As the credits rolled on ‘Wonder Woman’, there was a lot we didn’t know about the sequel. After all, with a century to work with between that film’s story and the then-current continuity of the DC’s shared movie universe, the possibilities were endless. Would the film stick with its established setting and supporting cast or blaze a trail into uncharted territory? We had no way of knowing. The one thing that did seem certain, though, was that Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor would not be returning, given his, um, explosive exit in the first film’s finale.
Since that time, of course, we’ve learned a thing or two about the sequel, and what we have learned has done nothing so much as defy whatever expectations we may have had. Most significant was the reveal of the film’s setting in the mid-1980s, as stated in its title, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’. This seemed to confirm that we would be leaving the original film’s supporting cast behind, given the seven decade gap between the two stories. The key word, of course, was “seemed”, as we learned not long after that one member of that supporting cast would be joining Diana in the eighties, and it was the one character who had seemed the least likely to appear at all: Steve Trevor.
If your reaction to this is that it raises more questions than it answers, well, welcome to the club. After all, it’s not just that Steve has somehow survived the events of the first film, but that set photos have made it clear that he’s made it from World War I to the Reagan years without aging a day. Magic? Time travel? Anything’s possible.
Speaking to ComicBookMovie.com, director Patty Jenkins remained mum on the circumstances of Steve’s resurrection, but she did reveal that his inclusion wasn’t an arbitrary decision made to keep Chris Pine attached to the series. Rather, she describes it as an organic development and promises that it will all make sense in the end. Says Jenkins:
“I thought of what this next movie should be in the middle of making the first movie, so it wasn’t a solution to, “Oh, that worked out, let’s try to jam you in there.” It’s all incredibly important to the story. It makes perfect sense, that’s all I can tell you.”
‘Wonder Woman 1984’ features returning stars Gal Gadot, and Chris Pine alongside newcomers Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Ravi Patel, and Gabriella Wilde. The film is set for release on June 5, 2020.
