What We’re Excited About For Wonder Woman’s Big Screen Return

It’s been a long time coming, and a full 12 months have passed since the original December 2019 release date, but finally Gal Gadot is set to don her Amazonian armour once more and return to the silver screen as Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman.

Back in 2017, the first Gadot-led Wonder Woman film stormed into theatres and it was considered by many to be the desperately needed course correction to some of the DC cinematic universe’s initial faltering missteps. Raking in an eye watering $821 million US in box office takings, the first Wonder Woman film is still considered by many to be one of the strongest entries in the DCEU to-date.

It probably comes as no surprise then, that Warner Bros. made the decision to steam ahead with a sequel only a month after the first film had debuted, and filming officially began in June 2018 with the original plan to release in December 2019.

Since then the film has had more scheduled release date changes than the island of Themyscira has bad-ass Amazonian warriors, and even as recently as this August’s DC Fandome event it was not yet known when audiences would finally get to experience the film for themselves. Thank Hera that we need wait no longer, and Wonder Woman 1984 is now officially destined to arrive in Australian cinemas this Boxing Day, December 26.

So while we spend these last few days in earnest anticipation of Diana Prince’s big screen return, why don’t we take a look at some of the things we’re most excited about for this sequel’s release.

Pedro Pascal’s Maxwell Lord

Star of the hit Star Wars TV series, The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal is trading in his Beskar armour for ’80s power suits as he dons the sleazy persona of the villainous Maxwell Lord. Fans of the CW Arrowverse series Supergirl may already be familiar with the character Maxwell Lord, who was played by Peter Facinelli, and Pascal’s iteration of the character promises to be no less devious or greasy.

According to director Patty Jenkins, the 1984 setting chosen for the sequel was selected specifically because it represented “mankind at their worst, most excessive and their greatest, most grand and opulent”, and Pascal’s Maxwell Lord is intended to the very embodiment of that opulence and moral corruption. Let us just hope that Baby Yoda will still be happy to see him when he makes his way back to Star Wars universe.

He will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Pedro Pascal is Max Lord in #WW84, in theaters and exclusively on @hbomax* December 25. #WeekOfWonder ✨ Get tickets: https://t.co/WaC55jPnhu

*Available on HBO Max in the US only at no extra cost to subscribers pic.twitter.com/l74BHrJI2B

— Wonder Woman 1984 (@WonderWomanFilm) December 10, 2020

Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah

Pascal’s Maxwell Lord won’t be alone in giving Wonder Woman a run for her money in this film, and joining him in the role of antagonist is Kristen Wiig’s Barbara Ann Minerva aka Cheetah. Like her comic book counterpart, Wiig’s Cheetah will start the film as a friend of Diana Prince, who she works alongside at the Museum of Natural History in Washington DC – until, that is, Lord makes her an offer too good to refuse.

She wants to be an apex predator. Kristen Wiig is Barbara Minerva in #WW84, in theaters and exclusively on @hbomax* December 25. #WeekOfWonder ✨ Get tickets: https://t.co/WaC55k6Y92

*Available on HBO Max in the US only at no extra cost to subscribers. pic.twitter.com/ywiJU8VHD0

— Wonder Woman 1984 (@WonderWomanFilm) December 9, 2020

The Return of Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor

The last time we saw Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor, he was sacrificing himself to detonate a plane full of Doctor Poison’s deadly gas at the end of the first Wonder Woman film. How exactly Steve manages to not only survive that encounter, but appear 66 years later and not having aged a day has left many fans scratching their heads – but it is a mystery we will no doubt discover for ourselves on the film’s release. One thing we do know, however, is that this film will see the tables turned for Steve, who now finds himself as the fish out of water in in the world on the 1980s and has to rely on Diana’s guidance in the strange new era.

He’s back. Chris Pine returns as Steve Trevor in #WW84, in theaters and exclusively on @hbomax* December 25. #WeekOfWonder ✨ Get tickets: https://t.co/WaC55jPnhu

*Available on HBO Max in the US only at no extra cost to subscribers. pic.twitter.com/bXZ9WDBDEo

— Wonder Woman 1984 (@WonderWomanFilm) December 10, 2020

Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and her new Golden Eagle Armour

Of course the character we’re really hanging to see the most has to be Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman herself. Marking her fourth DCEU outing, this second solo film will see Diana trade in her old Amazonian armour for something with a lot more bling – the Golden Eagle armour which was first introduced in the comics in the third issue of 1996’s Elseworlds: Kingdom Come.

Exactly how, or why, Diana gets this groovy new costume change in the movie is still yet to be seen, but the glimpses we have gotten of it so far in the trailers and publicity shots have certainly caught our attention.

Wonder Woman 1984 bursts into Australian cinemas on Boxing Day, December 26.