Until that mid-credits scene, of course, when we see a mysterious robed figure avert disaster in a crowded marketplace. When she turns to the camera, we learn it’s not just Asteria, but a beloved figure in DC and pop culture history, and one who could have implications for the DCEU down the line, too. So let’s get down to it… Carter, of course, is one of the most important actors to play a superhero onscreen, having played Diana Prince across three successful and influential seasons of the Wonder Woman TV series between 1976-79. While she wasn’t the first to portray Wonder Woman in live action, Carter’s performance remains iconic for generations of fans, and giving her a small but important role here is a wonderful tribute both to her and the history of Wonder Woman on screen.
Who is Asteria?
For the purposes of Wonder Woman 1984, you should treat Asteria as a new character created specifically for the DCEU. But there’s still some stuff worth knowing about her. Let’s start with her (meager) DC Comics history… If you’re looking to DC Comics for anything substantial about Asteria, well, prepare to be disappointed. As far as I can tell the character makes her one and only very brief appearance in 1998’s Elseworlds’ Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl by Barbara Kesel, Matt Haley, and Tom Simmons. It’s an alternate universe tale in which Bruce Wayne never became Batman and Kal-El died as a baby before becoming Superman, leaving a world in which Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl and Kara Zor-El’s Supergirl are the foremost heroes of the DC Universe. In this story, there’s a version of the Justice Society of America that’s led by Wonder Woman, whose members include different versions of DC heroes like Shazam, Dr. Midnite, the Flash, the Abin Sur Green Lantern, Big Barda, Hawkwoman, and more. Someone named Asteria is spotted hanging out at JSA HQ with Tim Drake, presumably making her a junior member of the team, or possibly a former sidekick (could she be this universe’s version of Donna Troy?). She basically appears in only three panels of the book and is never heard from again from a story perspective as far as I can tell. But the name Asteria has some other significance, and the way that Wonder Woman 1984 uses the character here cleverly ties back to Wonder Woman’s first origin story in clever ways. Hopefully we see more of Lynda Carter’s Asteria if and when Wonder Woman 3 becomes a reality.
