Warning: This article contains spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984.
After a very long wait, Wonder Woman 1984 finally arrived on HBO Max, bringing an end to the numerous delays that the film experienced in the past months. Directed by Patty Jenkins, the DCEU sequel delivered a fitting end to 2020 by offering a message of hope amidst the despair that the global pandemic has caused worldwide.
The film follows the superhero life of Gal Gadot's Diana Prince during 1984, but the character's grounded level of heroism took an unexpected turn when a dangerous artifact called the Dreamstone surfaced out of nowhere. As a result, the magical heirloom elevated the ambitions of Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord, which ultimately led to Barbara Minerva's (Kristen Wiig) transformation into the dangerous villain known as Cheetah.
As expected, there were many twists and turns during the highly-talked-about sequel. On top of that, the film also featured a stockpile of Easter eggs that could have a lasting impact on the future of the DCEU.
And now, one of those references could offer hints on how the origin of a soon-to-debut DC character will be visualized on-screen.
NEWS
Wonder Woman 1984 included a nod to the classic DC Comics location of Bialya. During the interaction between Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord and oil tycoon Emir Said Bin Abydo, the latter reveals his wish to the former by sharing his desire to see the return of his ancestral realm, the lands of the Bialyian Dynasty.
This is an easy-to-miss reference due to the quick back and forth between the characters. Despite that, the mere mention of Bialya presents a strong connection to another DCEU character: Black Adam.
In the comics, the Middle East country served as a vital location to the origin of Black Adam since this is where the anti-hero avenged the deaths of his wife Isis and brother-in-law Osiris by murdering thousands of citizens in order to search for the last surviving horsemen of Apokolips, Death.
In other forms of media, Bialya is prominently featured in the widely-popular Young Justice animated series as Greater Bialya. The country was led by DC villain Queen Bee, and the show portrayed Greater Bialya as a militaristic dictatorship ruled with an iron fist.
Additionally, Bialya is where archeologist Dan Garrett discovers the Blue Beetle Scarab. As a result, Garrett transforms into the first Blue Beetle of the DC universe.
WHAT THIS MEANS
Before the premiere of Wonder Woman 1984, it was already expected that there would be numerous Easter eggs popping up in the film, but the inclusion of Bialya is a surprising one nonetheless. If anything, the confirmation that Bialya exists in the DCEU presents a lot of story opportunities for the franchise to explore down the road.
Given that a Black Adam film will soon arrive, namedropping the “Bialyian Dynasty” could serve as a clue that it will explore the character's brutal assault in the Middle Eastern country, potentially highlighting the anti-hero's rage and overwhelming power set. It remains to be seen if this Easter egg will carry over to the movie, but the fact that Bialya was once active during the DCEU's past will be hard to ignore in the Dwayne Johnson-led project.
As for the possible Wonder Woman connection, not much is known if Bialya is an active country in the present-day, but if it is, then it provides a chance for Queen Bee to make her live-action debut in the DCEU. In Young Justice, Queen Bee is a formidable member of the Light and a usual adversary of the Justice League.
The villain's powers include a strong form of hypnosis to lure men, and to some extent women, to do her bidding. Queen Bee could easily serve as one of the villains of Wonder Woman 3, presenting a different challenge to Diana during the threequel.
Whatever the case, fans will be eager to learn if DC decides to expand the lore surrounding the Bialyian Dynasty in future films.
