DC Entertainment's newest film, Wonder Woman, is about to hit theaters, and some of its characters may not be too familiar to the average moviegoer.
One of the villains in the film, Doctor Poison--played by Elena Anaya--isn't a household name, but the character's history with Diana Prince goes all the way back to the Golden Age of comics: the 1940s.
Doctor Poison first appeared in Sensation Comics #2 back in 1942 and was created by William Moulton Marston, who also created Wonder Woman. Poison used her outfit to disguise her gender. Her real name was Princess Maru, and she was a spy, a chief of the Nazi Poison Division, and Chemical Research Chief of the Japanese Army.
Originally, the character's goal was to contaminate the US Army's water supply with a drug that messes with the brain center. Her plan was foiled by Wonder Woman, and the character disappeared from comics until the late '90s.
In the late '90s/early '00s, Doctor Poison returned; however, it turned out that this was the granddaughter of the original villain. Readers learned that the original Poison had accidentally killed herself with her "Reverso" formula, which reverses growth patterns.
The new Doctor Poison follows in her grandmother's footsteps, creating and testing poisons on innocent victims, many of which are tied to Wonder Woman. While Poison has no superhuman abilities, she is an expert in poisons, toxins, and plagues.
At one point, Poison joined the Secret Society of Super Villains and was tasked with grabbing soil samples--which came from places where a genocide had occurred--from around the world with other scientists. They uses the samples to create the Wonder Woman villain Genocide.
Most recently, Doctor Poison and her group "Poison" are taking on Wonder Woman in the "Truth" storyline. This time, the villain comes off more as an assassin than anything else. It's not a huge departure from the original character, though--it's more of an update.
She's a rarely used character in Wonder Woman's rogues gallery, but considering Poison's ties to the history of Wonder Woman and war, it makes her a perfect addition to the upcoming movie. You can see Doctor Poison for yourself in Wonder Woman, which comes to theaters on Friday, June 2.
You can check GameSpot's review of the film which Edmond Tran said, "the film's focus on exploring who she is as a person, as well as what she can do as a superhuman gives the character, and overall film, a gratifying roundedness that makes you eager for more."
Doctor Poison recommended reading:
- Wonder Woman "The Truth"(2017)
- Wonder Woman "The Land of the Lost" (2002)
- Wonder Woman "Pandora Virus (2000)