84 Things You Should Know About Wonder Woman
(Updated 06/15/2020)
Wonder Woman finally returns to the big screen this year, in WONDER WOMAN 1984. Gal Gadot steps back into the boots of Wonder Woman (and her alter-ego Diana Prince) as the heroine navigates the politically tricky days of the Cold War and faces off against media mogul Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) and the Cheetah (Kristen Wiig).
As we get ready for the sequel, we're looking back at Wonder Woman's long history. There's a lot to learn! Wonder Woman has been on the comic book scene for almost 80 years, in which time she has done just about everything a superhero can do. Here are 84 pieces of essential, fun, and obscure Wonder Woman trivia for you to enjoy before the release of WONDER WOMAN 1984. (Note: Titles written in all caps refer to movies, while italicized titles refer to comic books, with an issue number and publication date.)
1. In WONDER WOMAN 1984, Spain's Canary Islands were used as a filming location.
2. Diana lives in Washington, D.C. in WONDER WOMAN 1984.
3. In WONDER WOMAN 1984, Diana and Barbara Minerva both work at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
4. Kristen Wiig's character Barbara Minerva transforms into a cheetah in WONDER WOMAN 1984.
5. In WONDER WOMAN 1984, 66 years have passed since the events of the first Wonder Woman movie.
6. Pedro Pascal’s character runs the business Black Gold Cooperative in WONDER WOMAN 1984.
7. In the Wonder Woman films, the location of the island of Themyscira is unknown.
8. In the Wonder Woman films, the Amazons use horses in both battle and competitions.
9. Lilly Aspell plays young Diana in both WONDER WOMAN and WONDER WOMAN 1984.
10. In WONDER WOMAN 1984, Steve thinks everyone parachutes in 1984 because of the pants he tries on.
11. Connie Nielsen plays Queen Hippolyta in WONDER WOMAN 1984.
12. Patty Jenkins directed both WONDER WOMAN and WONDER WOMAN 1984.
13. In WONDER WOMAN, Etta Candy was Secretary to Steve Trevor.
14. In WONDER WOMAN, Diana learned that Zeus was her father.
15. Throughout most of WONDER WOMAN 1984, Steve wears a Members Only jacket — a popular ’80s brand.
16. Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons is the name of Wonder Woman’s mother in the Wonder Woman movies.
17. In the Wonder Woman movies, Diana’s aunt is Antiope.
18. In the Wonder Woman films, Diana is the only child who grew up on the island of Themyscira.
19. In WONDER WOMAN, Steve Trevor is the first man to set foot on the island of Themyscira.
20. In Wonder Woman #1 (2006), Wonder Woman joins the governmental Department of Metahuman Affairs as Diana Prince.
21. Wonder Woman made her debut in the 1941 comic book All-Star Comics #8.
22. In Wonder Woman comic books and films, the group of female warriors who dwell in Wonder Woman’s homeland are the Amazons.
23. Introduced in Sensation Comics #6 (1942), Princess Diana’s pet was Jumpa the Kanga.
24. In comic book storylines, Wonder Woman has been a member of the Justice League since their debut in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960).
25. In 1972, the real-world magazine Ms. featured Wonder Woman on the cover of its first issue.
26. In the War of the Gods (1991) comic book crossover storyline, the adversary Circe turns Diana into clay.
27. In Wonder Woman #9 (1987), Barbara Ann Minerva transforms into the Cheetah for the first time.
28. Starting in Wonder Woman #93 (1995), the Amazon warrior Artemis briefly takes Diana’s place as Wonder Woman.
29. In Sensation Comics #4 (1942), Baroness Paula von Gunther becomes Wonder Woman’s first recurring comic book enemy.
30. Introduced in Wonder Woman #1 (1987), the Amazon warrior Philippus is identified as the general of the Amazonian army.
31. In Wonder Woman #5 (2016), which retells her origin, Barbara Ann Minerva sells her soul for power and immortality to the plant-god Urzkartaga.
32. In Sensation Comics #2 (1942), Etta Candy makes her debut as Diana’s closest female friend.
33. As introduced in All-Star Comics #8 (1941), Queen Hippolyta is Diana’s mother.
34. Debuting in Wonder Woman #288 (1982), the villain The Silver Swan possesses the ability to fly and emit a sonic scream.
35. In All-Star Comics #8 (1941), Steve Trevor is the first-ever man that Diana meets.
36. The classic villain Giganta first appeared as a gorilla in Wonder Woman #9 (1944), and later transformed into a woman as tall as a skyscraper.
37. As seen in Sensation Comics #21 (1942), Diana’s first occupation when arriving in America was an Army nurse.
38. Debuting in Wonder Woman #28 (1948), Villainy, Inc. was the name of the group of Wonder Woman’s greatest foes.
39. In Wonder Woman #1 (2011), Hermes entrusts Diana to protect Zola, who is pregnant with Zeus’s child.
40. As first seen in Wonder Woman #1 (1942), Ares is the name of the God of War.
41. Making her comic book debut in Wonder Woman #155 (1965), Donna Troy is the real name of the character known as Wonder Girl.
42. In Wonder Woman #250 (1978), the ginger-haired Amazon Orana defeats Diana for the title of Wonder Woman, but her tenure is decidedly short-lived.
43. In comics, Diana first leaves Themyscira and arrives in the United States during the 1986 comic book miniseries event Legends.
44. Diana meets and battles champions of other pantheons (including Shazam) in the 1991 comic book miniseries event War of the Gods.
