Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman was the first decent movie to come out of Warner Brothers' many failed attempts to start a DC Extended Universe, finally giving audiences a chance to see comics' most prominent female superhero taking a lead role on the big screen. But I had to admit that the movie lost its charms by the protracted CGI finale, and I never rewatched it all the way through. At the time of our DCEU panel last January, I actually preferred James Wan's Aquaman. (To be fair, I haven't rewatched Aquaman all the way through either.)
Yesterday, Warners dropped the first trailer for Jenkins's sequel, Wonder Woman 1984.
This might be the one, folks. This might be The Good DC Superhero Movie.
I never would have thought to put Wonder Woman in this 1980s setting (though it is giving me some good George Pérez vibes) or to set the trailer to this ominous arrangement of New Order's "Blue Monday," but everything about this trailer is absolutely perfect. The strings add just the right disco's-not-quite-dead-yet note for the era, and the action is beautifully synched to the music. If the movie looks and sounds anything like the trailer, it will be one hell of a ride.
For all that the setting reminds me of the Pérez run, it looks like they're going with the Greg Rucka version of Barbara Minerva, who starts out as Diana's friend before turning into the Cheetah. Interesting decision not to show her as the Cheetah yet--I wonder if they're saving it for a later trailer of if it's something that doesn't even happen until the end of the movie.
I'm not going to say the dancing popcorn is my favorite thing about this trailer, but it's definitely not my least favorite thing about this trailer.
The motivational clips from Maxwell Lord played over New Order sound so good I almost wish that was the whole trailer. Lord's empty promises and creepy grin are giving me a definite Behind the Black Rainbow vibe. Which brings me to my next point...
I know this character is listed in the credits as Maxwell Lord, and I suppose he fits the part, but I will be a little disappointed if he doesn't turn out to be Doctor Psycho. Maybe handsome Pedro Pascal is some kind of psychic projection hiding the evil runt underneath. It's hard to imagine a better Wonder Woman villain for 2020... especially given everything else we see in this trailer.
Hey everybody, Steve Trevor is back! Gal Gadot and Chris Pine had a great chemistry in the first movie, and the filmmakers would be fools not to bring him back.
But you know what would be really terrible? The worst thing ever?
If Steve was also a projection of Doctor Psycho.
Yeah, I doubt they'll go that way too. But it would be one hell of a twist.
I just want to point out that we see Diana and Steve on the inside of an airplane, flying through some beautifully lit fireworks. At no point do we see the outside of this plane. Or whether we can even see the outside of the plane.
Just like the giant seahorses and drumming Topo in Aquaman, these movies are best when they lean into the goofy iconography of the comics. These are fairy tale characters at heart. Embrace it!
The convoy fight looks like it could be this movie's version of the Raiders of the Lost Ark truck sequence, another unexpected but fitting eighties reference.
But what's most energizing about this trailer are all the references to the eighties nightmare who won't go away. We get protesters, troops, and smoke on Pennsylvania Avenue, Pedro Pascal's terrible orange mop of hair, Diana and Steve fighting inside someplace that looks an awful lot like the White House, Diana leaping straight past the Old Post Office tower (now converted into Trump International Hotel and Emoluments Central). The line "Nothing good is born from lies... and greatness is not what you think" is a straight-up response to MAGA. This movie is not hiding its politics.
And why should it? Diana was created to fight misogynists and fascists, and we've got plenty of both these days. If this trailer is a fair indication, we might finally get a Wonder Woman movie worthy of Wonder Woman.
Marc Singer teaches English at Howard University in Washington, DC. He is the author of Breaking the Frames: Populism and Prestige in Comics Studies and Grant Morrison: Combining the Worlds of Contemporary Comics. He is counting the days until June.
Yesterday, Warners dropped the first trailer for Jenkins's sequel, Wonder Woman 1984.
This might be the one, folks. This might be The Good DC Superhero Movie.
I never would have thought to put Wonder Woman in this 1980s setting (though it is giving me some good George Pérez vibes) or to set the trailer to this ominous arrangement of New Order's "Blue Monday," but everything about this trailer is absolutely perfect. The strings add just the right disco's-not-quite-dead-yet note for the era, and the action is beautifully synched to the music. If the movie looks and sounds anything like the trailer, it will be one hell of a ride.
For all that the setting reminds me of the Pérez run, it looks like they're going with the Greg Rucka version of Barbara Minerva, who starts out as Diana's friend before turning into the Cheetah. Interesting decision not to show her as the Cheetah yet--I wonder if they're saving it for a later trailer of if it's something that doesn't even happen until the end of the movie.
I'm not going to say the dancing popcorn is my favorite thing about this trailer, but it's definitely not my least favorite thing about this trailer.
The motivational clips from Maxwell Lord played over New Order sound so good I almost wish that was the whole trailer. Lord's empty promises and creepy grin are giving me a definite Behind the Black Rainbow vibe. Which brings me to my next point...
I know this character is listed in the credits as Maxwell Lord, and I suppose he fits the part, but I will be a little disappointed if he doesn't turn out to be Doctor Psycho. Maybe handsome Pedro Pascal is some kind of psychic projection hiding the evil runt underneath. It's hard to imagine a better Wonder Woman villain for 2020... especially given everything else we see in this trailer.
Hey everybody, Steve Trevor is back! Gal Gadot and Chris Pine had a great chemistry in the first movie, and the filmmakers would be fools not to bring him back.
But you know what would be really terrible? The worst thing ever?
If Steve was also a projection of Doctor Psycho.
Yeah, I doubt they'll go that way too. But it would be one hell of a twist.
I just want to point out that we see Diana and Steve on the inside of an airplane, flying through some beautifully lit fireworks. At no point do we see the outside of this plane. Or whether we can even see the outside of the plane.
Just like the giant seahorses and drumming Topo in Aquaman, these movies are best when they lean into the goofy iconography of the comics. These are fairy tale characters at heart. Embrace it!
The convoy fight looks like it could be this movie's version of the Raiders of the Lost Ark truck sequence, another unexpected but fitting eighties reference.
But what's most energizing about this trailer are all the references to the eighties nightmare who won't go away. We get protesters, troops, and smoke on Pennsylvania Avenue, Pedro Pascal's terrible orange mop of hair, Diana and Steve fighting inside someplace that looks an awful lot like the White House, Diana leaping straight past the Old Post Office tower (now converted into Trump International Hotel and Emoluments Central). The line "Nothing good is born from lies... and greatness is not what you think" is a straight-up response to MAGA. This movie is not hiding its politics.
And why should it? Diana was created to fight misogynists and fascists, and we've got plenty of both these days. If this trailer is a fair indication, we might finally get a Wonder Woman movie worthy of Wonder Woman.
Marc Singer teaches English at Howard University in Washington, DC. He is the author of Breaking the Frames: Populism and Prestige in Comics Studies and Grant Morrison: Combining the Worlds of Contemporary Comics. He is counting the days until June.
Wonder Woman 1984 Trailer
Reviewed by Marc Singer
on
Monday, December 09, 2019
Rating:
Reviewed by Marc Singer
on
Monday, December 09, 2019
Rating:
