Wonder Woman 1984 (stylized as WW84) is a 2020 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Wonder Woman. It is the sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman and the ninth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film is directed by Patty Jenkins from a script she wrote with Geoff Johns and David Callaham, based off a story by Johns and Jenkins. Gal Gadot stars as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, alongside Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, and Connie Nielsen. Set in 1984 during the Cold War, the film follows Diana and her past love Steve Trevor as they face off against Maxwell Lord and Cheetah.
Plot[]
In her youth, Diana Prince participated in a multi-stage athletic competition on Themyscira against older Amazons. After falling from her horse and taking a shortcut, she was disqualified. Diana's mother Queen Hippolyta and her aunt Antiope lectured her on the importance of truth because "no true hero is born from lies".
Years later in 1984, Diana works as a senior anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., specializing in the culture of ancient Mediterranean civilizations; Diana also continues to fight crime as Wonder Woman, albeit while maintaining as much anonymity as possible. At work, she meets Barbara Ann Minerva, an insecure woman who idolizes, befriends, and envies Diana. After Wonder Woman foils an attempted robbery, the FBI asks Barbara to identify a cache of stolen antiquities from the robbery. One item both women take notice of — later revealed to be the "Dreamstone" — has an inscription in Latin.
Diana unknowingly uses the stone to restore her deceased lover Steve Trevor though his soul takes over another man's body. Later, after being saved from sexual harassment by Diana, Barbara wishes upon the stone to become like Diana, inadvertently attaining Diana's superpowers and godhood. Businessman Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano then visits the Smithsonian under the guise of making a donation, secretly coveting the Dreamstone in hopes of saving his failing oil company. During a gala night at the Smithsonian, Max seduces Barbara in order to gain access to her office so he can take the Dreamstone. At his workplace, he wishes to become the embodiment of the stone and gains its power to grant wishes, while also becoming able to take whatever he desires from them in return should they have anything he could want.
Max becomes a powerful and influential figure while leaving chaos and destruction in his wake as his powers trigger worldwide instability and conflict. Barbara, Diana, and Steve investigate the Dreamstone further and discover that it was created by Dolos, the god of treachery and mischief. The stone grants a user their wish but exacts a toll, and the only way to reverse the exchange is by renouncing the wish or destroying the stone itself. Steve realizes that his existence comes at the cost of Diana's power, while it is later revealed that Barbara's newfound life has drained her of her kindness; both women are unwilling to renounce their wishes, however.
Max learns from the President of the United States that the US satellite broadcast system can transmit signals globally, and then uses it to grant wishes to the entire world while regaining his now-deteriorating health; on his way out of the White House to the broadcast station, he is confronted by Diana and Steve as Barbara joins forces with Max to prevent Diana from harming him. Steve convinces Diana to let go of him and renounce her wish, allowing her to regain her strength and gain the ability to fly. She returns home and dons the armor of the legendary deceased Amazon warrior Asteria, then heads to the broadcast station and battles Barbara, who has been further mutated into a humanoid cheetah after wishing to become an "apex predator".
After defeating Barbara, Diana confronts Max and uses her Lasso of Truth to communicate with the world through him, convincing everyone to renounce their wishes. She also shows Max visions: first of Max's own unhappy past as a social outcast and the son of an abusive father; then of Max's own beloved son Alistair wandering the streets terrified and crying for his father as chaos ensues from Max's fulfillment of everyone's desires. A tearful Max renounces his wish and rushes to find Alistair shaken but unharmed as Max repentantly promises to be a better father.
Some time later, Diana meets the man whose body Steve was inhabiting, while she continues to protect the world. Meanwhile, Asteria is revealed to be alive, secretly living among humanity much like Diana.
Cast[]
- Gal Gadot as Princess Diana/Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
- Lilly Aspell as Young Diana
- Chris Pine as Steve Trevor
- Kristen Wiig as Dr. Barbara Minerva/Cheetah
- Pedro Pascal as Max Lord
- Lambro Demetriou as Max (Eight Years Old)
- Jonny Barry as Max (Fifteen Years Old)
- Robin Wright as General Antiope
- Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta
- Amr Waked as Emir Said Bin Abydos
- Kristoffer Polaha as Handsome Man / Steve Trevor
- Natasha Rothwell as Dr. Carol Thomas
- Ravi Patel as Frank Patel/Babajide
- Oliver Cotton as Simon Stagg
- Lucian Perez as Alistair Lord
- Gabriella Wilde as Raquel
- Kelvin Yu as Jake
- Stuart Milligan as POTUS
- Doutzen Kroes as Venelia
- Hari James as Trigona
- Hayley Warnes as Aella
- Lyon Beckwith as Buzz Cut
- Ryan Watson as Bad Skin
- James C. Burke as Flat Top
- Brandon Thane Wilson as Scowler
- Oakley Bull as Kelly
- Lynda Carter as Asteria
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the ninth film in the DC Extended Universe.
