The sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman is the ninth DCEU movie, and possibly the film that could breathe new life into the franchise. Here’s what we know so far about Wonder Woman 1984.
Gal Gadot returns to her role as the Justice League superhero Wonder Woman, aka Diana Prince. Set during the Cold War, the film follows her journey roughly six decades after where the first movie left us. The film also sees the return of Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, who has seemingly been brought back to life, much to both their surprise. They rekindle their romance with various shots of the two lovers taking long walks under the stars, passing several American landmarks in the process.
The trailer also introduces us to the two main villains, Cheetah, aka Barbara Minerva, and Maxwell Lord, who will be played by Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal respectively.
Barbara and Diana are shown to have the villain/superhero relationship we know them to have from the comics, as evidenced by a shot of them clashing in an art gallery midway through the trailer. Barbara’s story is very clearly laid out for us, shown in different stages of her character development.
Her first appearance in the trailer sees her wearing glasses and civilian clothing. As the trailer progresses we see her associate with Maxwell Lord, although it is still unclear whether the two will be allies. One of the last shots reveals the final stage of Barbara’s transformation: a comic-accurate look at the human/animal hybrid known as Cheetah. The special effects team deserve praise, as no social media outrage was sparked for yet another CGI’ed humanoid feline brought to the screen ( *cough* Cats *cough*).
The trailer introduces multiple storylines which could be a challenge to balance equally in the movie. However, Diana’s character arc is still the central focus of the trailer. One of the first shots shows Diana as a child, competing with other adult warriors in some sort of contest — and she seems to be winning. We also see some of her new moves and suits as she swings from one cloud to the next using her lasso, which very much resembles a friendly neighbourhood superhero from another cinematic universe. And the last shot of the trailer also provides some fan service with the reveal of her ‘Golden Eagle’ armor, a direct reference to the 1996 comic Kingdom Come where the armor makes its first appearance.
By the looks of things, the reveal of Cheetah’s looks and character arc as well as the return of Steve Trevor spoils the movie’s key plot points a bit too much for a trailer. However, it does a good job at building hype in the fan base and maintaining it by promising a more dynamic and action-packed movie than the first one.
Words by Pablo John-Nguyen
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