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Wonder Woman is a triple threat for the ages: a female director, a female heroine and a female villain all in one 141 minute warrior show-down. Ludendorff is one monster to watch out for but perhaps the biggest threat to humankind is WW1 German chemist Dr Maru – or known to comic book fans as Dr Poison. We see her continually concocting chemical cocktails – like mustard gas – that are so strong they could melt the faces off the allied soldiers.
It’s an interesting character for it’s time. Maru, a female with a degree in medicine – or at least hard science – is a pretty powerful thing in the early 20th century. While she is using her achievement to wipe out the German’s opposition, it’s interesting to watch a female villain being obeyed by men, especially in a male-dominated profession and in 1918.
Meet Spanish actress Elena Anaya, the woman behind the mask. She hit the scene in 1996 in the Spanish drama África and was lauded for her performance in 2001’s Sex and Lucia. Most recently you may have spotted her in The Skin I Live In with Antonio Banderas in 2011 or as Gloria in 2016’s The Infiltrator with Diane Kruger – a film about uncovering a laundering scheme of Pablo Escobar’s.
“Doctor Poison is a very strong, dangerous character, who enjoys seeing other people suffering,” says 41-year-old Anaya. “She is quite the opposite to the lead role of this movie, one of the strongest characters ever of DC comics, Wonder Woman. I can tell you that Doctor Poison is someone with a capacity to provoke so much pain. I think we are in front of a historical moment. This character was born in 1941 — almost 75 years has passed. To make producers trust in a movie led by a woman I think is amazing.”
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
