So, in case you didn’t hear, Kristen Wiig has officially been cast as Cheetah in the sequel to last year’s Wonder Woman film.
Now you may think that I would just hate everything about this because I have spoken against the DC Films time and time again however, for once, I’m going to defend them. Yeah, it’s weird to me too.
So first up let’s really talk about the DC Films as a whole with their casting. Let’s face it, they haven’t really made any majorly bad decisions on casting just yet. Let me elaborate : I hate Leto as Joker, Miller as Flash and Eisenberg as Luthor. I get it, I’m upset about those too but I have to wonder how much of that is their acting ability versus the script and direction they’re given. Leto and Eisenberg have been pretty solid in most of the other films that I’ve seen of theirs but they just do nothing but bring down two of my favorite villains. Alright, so that might still be up in the air but Cavill, Gadot, Affleck, Irons, Simmons, Pine, Momoa and Shannon have all been fantastic actors even in scenes that I absolutely abhorred as a fan. Still not with me? Alright well let’s do this.
Kristen Wiig is a fantastic comedian, there’s no doubt about that but many people are concerned that she won’t be able to pull off a serious role that well and make no mistake, Cheetah is a very serious character. Go check out her modern origin if you don’t believe me. It’s horrifying. Now, I’m withholding full judgement until I at least see a picture or even better, a trailer. Wiig could surprise everyone with an oscar caliber performance…or they could make her quirky. But they wouldn’t do that and that’s because of my final point.
Patty Jenkins is directing again and is doing the story treatment for the script alongside Geoff Johns. Jenkins has already delivered a truly phenomenal film in the first Wonder Woman and honestly she was able to do it against studio advice.(Watch WW and Justice League again and tell me that Diana wasn’t originally meant to be harsh and bitter towards the world. There’s no way around it.) The only real issue with the film is Ares which is unfortunate because the villain is what we’re talking about here. I enjoyed David Thewlis’ performance but I also understood people’s complaints about it. I think that a more emotional showdown between Diana and Cheetah would work better as a whole.
Overall, I trust Patty Jenkins and I believe that Wiig could be a solid choice for cheetah.
