Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: Cheetah, greg rucka, wonder woman

A Big Change For Wonder Woman's Cheetah For 2026 (Again) (Spoilers)

A Big Change for Wonder Woman's Cheetah for 2026 (Again) as Greg Rucka returns to Urzkartaga (Spoilers)

Cheetah is one of Wonder Woman's most iconic and persistent archenemies, created by William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter, in 1946 as a foe contrasting Wonder Woman's ideals of love, truth, and reform. Barbara Ann Minerva is the most famous and current version of the character, created by Len Wein and George Pérez as a British archaeologist obsessed with mythology and artefacts, and was played by Kristen Wiig in the 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984.

On an African expedition, she's demands to be inducted into a ritual by a priest, bonding her to the plant god Urzkartaga, a cheetah deity.

As his cursed "bride", she transforms into a humanoid cheetah hybrid, gaining superhuman strength, speed,, agility, razor-sharp claws/teeth, enhanced senses, regeneration, but also a cannibalistic bloodlust as a result of the curse.

Greg Rucka and Liam Sharp reintroduced the Urzkartaga backstory in Wonder Woman #3 for DC Rebirth in 2016.

She made a promise…

And eventually, after much battle…

She succeeds and Cheetah is freed from the curse.

And the plant returned to the authorities.

And now Greg Rucka has brought Urzkartaga up again. In the Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League series by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott that just concluded, she leads a heist on the Justice League Watchtower, ostensibly to steal the Power Bank, which has backups of all the League's powers, in case they are ever lost. A comic which was covered on Bleeding Cool over the debut of the new trans supervillain Featherweight. But much more spoilery were Cheetah's real plans.

It seems that she is under the curse of Urzkartaga again, which drives her to cannibalism.

But this time she is trying to do something different about it all.

Maybe something permanent this time.

It turns out that those authorities kept a certain plant in the Justice League Trophy Room, which they have just robbed.

And it works. She gets to talk one-on-one with her oppressor, abuser and enforcer.

Who, as ever, has a way with words. Well, she has a way with claws.

And before you know it… she is Barbera Minerva returned to human form. Or at least as good as. Maybe with a few more freckles than before.

The big difference is that this time she didn't need Wonder Woman. She masterminded it all herself. But what does this mean going forward? Does she retain any of her abilities, even if the curse is lifted? What other god might they summon next? Couldn't she have just, you know, asked Wonder Woman? It is notable that Greg Rucka is writing the new Batwoman series, might Barbara turn up there? What about Featherlight? More, much more, to come… Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #6 by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott was published this week by DC Comics. The mini-series will be collected as a graphic novel and published later as Justice League: Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Watchtower in May 2026.

• Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott
  It's one thing to get the goods. It's another thing entirely to get away…especially when Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman are in hot pursuit. Will Cheetah, Cheshire, and the rest of the crew win the day, or will they blow it at the blowoff? The unforgettable conclusion to Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott's epic caper series goes out with a bang!
• Justice League: Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Watchtower Paperback by Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott
  Villains unite as a misfit team plans the heist of the century—robbing the Justice League's outer-space headquarters—in a new series from the Wonder Woman and Black Magick team of Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott! Get ready for twists and turns galore as frequent collaborators, Eisner Award-winners, and bona fide comic book superstars Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott re-team for a slick, stylish, and villain-forward heist adventure set firmly in DC's top-selling All In era, starring fan-favorite DC villains! Cheetah and Cheshire have an ambitious target: robbing the Justice League's Watchtower headquarters, with a particularly lucrative and powerful item in mind. All that stands between them and pulling off the most daring heist in history are a few tiny complications, like the most sophisticated orbital platform ever constructed, its AI-driven security system, and one other thing…the smartest and most powerful heroes in the DC Universe. Of course, they'll need to assemble the right crew to pull this off… Can this team of misfits and oddballs not only do the impossible…but get away with it? This volume collects Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #1-6 and includes the entire series (the story is complete in one volume).
• Batwoman #1
  (W) Greg Rucka (A/CA) DaNi
  EISNER AWARD-WINNER GREG RUCKA AND VISIONARY ARTIST DANI BRING ON THE NEXT LEVEL FOR BATWOMAN! Batwoman. Daughter. Sister. Soldier. Hero. But since she was 10 years old, Kate Kane has lived in the shadow of a prophecy and the machinations of a religion devoted to the end of all things. How do you fight the devil when the devil is real? And how do you win? Acclaimed writer and co-creator of the modern Batwoman Greg Rucka returns to the story of Kate Kane alongside visionary artist DaNi for a DC Next Level series that will redefine Batwoman and her mission for a new generation. $3.99 3/11/2026

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