45. In the comic book storyline beginning in Wonder Woman #29 (1989), readers are introduced to a second Amazon tribe called the Bana-Mighdall.
46. In Wonder Woman #130 (1998), Hippolyta travels back in time to become the Wonder Woman of World War II. In that storyline, she joins the Justice Society of America.
47. In Wonder Woman #13 (1988), Steve Trevor’s mother Diana Trevor was revealed to be an Air Force pilot.
48. In Wonder Woman #300 (1983), the story takes place on Earth-2. Steve Trevor is married to Diana Prince and their daughter Lyta later became the superhero known as Fury.
49. As introduced in Justice League of America #29 (1964), Wonder Woman’s evil doppelganger from Earth-3 is called Superwoman.
50. In the Wonder Woman #180 (1968) comic book storyline, Steve Trevor is killed by the twisted super-villain, Dr. Cyber.
51. In a comic book storyline that ran from Wonder Woman #212 (1974) through Wonder Woman #222 (1976), Wonder Woman must endure twelve labors in order to rejoin the Justice League of America.
52. When Steve Trevor is resurrected by Aphrodite in Wonder Woman #223 (1976), he assumes the name Steve Howard.
53. In DC comic books, in addition to Barbara Ann Minerva, Priscilla Rich, Debbi Domaine, and Sebastian Ballesteros have all gone by the Super-Villain name the Cheetah.
54. In Wonder Woman #101 (1995), Diana begins a new life in a new West Coast city called Gateway City.
55. In Wonder Woman #113 (1996), Zeus grants Cassie Sandsmark the power to become the new Wonder Girl.
56. In Wonder Woman #131 (1998), one of Wonder Woman’s oldest foes, Baroness Paula von Gunther, is reimagined as the Dark Angel.
57. In the comic book Wonder Woman #4 (2012), Zeus’s vengeful wife Hera turns Queen Hippolyta into a stone statue.
58. Starting in the comic book Justice League #12 (2013), Wonder Woman has a romantic relationship with Superman.
59. In Wonder Woman #29 (2014), Wonder Woman became the God of War after Ares was thought to be dead.
60. In the comic book Wonder Woman #184 (2002), Diana travels back to World War II to fight alongside her mother. In order to disguise herself, she takes on the identity of the patriotic superhero, Miss America.
61. As introduced in Wonder Woman #195 (2003), the vegetarian chef at the Themysciran embassy is unusual in the fact that he is a minotaur.
62. As seen in Wonder Woman #1 (2006), Tom Tresser, Diana’s coworker at the Department of Metahuman Affairs, is also a superhero known as Nemesis.
63. In the epic reality-bending 2010 DC comic book miniseries, Flashpoint, Diana is engaged to marry her Justice League teammate Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman.
64. In the 1997 Elseworlds graphic novel, Wonder Woman: Amazonia, a Victorian-era Diana battles the historical figure Jack the Ripper.
65. In Sensation Comics #6 (1942), Wonder Woman was given a magical accessory, but it wasn’t until 1987 that this item was given its current name: The Lasso of Truth.
66. In Wonder Woman #18 (1944), Queens Eeras and Clea ruled over the two rival kingdoms of Atlantis.
67. In the comic book Wonder Woman #7 (1943), Wonder Woman travels 1,000 years into the future and becomes the President of the United States.
68. In a comic book story from Wonder Woman #40 (1950), Wonder Woman shares a scene with legendary comedian Bob Hope.
69. In 1949, in order to appeal to a larger audience, Sensation Comics became less about super-heroics and more about romance starting with issue #94.
70. Wonder Woman co-starred with Batman in the acclaimed 2002 graphic novel, Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia.
71. In the comic book Wonder Woman #96 (1985), Wonder Woman faces off against arch-Batman foe the Joker.
72. In the comic book storyline that ran from Wonder Woman #291-293 (1982), Wonder Woman is joined by a gathering of the world’s greatest super-heroines to battle the biblical villains the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
73. In a comic book story from DC Comics Presents #41 (1982), Wonder Woman is gifted with a new chest emblem.
74. Wonder Woman was featured in a daily newspaper comic strip that ran from 1978 until 1985. This strip was titled The World’s Greatest Superheroes.
75. In both Wonder Woman #218 (1975) and Wonder Woman #239 (1978), Wonder Woman battled the Statue of Liberty.
76. In the comic book Wonder Woman #201 (1972), a de-powered Wonder Woman was locked in a death-duel with Batman's foe Catwoman.
77. In 1973, Wonder Woman came to Saturday morning TV in an hour-long animated series from Hanna-Barbera called "Super Friends."
78. In the The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), Wonder Woman, as part of the newly-formed Justice League of America, fought the alien Starro for the first of many times.
79. In Wonder Woman #156 (1965), Wonder Woman encounters the first comic book collector ever seen in a comic book story!
80. For a brief period in comic books from the 1970s, Wonder Woman’s earrings doubled as mini grenades.
81. In the comic book storyline that ran from Wonder Woman #93-100 (1995), Diana no longer wore her tiara.
82. Wonder Woman fought Hephaestus, God of Fire, and met a singer named Julie Gabriel — who shared many similarities with movie star Judy Garland — in a two-part story appearing in Wonder Woman #226 and #277 (1976).
83. In a 2003 comic book storyline, Diana wrote a book called Reflection about her life as a superhero and the ideals she upholds.
84. In Wonder Woman #190 (2003), sported a new, short hairstyle, which proved too controversial for readers — and only lasted for five issues.
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All images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.