- This is the first sequel in the DCEU.
- This is the second film centering on Wonder Woman.
- This is the first live action debuts of Maxwell Lord and Cheetah.
- The symbol of Nuclear Man from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) can be seen on the floor of the mall.
- It will release in theatres and on HBO Max the same day, making it the first DCEU film to do so.
- Patty Jenkins and Pedro Pascal based Maxwell Lord's portrayal on stockbroker Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987) and Lex Luthor in Superman (1978). Pascal also based his performance on Nicolas Cage.
- At 151 minutes, this is the fifth-longest DC Comics film, after The Dark Knight Rises (2012) (164 minutes), Watchmen (2009) (162 minutes), Superman Returns (2006) (154 minutes), and The Dark Knight (2008) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) (152 minutes each).
- Diana uses her tiara as a boomerang. This was a feat she performed in Wonder Woman (1975).
- Hans Zimmer had previously announced that he would retire from composing for superhero films after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), which featured Wonder Woman's cinematic debut and teamed her up with Batman and Superman, for whose films he had already composed scores. However, he accepted to compose the score for X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019), and now will return to compose for this film.
- The role of Cheetah was first offered to Emma Stone but she declined. The role was then offered to Kristen Wiig, Patty Jenkins's first choice.
- This film is the first live action appearance of Cheetah. All of her previous appearances were in animated television programs (specifically Challenge of the Superfriends (1978), Justice League (2001), and Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008)) and direct-to-DVD animated films featuring the Justice League. She was never featured in the 1970s live action television series.
- This is Pedro Pascal's second Wonder Woman project, the first being David E. Kelley's failed TV pilot Wonder Woman (2011), with Adrianne Palicki in the title role.
- Part of the film was shot on 70mm IMAX cameras and expand aspect ratio during select sequences.
- Originally intended to release on December 20th 2019, but was pushed forward over a month to November 1st the same year to avoid competing with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
- Diana's tiara can be used as a boomerang weapon in this film. This incident is very similar to the 1970s live action television series.
- The gold armor Wonder Woman wears comes from the Alex Ross graphic novel "Kingdom Come".
- Sarah Paulson wanted to portray Cheetah.
- The film's sequel was announced after the release of Wonder Woman (2017).
- Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig have previously starred in Date Night (2010) almost a decade before this movie's release.
- Gal Gadot wanted Halle Berry to play Diana's love interest for this film.
- In October 2018, the film's release date was pushed back for a second time. Now it is scheduled to hit theaters in June 5, 2020.
- The symbol of Nuclear Man from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) can be seen on the floor of the mall.
- Barbara Minerva (Cheetah) is seen indulging in fur clothing. This is a homage to Priscilla Rich, the first Cheetah (Barbara was the third, and most famous), who enjoyed wearing animal furs and wore a magical fur cheetah costume.
- The Wrap reported in March 2020 that WB executives were considering releasing the movie directly on streaming instead of theaters due to the health concerns of the Coronavirus.
- Patty Jenkins picked the 80s as the film's setting because she saw it as "the height of Western civilization and society, and so it offers the opportunity to explore how Wonder Woman would deal with the types of villains that come from that era."
- The film has had six release dates, the first being December 20th, 2019. Then it was moved up to November 8th, 2019 in order to avoid competing against Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Once it was announced that the 25th James Bond film was to leave its originally scheduled November 1st spot, Warner Bros. moved the film's release up another week, in order to take an extra week advantage. The fourth was when it was pushed back by 7 months to June 5th, 2020 as Warner Bros. realized the success of the first film's June 2nd, 2017 release. The fifth change was made on March 24th, 2020 when it was moved to August 14, 2020 due to concerns about the COVID-19 virus. It was again moved to Oct. 2 in June when Warner Brothers shifted its entire schedule of upcoming films.
| Wonder Woman |
|---|
| Wonder Woman (2017), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) |
| DC Extended Universe |
|---|
| Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), The Suicide Squad (2021), Black Adam (2022), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), The Flash (2023), Blue Beetle (2023), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) |