The Golden Age Wonder Woman villain at the center of the upcoming film
There’s been a lot of talk about the villain of Warner Bros. Pictures‘ upcoming Wonder Woman movie, specifically the Greek God Ares and how he will factor in (which you can read all about what we learned on set by clicking here), but there’s another Wonder Woman villain lurking in plain sight that isn’t getting as much attention.
Above you’ll find a picture of Elena Anaya, who is playing Doctor Maru aka Doctor Poison, a classic Wonder Woman villain that first appeared in Sensation Comics #2 back in 1942 and was even created by Wonder Woman’s creator himself, William Moulton Marston.
In the film, Doctor Maru works hand in hand with Danny Huston’s General Erich Ludendorff, a rogue German general that is trying to stall all peace talks. Maru uses her talents to create gases and poisons to help Genereal Ludendorff (you can read about a scene we saw featuring both characters by clicking here).
“I thought it was important that it not be evil done by any gender or any person is about damage and darkness, and what creates evil,” director Patty Jenkins said of the character. “She’s an interesting character, we don’t get super into her backstory, but we know her backstory which is that she’s a woman whose had all kinds of damage in her life and now she delights in bringing that to other people’s lives, like ‘Oh, now you see what I know. You can’t take it.’ There is that way of being a damaged and dark person where you’re waiting for other people to face that wrath too. The naivete is infuriating (to her). So I loved that about her, and she’s a character who is focused in on developing all kinds of toxic weapons and tools.”
The most important thing about Dr. Maru is that the gas she’s created for General Ludendorff is the weapon they intend to drop all over Europe and kill millions with, which is at the center of the plot of the film. Steve Trevor has gotten his hands on the formula for the gas and has it in his possession when he crash lands on Themyscira, leading to his meeting Diana and kicking off the events of the film…
