Cleopatra from Cleopatra in Space
We have a collective fascination with the figure of Queen Cleopatra, and across the years she’s appeared in everything from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra to Xena Warrior Princess (played by Gina Torres, no less). To think of her is to imagine great beauty, great power, and the way both those attributes led her to tragic end – so it’s no wonder she’s appeared so prolifically throughout history in fine art, Hollywood films, and… well, commercials.
Cleopatra in Space isn’t even the first time she’s been catapulted through time and into the far-flung future: Cleopatra 2525 was a thing back in the early noughts (though granted, the titular Cleopatra of that show wasn’t actually the Egyptian Queen). But Mike Maihack’s six-part graphic novel series puts a fantasy/sci-fi spin on the early years of Cleopatra’s life, as does the animated adaptation airing on Peacock.
Both depict a young Cleopatra (still a teenage princess with a living father) discovering a strange tablet that flings her thirty-thousand years into the future. There she learns that she’s a prophesied Chosen One destined to save the Nile Galaxy from the oppressive rule of Emperor Octavian – though she must first undergo combat and leadership training by enrolling at P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. (Pharaoh Yasiro's Research Academy and Military Initiative of Defence) and do so incognito. The council of talking cats that run the place don’t want to broadcast her arrival to any potential spies.
The graphic novels and the cartoon diverge a little from this point onwards, though they generally still contain the same plot-points and characterizations. Cleopatra in particular is a truly fantastic character, and quite ground-breaking in a number of ways: she’s arrogant, impulsive, hot-headed, self-centred and reckless. She’s also friendly, enthusiastic, carefree and a lot of fun to be around – a very specific type of imperfect heroine that we don’t see a lot of.
As this review points out, we typically see these traits in male heroes (Ben of Ben 10 or Lance in Voltron: Legendary Defender), and even those female characters who are depicted as similarly rash and cocky (Adora in She-Ra or Korra in The Legend of Korra) at least have a very acute sense of the burdens placed upon them, and the understanding that they needed to shoulder life-or-death responsibilities.
Cleopatra…? Not so much. She’d much rather be hanging out with her friends or playing around with the innovative technologies that surround her. And of course, it makes sense that she would respond to her new surroundings in this way: she’s an Ancient Egyptian Princess after all; she’s not only naturally used to getting her own way, but also excited to be in a place where she can enjoy a level of freedom she’s never experienced before. It’s a far cry from the dull future (or past) of duty and monotony that awaited her as Queen of Egypt.
Ultimately, it’s her own indolence that she must overcome. Though she’s caring and brave, it’s never on the grand scale that’s required to grasp the massive threat that Octavian poses (to be fair, that’s not all on her – Octavian is about as imposing as Toy Story’s Emperor Zurg, and I really wish the show would take its “fate of the galaxy” stakes a little more seriously). And with the show just finishing its first season, and having not yet read the sixth and final instalment in the graphic novels, how she goes about achieving this remains to be seen…
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