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- The 25 biggest questions we have after watching 'Wonder Woman 1984'
The 25 biggest questions we have after watching 'Wonder Woman 1984'
Kirsten Acuna  Â
- Warning: There are massive spoilers and discussion for "Wonder Woman 1984" ahead. Do not read this if you haven't watched the movie.
- After two viewings, Insider compiled every question you may have after watching the film, along with some answers where possible.
- Some are serious questions like: Who is Asteria? And is the Dreamstone back out there in the world somewhere?
- Others focus on lingering thoughts or subplots that weren't addressed or revisited. For example, did Barbara kill a man and leave him in the street to die? Quite possibly!
Let's start with something simple. How was Steve Trevor able to come back?
In case you're still wrapping your head around this one, let's break it down simply.
Steve Trevor died in 2017's "Wonder Woman" in the year 1918. When Diana is in possession of the Dreamstone, which grants its wielder any one wish, she silently wishes for Steve to come back.
Steve is then magically brought back in another man's body. (Yeah, it's a bit weird.)
OK. But was Diana actually seeing Steve Trevor or was she just imagining him the entire movie?
It's a fair question that may confuse you initially upon Steve's return in the film, but Diana just imagined that random man looked like Steve the entire film.
When "Steve" looks in a mirror we see he's not actually Steve, but a completely different person (played by Kristoffer Polaha) who he just happens to be inhabiting.
Diana tells Steve that doesn't matter. All she sees when she looks at this stranger is Steve and so that, too, is how the audience perceives this random man.
It's a bit heartbreaking. Diana's living in a fantasy world from the start that she knows deep down isn't right.
Diana chose to effectively see this man through rose-colored glasses until she realized by the film's end she couldn't continue living a lie. Not only did she need to let Steve go, but she also had to let this man go on and continue his own life.
How exactly does the dreamstone work?
To explain this in the simplest way possible, you can make one wish for whatever you want while holding the stone, but, in return, the stone will take whatever is most valuable to you.
For example, Diana wished for Steve back, but the stone started to take away her superpowers. The rules appear to change a bit once Max became the stone.
How does Max's power work once he becomes the dreamstone?
When Max wishes to become the dreamstone he starts tricking people into making wishes. Once a wish is granted, Max appears to be able to choose whatever he deems is most valuable to another person and takes whatever he wants.
The sequel tells us that granting a wish takes whatever is most valuable to you. But when Max is at the helm he starts making the decision himself on the spot for selfish gain.
This rule seems malleable as Max is able to grant Barbara a second wish late in the film, which turns her into the iconic DC villain, Cheetah. As far as we know, Max doesn't take anything from Barbara after granting her that wish.
At the same time, whenever Max grants a wish, he's also experiencing adverse effects. We see him get a nosebleed and have a ruptured blood vessel in his eye. Though it's never spelled out, it's inferred that every wish Max grants is slowly killing him because he's a selfish narcissist.
What was Max's endgame after granting every wish?
At the film's start, Max wanted to just be someone powerful who his son could be proud of and look up to in life.
But Max doesn't stop once he attains great power. He becomes power hungry for more. Near the film's end, it looks like he's just trying to feed off of other wishes so he can gain immunity, but that's never explicitly stated.
If Max granted every person's wish, what would he have done next? My best guess is that he likely would have continued trying to gain more power until he either destroyed himself, the world, or both.
Did the FBI ever follow-up on the gemstone after dropping it off at the Smithsonian for inspection?
At the start of the film, Barbara Minerva is supposed to be helping the FBI out by looking into the stone. Then she just let's Max Lord swipe it for fun.
No one outside of Diana Prince ever seems to care it's missing.
How does the Smithsonian not figure out that Diana Prince stole a government jet?
She used her access key card to the Smithsonian to get into the hanger with Steve. They're likely on camera.
Did Diana and Steve return the jet they stole? What happened to it?
Did Diana lose it like the invisible coffee cup she also lost?
Now that she can apparently fly on her own, she doesn't really seem to need her own private jet.
Why did Steve Trevor's watch jump momentarily to life?
After Diana makes her silent wish for Steve to return, the film cuts to Steve's old watch sitting in her apartment.
Sitting on a counter, it momentarily jumps to life making us believe Steve Trevor is somehow going to come back through his watch.
That doesn't happen though.
When Steve returns, he wakes up in a different apartment in a random man's body. As far as we know, the watch had nothing to do with Steve's return.
So what was the point of having the watch move? It seems like it was solely for a magical, dramatic effect to hint that Steve was on his way back.
Isn't it a little weird that Diana is still hung up on Steve Trevor after 66 years?
