Wonder Woman 1984 Post Credits Scene Explained - Den of Geek

It’s possible that the name “Asteria” has been used in other places in prime DC continuity, but so far, I’m unaware of it.

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.

The name Asteria appears many times throughout Greek mythology. But like anything involving Wonder Woman on the page or the screen, such mythology can be adapted pretty freely just to suit the needs of the story being told at any moment. But the fourth book of Diodorus Siculus’ massive Bibliotecha historia deals with Greek mythology, and it refers to Asteria as one of the Amazons slain by Heracles when he tried to take Hippolyta’s girdle.

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And that’s where the Asteria of Wonder Woman 1984 begins to align slightly with the mythological version and stories in DC Comics. In mythology, one of the 12 labors of Heracles was to retrieve the girdle of Hippolyta (Wonder Woman’s mother). This became part of the basis for Wonder Woman’s origin as told in her first appearance in 1941’s All Star Comics #8 by William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter, where Hippolyta’s loss of the girdle leads to Heracles and the army of men enslaving the Amazons. Even after their escape, they wear those iconic bracelets as a reminder to never allow themselves to be enslaved by men again.

In the Bibliotecha historia, Asteria is one of the Amazons who falls in battle with Heracles before he retrieves Hippolyta’s girdle. To be clear, Asteria is never mentioned in these early Wonder Woman stories, but the movie’s tale about how she remained behind to allow the rest of the Amazons time to escape is a nod to this part of her origin story that has otherwise remained unexplored on the big screen. It’s a clever and subtle way to join Wonder Woman’s mythological roots with her comic book origins.

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