James Gunn and Peter Safran have some promising lineups for their DCU films and shows. They are starting strong with a Superman movie titledSuperman: Legacyset to be released on July 11th, 2025. They are calling thisfirst chapter of their DCU Gods and Monsters, and with one of their shows being a live-action adaption of theWonder WomanstorylineParadise Lost, that chapter title is fitting.
Paradise Lostis a two-partWonder Womanstoryline based around the Amazons. The first part takes place long before our Amazonian heroine was even born when the Amazons came to be and went through traumatic events. The second part, written much later, is during Wonder Woman’s time as a hero, and she returns home to find war. With a new story comes new characters, but who exactly are we going to see? Let’s go right into it and talk about who we want to see inParadise Lost.
Hippolyta is the Queen of the Amazons and the mother of Diana (aka Wonder Woman). Her story begins thousands of years before she was even born, during a time of cavemen. One caveman brutally murdered a woman in a cave who showed him compassion after he was hurt by a tiger and exiled from his tribe. Then, thousands of years later, five of the six Olympian goddesses traveled to the Underworld to the Well of Souls, where the spirits of women who were killed by men’s hatred were gathered. Hippolyta and the other Amazons were formed from clay and stone and were reborn from the souls. The goddesses gave Hippolyta and her sister Golden Girdles as a symbol of their devotion. Hippolyta became queen and the Amazons created their city called Themyscira.
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We’ve yet to get to know Hippolyta in the DCU. Those who do not know her character’s history only know her as Wonder Woman’s mother. With Gunn doing his research to make sure his DCU is comic book accurate, we just might be seeing more of Hippolyta. She hasso much history with both the Greek godsand even the Justice Society of America. She has a story just waiting to be told. Sounds likeParadise Lostis a good starting point.
The second soul to leave the Well of Souls, Antiope was the former Queen of the Amazons alongside her sister Hippolyta. She was an incredibly skilled warrior and the Amazonian army general. Since she had a Golden Girdle, like Hippolyta, Antiope had great strength and power, using it to train the other Amazons. Even though she ruled alongside her sister, they did not always see eye to eye, especially after the events of Paradise Lost as told in the comics. After Hippolyta’s girdle was stolen, Antiope begged her sister to abandon the gods, for they have betrayed the Amazons. When Hippolyta refused, Antiope gave away her Golden Girdle and left Themyscira with half of the Amazons. They traveled to Egypt and built a whole new tribe there, naming their city Bana-Mighdall.
It’s unclear whetherJames Gunn is going to follow the plotofParadise Lostpoint for point. In the 2017Wonder Womanfilm, Antiope remained on the island and continued to train the Amazons. She also trained Diana harder than the other warrior women. Of course, she sacrificed herself by protecting her niece when the German army invaded Themyscira in search of Steve Trevor. There is a chance we might see Antiope’s tribe of Amazons and her ruling over them sinceParadise Lostall took placebefore the events of Wonder Woman’s adventures. She is a unique character in her own right with vastly different ideals from Hippolyta. Seeing more of Antiope and what she fights for in the DCU would be interesting.
In Greek mythology, Heracles (or Hercules in some stories) is the son of Zeus and one of the greatest heroes in legend. It was said that he strangled two serpents with his bare hands as a child. He has slain many mythological creatures and endured the Twelve Labors that the god of the sun Apollo bestowed upon him for the Mycenaean king Eurystheus.
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While he is depicted as the god of strength and a hero, he has had some ugly stories. Hera, the wife of Zeus and the goddess of marriage, drove Heracles insane and made him murder his wife and two children. The Twelve Labors that the sun god sent Heracles out to do was to atone for what he had done. In theParadise Loststoryline, one of the trials made him into a more villainous demigod in DC Comics.
InParadise Lost, Heracles was jealous of the Amazons and even challenged Hippolyta to a battle. When he lost, Hippolyta offered peace with him and his warriors. She was tricked, however, andHeracles enslaved her and the other Amazons. His main goal during all this was part of his twelve trials: the ninth trial to take the Amazon queen’s golden girdle. Still, enslaving and doing other disgusting things like raping the Amazons does not seem like something a hero would do. With the DCU exploring darker and more intense themes, we are sure to get this misogynistic and cruel version of the once-great hero of Greek mythology.
Gunn and Safran are dead set on making sure their storytelling is accurate to the comics and entertaining to the fans. As far astheir ten-year-plangoes, they are emphasizing using their “diamond characters” (like Wonder Woman) to introduce characters that people may not know. Honestly, it is a good strategy. The more we know about the lesser-known characters, we have a better understanding of the well-known characters. Knowing Wonder Woman’s culture through the eyes of her family from thousands of years ago will provide good insight.Paradise Lostwill be an HBO Max live-action series and, hopefully, we will get to see more characters like Antiope on the big screen.
