We all know that Wonder Woman will be at the center of the huge upcoming DC release, but who is going to be the villain in the film?
Wonder Woman is set to hit the silver screen and, by most accounts, it’s best movie of the DC Extended Universe by far. After recent releases, there was warranted skepticism about the film starring Gal Gadot. However, it turns out that was largely unfounded from the early reviews. And though it’s speculation, a big part of that could be the villain in Wonder Woman.
As we all know, a superhero movie is only as good as the foe that the hero faces. And Wonder Woman will have quite the adversary in the film. David Thewlis is set to play Ares, and he’s quite the interesting villain. But for those unfamiliar, Thewlis playing the role is a good sign to begin with. He’s most famous for portraying Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter series. More contemporarily, he’s also played V.M. Varga on season 3 of the FX TV drama Fargo.
For the villain himself, though, Ares should be a home run on the big screen. The half brother of our hero, Ares disguises himself as Sir Patrick Morgan. Morgan is a diplomat and ambassador with a public agenda for peace. However, that’s all a ruse as his actual goals as a villain are that of war and destruction.
Considering he’s the son of Zeus (as Wonder Woman is the daughter of the Greek god), Ares possesses a number of expected super qualities, including strength and other conventional abilities. However, his two greatest assets are much more complicated.
First, his thousands of years of waging wars have made him an uncanny strategist. As evidenced by his “normal” persona of Morgan, that comes in to play in a variety of ways. But more pressingly, Ares is also able to feed off of the destruction he causes, becoming stronger with everyone and everything he causes to crumble.
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Considering the need for Wonder Woman to be a hit, they likely hit it out of the park with the choice of Ares. He’s a complicated, devious and formidable villain that will get fans invested. And with Thewlis in the role, the performance should be superb.