Fans seem to be universally smitten with the ‘Wonder Woman’ trailer that debuted at SDCC. Gal Gadot was many viewers’ favorite part of ‘Batman V Superman’ which only whetted appetites for the full-length ‘WW’ solo movie coming next year. Some early footage was previewed back in January, and some of that shows up here, but most of it is brand spankin’ new.
And it seems to mostly flow in chronological order, starting from Diana (Gal Gadot) discovering Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) on the shores of Themyscira.
Diana seems slightly mystified as Steve awakens and she mutters, “You’re a man.”
“Don’t I look like one?” Steve replies, ignorant of the fact that she has never seen one before.
We get a glimpse of the ancient Amazon society in a temple of sorts.
Diana’s mother, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) declares that her daughter has “been my greatest love.” This is her goodbye as Diana prepares to voyage into the outer world.
“They do not deserve you,” Hippolyta declares, referring to the inhabitants of Patriarch’s World/Man’s World (whatever they wind up calling it, as both have been used in the comics).
Next we cut to Diana accompanying Steve into World War I England.
Then we see Diana in a flowing evening gown, gliding into a fancy gala.
There, she (and viewers) encounter the film’s villain, whose identity hasn’t been disclosed. He is portrayed by Danny Huston, however. Could he be Ares in disguise? Doctor Psycho? The Duke of Deception?
Diana’s intention is soon revealed however as we spot a sword tucked into the back of her gown.
Uhhhh… ya got me. Who is this? And I mean the actor and the character? It MAY be Elena Anaya, another actor whose part has not been revealed. It appears she has a prosthetic lower face. It may be a variation of Doctor Poison. That’s about the best guess I can offer.
Now we get into some battlefield action with Steve looking quite Indiana Jones.
But first some “pillow talk.” Steve asks Diana, “Have you never met a man before? But what about your father?”
To which Diana responds, “I have no father. I was brought to life by Zeus.”
TIME OUT: This irks me. This is the one thing in the trailer that rubbed me the wrong way. Diana, in the comics, was NOT brought to life by Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. She was given life by the goddesses of Olympus. Maybe this was done for a reason or simplicity’s sake. But it kind of undermines the female empowerment embodied by the character to think she still owes her existence to a man. Okay, rant over.
Anyway, Steve replies, understatedly, “Well that’s neat.”
Next we get a montage of some Amazon action.
Diana racing through some woods on horseback. This may be a flashback to Themyscira.
An Amazonian archer leaping through the air, taking aim at a more heavily armed enemy.
Then we see the Amazon army racing into battle against the Central Powers.
The next few clips are dialogue-free quick cuts, so not much to be gleaned there. But the clip does seem to pause to focus on Diana’s shield.
And again on her Golden Lasso of Truth.
We then see Wonder Woman in full regalia scaling a wall to enter a heated battle.
And another focal shot, this time on her armored boots.
We then see her swat away an enemy mortar with her shield.
After that, Wonder Woman really cuts loose and we get a glimpse of her super strength, in what appears to be a bar fight.
Then, what we’ve all been waiting for, Wonder Woman using the Magic Lasso. (Yes, she used it in ‘BvS’ but STILL!)
There are several more quick cut action shots that don’t really reveal much, but are plenty of fun! And should any haters think a female hero can’t bring the action, this should shut them up.
Interspersed with these action clips, Steve tells Diana, “I can’t let you do this.”
“What I do is not up to you,” she replies.
Even in the muted lighting, it is clear that Wonder Woman’s costume is much more vibrant that the dark armor she wore in ‘BvS’.
The action closes with a new look at the iconic WW logo.
But wait! There’s more! In a… do trailers have post-credit scenes? Er, anyway, in this stinger, Diana meets Steve’s secretary Etta Candy (Lucy Davis).
In the comics, Etta was Wonder Woman’s sidekick of sorts. Will Davis’ version also take on a more active role?
When Diana asks what a secretary is, Etta replies “I go where he tells me to go and do what he tells me to do.”
“Where I’m from, that’s called slavery,” Diana replies.
“I really like her!” Etta exclaims.
What do we take away from this? First, it’s honestly just a good damn trailer. Creating a good trailer is pretty tough. (Just ask the makers of ‘Ghostbusters’.) This one fills in enough of a narrative for viewers, even those unfamiliar with the comic book character’s history. It also packs in plenty of amazing-looking action and even some humor.
The colors are pretty drab and muted, but even so, as I said, it’s clear that Wonder Woman’s costume is much brighter than the one in ‘BvS’ and the Magic Lasso really pops.
The only thing missing was some bullet-proof bracelets action, as Wonder Woman relies more on her shield. Then again, they pulled a similar switcheroo with ‘BvS’– in the trailer, she used her shield to deflect Doomsday’s energy blast, but in the movie, she used her bracelets. Maybe they’ll pull something similar with ‘Wonder Woman’.
In all, what did you think of the ‘Wonder Woman’ trailer? Is the DCEU moving in the right direction?
Source: Collider
