A mission Tom King set forth with his nascent Wonder Woman run was to give her a threat on a level akin to The Joker or Lex Luthor. She already has that in Ares, Doctor Poison, Veronica Gale, and a host of others, but instead of them – or even Humpty Dumpty – he decided to follow a different path.
King created a new villain who is making some waves, but for further representing what’s wrong with comics today. Meet The Sovereign, a despot billed as the undisputed King of the United States. He was running the show the whole time, since the founding, and manipulating the masses with his “Lasso of Lies” to stay in power.
He is everything Wonder Woman is not, which you may have already guessed. She stands for truth and justice while The Sovereign symbolizes deception and tyranny. A perversion of The American Way fits in here as well although the man who would be king in this case embodies it.
“When #TomKing said he was creating a ‘Joker-level’ villain for #Wonderwoman, he meant a character who is the opposite of WW in every way,” said Comical Opinions Publisher Gabe Hernandez on X. “This new villain is an old, white, straight, misogynist who sits as the ‘King’ of America.” Hernandez then cheekily presents, “Ladies and Gentlemen… the Sovereign.”
When #TomKing said he was creating a "Joker-level" villain for #Wonderwoman, he meant a character who is the opposite of WW in every way
This new villain is an old, white, straight, misogynist who sits as the "King" of America.
Ladies and Gentlemen… the Sovereign pic.twitter.com/DRSZ7gwr7B
— Gabe Hernandez – The Witness (@MrGabeHernandez) September 19, 2023
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Donald Trump and right-wing extremism. The stereotypes are there, including xenophobia, alongside everything else Hernandez mentions. Immigrants and refugees of a sort are one thing troubling The Sovereign.
In this instance, we are referring to Amazons active in the US as civilians and superheroes. He wants them out as he thinks they are no good.
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An incident at a pool hall illustrates that and the atmosphere around the sentiment well. Some men get into a fight with an Amazonian ambassador while The Sovereign narrates. He speaks of a time she (Wonder Woman) defeated him and his network. King’s series will explain with a few unexpected twists and turns.
At the exact moment, a brawl breaks out in the pool hall, a few swipes are taken at Ronald Reagan along the way. As he reflects in his narration on his failures, The Sovereign says, “What was it we had that old actor fellow say when he got himself into all that Nicaraguan trouble? Mistakes were made.”
That “old actor fellow” is Reagan and the “Nicaraguan trouble’’ is a reference to Iran-Contra – a scandal in the 1980s where money and weapons were funneled to Third World powers amid conflicts. That’s another story. The point here is Tom King insinuates Reagan was a puppet of a shadowy monarch and in over his head.
While there is intrigue in how deep The Sovereign’s claws dig into DC’s geopolitical affairs, and superhuman ones when you consider Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor’s report to the government, it’s clear where King is going with this series.