DC has unveiled a striking new design for Cheetah ahead of Absolute Wonder Woman #27, showing a dramatically altered take on Diana's longtime archnemesis. The reveal centers on Barbara Minerva, who transforms into a far more monstrous version of Cheetah than the one previously seen worn by fallen Suicide Squad member Priscilla Rich.
According to the story's setup, Barbara Minerva is held in an Area 41 cell alongside Priscilla Rich's dead body. Despite her loyalty to Diana, the pressure of her imprisonment leads Barbara to accept an offer from the deity Urzkartaga, who promises her power capable of matching Wonder Woman's own strength. In Absolute Wonder Woman #27, Diana finally comes face to face with the transformed Barbara.
The Absolute Universe previously introduced Priscilla Rich's Cheetah with an incomplete transformation — animalistic anatomy interspersed with patches of human skin and features. Barbara Minerva's version pushes further into body horror: she towers over Wonder Woman with an oversized head, extremely elongated limbs, and glowing eyes. Her human hands appear tattooed onto her arms, while her human mouth remains frozen in a scream at the back of her otherwise animal head.
The design marks a shift for Absolute Wonder Woman, which has largely relied on mythical antagonists tied to Diana's new underworld origin. This second Cheetah transformation is described as the first villain of this more grotesque, body-horror style that Wonder Woman will confront in the series. Elsewhere in the Absolute Universe, Batman has already faced similarly nightmarish reinterpretations of his own rogues, including Absolute Mister Freeze, Absolute Scarecrow, and Absolute Killer Croc, though he has yet to meet the shapeshifting Absolute Joker in person.
With much of Wonder Woman's rogues' gallery still untouched in this timeline, characters such as Doctor Psycho, Silver Swan, and Angle Man remain candidates for future grotesque redesigns, alongside newer additions to DC lore like Matriarch, the Sovereign, and Grail. Doctor Poison is also noted as a likely candidate for a horrifying return, having previously been hurled into outer space by Diana within the series.
