Looking back at Wonder Woman two and a half years after its release, it still feels shocking that the movie not only was as good as it was, but it was received with overwhelming positivity. In only a few years, Wonder Woman re-emerged as a pop culture icon whose fame and success still eclipses Marvel’s own output of solo female superhero flicks. There was just so much that worked in that first movie that the prospect of a sequel, directed once again by Patty Jenkins, is enough for me to know that the movie is in safe hands and will probably be the runaway summer blockbuster next year.
It’s always good to feel vindicated though and the first trailer for Wonder Woman 1984 is just that. It’s a mission statement to let audiences know that the film looks to be just as strong as the original movie. Set in 1984, Wonder Woman, played by Gal Godot, is living her life as inconspicuously as possible, even becoming good friends with another woman named Barbara Minerva, played by Kristen Wiig. The two seem to get along well, but the trailer quickly switches gears once Steve Trevor, played once again by Chris Pine, shows up and throws Wondy’s world for a loop.
Following that we get some pretty cool action scenes, a whole lot of synth, and an aesthetic that honestly doesn’t feel all that 80’s. I guess I’m just used to seeing garish fashion and neon lights whenever I think of the 80’s. It appears we’re going to have a reversal of roles for Wonder Woman and Steve, with Wonder Woman being a fish out of water in WWI while Steve was adjusted to it, but now Steve is out of the loop in 1984 while Wonder Woman will teach him all about life in the 80’s, in between swinging on literal lightning bolts. I have no idea how that’s physically possible, but man it creates some wonderful imagery.
Alongside the trailer, we also got our first look at some of the character specific portraits, all showing our main cast of character, including Pedro Pascal’s Maxwell Lord, a character with a very complicated morality code that has constantly been mishandled by DC and most surely will be here. Is he an ally to Diana or a villain? With that character, anything is possibly, but Pascal delivers a perfect shit-eating grin, so I’m betting more of the latter.
If I’m being perfectly honest, DC has been producing hit after hit after ditching their DCEU approach to producing their superhero movies. There’s no longer a strict adherence to continuity and all of their upcoming movies look like much more confident and sure of themselves than any of the Snyder-era DC works, excluding of course the original Wonder Woman. With the Infinity Sage finally done from Marvel, I think I may actually be looking forward to DC’s output of movies more than Marvel’s safe formula that is slowly starting to shows its age.
Wonder Woman 1984 will release June 5, 2020.
