ANI-MOVIES, *Wonder Woman: Bloodlines

Done as both a prequel and continuation of all the current DCAMU titles, Wonder Woman's new solo adventure has her introduction to the post-Flashpoint timeline. Bloodlines(no relation to the 90s DC Comics event), has a brief rundown of Amazing Amazon's secret origin, while finally giving her rogues' gallery center stage.

Set just before Justice League: War, Princess Diana of the Amazons rescues pilot Steve Trevor from an early swarm of Parademons dispatched prior to Darseid's main invasion. Diana leaves Themyscira with Steve, and becomes an advocate for the American military while adopting the superhero identity of "Wonder Woman". While getting her bearing in Man's World, Diana moves in with archaeologist Julia Kapatelis and her daughter Vanessa. Their live-in relationship has Julia enthralled with Diana's history, while giving Vanessa the short end of the stick. Timeskip five years where Wonder Woman is now a member of the Justice League, and learns that Vanessa stole an ancient relic from business mogul, Veronica Cale, leaving Julia asking Diana for her help. Wonder Woman and Steve find Vanessa trying to pass the relic to villainous Dr. Poison, who brought Giganta along to act as her muscle. During the fight, it seems as if Julia is shot, and her last request is for Wonder Woman to rescue her daughter. Vanessa now blames Diana for her mother's death, and pledges to help Poison and her partner Dr. Cyber in their new gang of bad girls, Villainy Inc. Wonder Woman finds out that Vanessa has ambushed some of Cyber's couriers in the Middle East, and upon confronting her is shocked to Vanessa's reveal as the metallic-winged Silver Swan. Swan is defeated by Diana, and is taken to Veronica Cale's skyscraper where its revealed that Vanessa new cybernetic enhancements are replacing all her flesh with nano-technology. Diana figures she needs to find Themyscira as their tech could completely heal Vanessa, but both she and Steve forget where the island is due to a special magic used to protect its location. Diana, Steve, and their friend Etta Candy journey to the labyrinth of the Minotaur where an enchanted fountain grants divine knowledge. After having a brief scrape with a now pumped-up Cheetah, Wonder Woman uses the fountain to get a clue of where Paradise Island is, and destroys the fountain which frees the Minotaur from its curse which compelled him to guard the labyrinth. He pledges to become Diana's personal "Alfred", and is given the name Ferdinand. Team Wonder than goes back to Cale's office to figure out where Themyscira is, only to find out that Dr. Cyber hacked into their security system, and learns where the Amazons' island is. This leads to a large tangle between Cyber and Poison's huge ace in the hole for taking on an island filled with immortal warriors.

Bloodlines helps revitalize Wonder Woman's position as a mainstay in the DC Universe, mostly because of the upcoming "prequel", Wonder Woman 1984. It focuses more on the character's ties with the rest of her own main cast, but her rivalries with her mortal(and immortal)enemies. There is also more focus on developing relationships in the main Wonder Woman family, like Diana and Steve's resurfacing romance after Wonder Woman stopped dating Superman, or Etta Candy's fondness for Amazons being polyamorous. The animation is up to the normal specs of your average DC Animated Movie Universe title, but does feature slightly better fight choreography since Wonder Woman is a warrior first and foremost. For longtime fans of DC's premiere superheroine, this should meet their standards even if they're not all that into the extended DC Comics lore.