Wonder Woman's Canon Events

In 2023's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a crucial portion of the plot revolves around the concept of Canon Events.
According to Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099 in the film, these are particular events or patterns that occur to every variant of a given person, uniting them through the multiverse. Meaning, to put it simply, there are moments that will or should "always" happen to every version of someone (here, a Spider-Person) no matter which universe they exist in.

In the case of Spidey, things cited as Canon Events include:
- gaining powers from a spider bite
- the death of an uncle, leading to a lesson about power and responsibility
- the death of Gwen Stacy (or in Spider-Gwen's case, the reverse where she becomes a Spider and Peter Parker dies)
- an encounter with a symbiote
...among other examples. 

According to Miguel, these events are what define a Spider-Person across the multiverse.

Personally, I found the idea fascinating. I brought up something like this with my post on Kitana's various adaptations. There are certain beats which define a character that need to be addressed or considered when adapting them to other media or rebooting them. The building blocks that make a character who they are and allow them to remain that character in essence if not literally, even when re-imagined from one medium to another. 

Spider-Verse simply gave it a name and made it an in-story issue.
It's a clever nod to the fourth wall, and from a writing/audience stand-point, it's interesting to see what elements of a character become essential and what can or has been changed between the various incarnations. Part of the fun of a multiverse or Elseworlds story is seeing all the ways these variants remain the same or diverge.
Within the movie, it led to conflict among the heroes, as Miguel has a rather ironclad perspective on Canon Events and believes they absolutely must happen and be preserved for better or worse (whether he's right or wrong about that is a topic for another time).

As I often do when engaging with superhero media, I got to thinking about Wonder Woman and how it might apply to her—in this particular instance: what are or would be considered Wonder Woman's Canon Events?

Like most superheroes, there's the obvious origin stuff that will often get repeated, and you can expect the usual cast of friends and enemies to appear. But unlike Spider-Man, Diana hasn't had that many adaptations to reinforce what must "always" happen. She's also rather infamous for inconsistency due to writers not really caring about her history or lore when they approach her. 

However, based on the few adaptations we have gotten and DC's multiple reboots, a few patterns and recurrences have emerged.
So let's have a look at what might be counted among Wonder Woman's Canon Events....

- Steve Trevor will crash onto Themyscira, and Diana will find him. Examples include but not limited to Golden Age, Post-Crisis, the 2009 animated movie, the 2017 live action film. Core origin stuff—Steve's coming will usually herald Diana's call to adventure.
The DCAU is an exception, but there was still a crash and rescue involved when she met him there.

- Whether by entering the Contest in secret, or just sneaking off the island, Diana will leave Themyscira against Hippolyta's wishes.
Again, origin stuff. A near-constant is the conflict between Diana and her mother over leaving home to become a hero.

 - The Cheetah...be it Barbara Minerva, Priscilla Rich, Debbie Domaine or someone else...will be Wonder Woman's enemy.
This extends to adaptations, reboots and Elseworlds—where there's a Wonder Woman, expect a Cheetah to challenge her.

- At some point, Diana's title will be temporarily taken by another Amazon. And she will probably be a red-head.
(examples shown are Orana in Pre-Crisis and Artemis in Post-Crisis)

- Although connected on some level (be it literal sisters or something more symbolic), Diana and Nubia will be separated but eventually reconcile, possibly after some antagonism.
(examples shown are, clockwise, Pre-Crisis Nubia, Post-Crisis Nu'Bia, and the current modern age Nubia)

- Whether it's via time travel, Hippolyta having the mantle, or Diana's origin being set during that period, a "Wonder Woman" will fight in World War II to some extent.
(examples shown are, clockwise, the original Diana of the Golden Age, Hippolyta as Wonder Woman in Post-Crisis, Diana in the DCAU, and Diana as depicted by Lynda Carter on the television show)

- Vanessa Kapatelis will become a Silver Swan.
(examples show the original Vanessa in Post-Crisis, the rebooted post New 52 Vanessa, and Vanessa in the animated movie Bloodlines)

- Diana is a big fan of ice cream.

 

That's about all I could think of worth mentioning.
As said, it's interesting to see what's managed to remain consistent and endure through the reboots, and what's been worth incorporating into adaptation. Despite changes in execution, Steve's landing on Themyscira and Diana's choice to leave against her mother's wishes almost always happens to some degree, as would be expected. 

 

World War II remains a constant presence, even when Diana's origin is set in modern day, likely owing to nostalgia or iconography (who doesn't love Wonder Woman punching Nazis?)

 

We've seen two iterations of "Diana loses her title to a fiery red-headed Amazon."
One can see why—it's a juicy story, and in the latter version, Artemis is a fun foil. I think what's more worth noting is how we've seen only two takes on it. As mentioned in my animated movie wish list, this seems like a story that should've seen more love in adaptation over the years, but that's just a testament to how little attention Wonder Woman's gotten from Warner.

 

Interestingly, Nubia (in some form or another) and Vanessa Kapatelis have both managed to etch their respective marks, and both retained similar respective arcs in regard to their relationships with Diana. Worth noting that Nubia was even supposed to appear on the Lynda Carter show in the 70s, further cementing her presence in Diana's life as a Canon Event.

I guess we'll see who or what else will be added to the "Canon" in the years to come. DC will inevitably do more reboots, and hopefully we'll see more adaptations of Wonder Woman in the future. Adaptations that will continue her established Canon Events and elevate other beats and characters with them. It'll be interesting to see what goes on to become cemented as crucial, or at least notable, events in Wonder Woman's lore.

Oh, I feel I should also mention...

Yes, Max Lord has emerged as a recurring presence in Wonder Woman's life, for better or worse. She infamously killed him once in the comics, and he was one of her enemies in 2020's Wonder Woman 1984. For better or worse. And, in Grant Morrison's Earth One books, Max again made his presence known, although in that case it turned out he was Ares in disguise.
I didn't mention him however because, despite these three appearances, none of which I would call a Canon Event aside from a vague: "Max Lord will be a nuisance in some form or another."
Okay, you can call that a Canon Event, but as is, I don't think it's noteworthy. No more than saying "Wonder Woman will join the Justice League" or "Wonder Woman will be friends with Superman" are Canon Events as well.

And one final note...
Although Donna Troy might consistently exist in relation to Diana (and even that's not a guarantee), there is very little else that would fall under Canon Event for her. Her origin is all over the place. Her history as a Wonder Girl isn't always certain. Even her relationship to Diana herself changes from one iteration to the next. Sometimes they're literal sisters. Sometimes Donna's an adopted sister. At least once Donna was a figment of Diana's imagination made flesh.

I've therefore come to the conclusion she is therefore, by Miguel O'Hara's standards, an anomaly—someone who doesn't fit into the canon and potentially breaks it.

Sorry, Donna.