The Real Reason Wonder Woman 1984 Won't Feel Like A Sequel
When is a sequel not exactly a sequel? When it's a part of the increasingly fast-and-loose DC Extended Universe.
Audiences are eager for Wonder Woman 1984, the follow-up to 2017's Wonder Woman, one of the best films from Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment. For the original Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot inhabited the title role in a World War I-era adventure that saw Diana of Themyscira taking on everything from the German army to the God of War himself, Ares (David Thewlis). But if fans are expecting more of the same the second time around, they're in for a surprise.
Gadot and co-star Kristen Wiig — who will appear in Wonder Woman 1984 as the iconic DC villain Barbara Minerva (otherwise known as Cheetah) — recently sat down with Total Film magazine to discuss the highly-anticipated flick. The pair both agreed that Wonder Woman 1984 will be a very different film from its predecessor, even going so far to say that it won't feel much like a sequel at all — thanks in part to the very different period setting and the virtually ageless Diana's experiences during the time jump (via GamesRadar).
"In the first movie, we really explored the journey of the coming of age, of how Diana Prince became Wonder Woman and owned her full strengths and powers," Gadot explained. "She was fresh, she was green, she was a fish out of water, she was young...er!"
Also, consider that your typical sequel will pick up the story pretty much where the last film left off, a conceit that Wonder Woman 1984 will largely have no use for. "We don't pick up the story where we left it last," Gadot said, "because it was 66 years ago."
A good point — and that massive time jump is one of the things that should make the flick so unique among sequels — and superhero films in general.
A (wonder) woman can change a lot in six decades
In addition to having a different approach from Diana's origin story, Wonder Woman 1984 will catch up with a Diana Prince who has the experiences of a lowly mortal's entire lifetime under her belt.
"She's been living for over six decades by herself, in man's world, serving mankind and doing good," Gadot explained. "And this story is a story of its own. I mean, the only thing that we share in both stories is probably, you know, the fact that it's Diana Prince and also Steve Trevor. But other than that, it's a whole new world, and the era is different, and Diana is different, and the story is new."
Wiig also called attention to the fact that, unlike a majority of superhero sequels, Wonder Woman 1984 will feature a completely different visual aesthetic from the first film — in everything from its marketing materials to its color palette to its soundtrack. "It really doesn't feel like a sequel in that... everything's different," Wiig said. "[The style of] the posters, the music, everything. [...] A lot of [times], with the sequel, you want to show the connection to the first one."
Gadot then finished her co-stars thought by saying, "It's totally of its own. It's true. And I feel, in the first movie, a big thing that we played off was the naiveté of Diana. And she's not naive anymore. She's been around. She's wiser. She's more mature. We meet a very much evolved character in this one."
Since Gadot has owned the character of Wonder Woman like absolutely nobody has since Lynda Carter wielded the Lasso of Truth, we absolutely can't wait to see how she brings Diana into the '80s. We know it seems like you've been waiting forever, but patience, fans: Currently, Wonder Woman 1984 is scheduled to hit the big screen on October 2, 2020.