Comics has plans to introduce a different Asteria on the pages of the comics. Just two years ago, Wonder Woman mentioned an ancient Amazon warrior with that name in a Justice League event comic called Drowned land. Diana tells Aquaman about an old Amazon, a warrior named Asteria, whose feats have become legendary. An “old sister who fought against the gods”. Diana even gives the name of Asteria to her faithful companion eagle. We don’t see the character, but the fact that they chose that name is very revealing. This indicates that they have plans.
Future of Asteria
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The simple fact of having Asteria brought to life by the legendary Lynda Carter is what makes it so cool, of course. They could have called her character Sally Jenkins and we would have agreed to that! Although we still hope to see Lynda dressed again as the original Wonder Woman on an alternate Earth in the Snapshot movie, we’d also love to see you keep playing Asteria. Seeing her and Diana teaming up against a villain like Circe would be a headache. We hope that Patty Jenkins and Warner Brothers will make this a reality.