On Sunday, before a crowd of thousands of fans wielding flashing purple and white bracelets, Wonder Woman 1984 dropped its highly anticipated first trailer at Comic Con Experience in São Paulo, Brazil.
Director Patty Jenkins and the Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot, were front and center as part of a panel leading into the first glimpse of the sequel set to hit theaters June 5, 2020. The two-and-half minute preview introduces a few new faces, as well as the mysterious return of a familiar one, all while integrating Diana into the modern world.
Set decades after the Amazon princess left her idyllic home on Themyscira to team up with the American pilot Steve Trevor to defeat Ares during World War I, Diana faces new foes in a society undergoing significant technological advancements during the Cold War. Diana has lived alone for much of the decades following the death of her partner, Steve.
But she’s also befriended someone new: Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristen Wiig), an archaeologist set to become one of Wonder Woman’s greatest villains, Cheetah. And then there’s the King of Infomercials, as Jenkins described him: this movie’s villain, Max Lord (Pedro Pascal).
“Life is good, but it can be better,” Max Lord says during an infomercial in the trailer. “And why shouldn’t it be? All you need is to want it.” Lord is another familiar antagonist from the comics, and he is capable of mind control, which will undoubtedly work through the TV. Pascal, in a spiffy business suit and haircut to match, is featured prominently on screens throughout our first look at the film.
And though it had already been revealed in photos and promotions for the film, the biggest surprise of all is the return of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), back in the flesh after sacrificing himself in the climactic final fight against Ares at the end of Wonder Woman. He showed Diana all the wonders of human civilization in the early 20th century, but the roles have now been reversed—Diana will be the one to show Steve all he’s missed in the six decades that he’s been gone. I mean, my guy doesn’t even know what a 1980s trash can looks like—just wait until he sees what TVs can do.
Jenkins is back at the helm in what will surely be an equally lucrative sequel. Most important of all, Wonder Woman is back, and decked out in what seems to be Golden Eagle armor.
According to Jenkins, the 1980s were arguably the peak of Western civilization, and our first glimpse at her story in that era shows early promise, as the film looks set to feature flashbacks to Diana’s Amazonian home, the return of many slow-motion bullet-dodging sequences, and plenty of bad ’80s hairstyles.