For the first third of the movie, we see a wistful Diana avoiding all other men as her heart is still married to the idea of her first love, Steve Trevor.
During a pivotal moment of the film where Diana has to consider giving Steve up, she tells him, "You're all that I've wanted for so long. You're the only joy I've had or even asked for."
And, we get it, there's nothing like a first love, but even Steve points out that that's a little bit nuts, telling Diana, "I am so sorry, but that's crazy. There's a world out there full of so many better guys."
Who is Alastair's mom?
Throughout the film, Max Lord's son, Alastair, repeatedly gets dropped off at his company by a faceless, nameless mother. All we learn about her is that she has a boyfriend.
Is she someone important in the DC universe or does she not matter? And, who is Alastair? Maxwell doesn't have a son in the comics.
Why does Diana let Barbara walk home by herself after a man tries to attack her in a dark park immediately?
Early in the film, Diana saves Barbara from a man in the park and then just let's her continue on her merry way in the dark.
Wasn't Diana concerned about the emotional toll that attack may have just had on her friend? What if someone else tried to attack Barbara in the park?
That's just not what friends do.
Were we supposed to believe Wonder Woman was wearing her metal superhero suit underneath her clothes in Egypt the entire time?
As Diana and Steve are chasing down Max Lord we see Diana do a seemingly impossible costume change.
Diana starts the chase in plain clothes. At one point, the camera shortly cuts away from her and Steve in the car. When it comes back to the duo moments later, she's magically in her metal suit. It makes it look like Diana pulled a "Clark Kent" and tore off her shirt and pants to reveal her suit underneath.
It's very unbelievable that Wonder Woman's pretty bulky skirt wouldn't be noticeable under her slim-fitting outfits. It was a strange moment that took viewers momentarily out of the film.
So, Diana can fly now?
Diana can fly now.
But, seriously, in the comics, the character was granted the ability to fly by the God Hermes. Before that, a 1958 comic said she could "glide on air currents."
What happened to the nameless man who Steve took over for a few days?
I need the HBO Max "WW84" short on what happened to this guy when he finally regained his consciousness and realized he couldn't recall what happened the past few days.
Was anyone looking for him? Did he have family reaching out to him or a girlfriend? What about work? Steve mentioned the guy was an engineer. Was his place of employment trying to reach out to him?
What did Kristen Wiig's character Barbara become at the film's end?
Near the film's end Barbara wishes to be an apex predator. The next time we see her she's a cat, but not just any cat. She's a cheetah, a direct reference to the DC villain who becomes Wonder Woman's biggest nemesis.
The film changes up how Barbara becomes the iconic character. In the comics, her transformation into a half-human, half-cheetah is caused by an Amazon dagger.
Did Barbara kill a guy?
Late in the film, Barbara has a second run in with a catcaller who tried to get handsy with her earlier in the film.
She turns the tables on him and beats him up after he makes another pass at her, but takes things a bit too far when she lets her rage take over and leaves him bloodied and motionless in the middle of a deserted street.
Barbara runs off as a man approaches the body and we never learn what happened to that individual.
Is Barbara Minerva bisexual?
Barbara is obviously attracted to Max Lord throughout the film, but is she also harboring feelings for Diana Prince?
She wishes to be strong, sexy, and special just like Diana early in the film. Later, when Diana saves her in the park, Barbara falls into her arms in a cliché way that a superhero's love interest may get swoon over their savior.
The hints at any sexual tension between the two are kind of dropped in the film after this point once "Steve" returns, but this would have been somewhat in line with a recent comic relaunch where the two shared feelings for one another.
Wonder Woman was confirmed to be bisexual and Barbara Minerva was depicted as a lesbian.
Will we ever see Cheetah again?
By the end of the film, we see Barbara as a human again, suggesting we may not see the villain again.
That's a shame, not only because Kristen Wiig does an excellent job at bringing Wonder Woman's nemesis to the screen, but because Cheetah goes on to become a main member of the of the Legion of Doom, a roster of DC villains who constantly cause grief for the Justice League.
Who is Asteria?
If you were wondering who the woman in the mid-credits was, Diana told Steve earlier in the film she was the Amazon's greatest warrior.
She's played by Lynda Carter who played Wonder Woman for three seasons on TV.
Read more: 'Wonder Woman 1984' has one bonus scene after the movie. Here's what you need to know.
Did Wonder Woman waste time saving the world near the film's end just for a cool outfit change?
Yes.
At the film's end, Wonder Woman was in pursuit of Max Lord wearing her regular superhero suit. She flies for the first time and gets caught up in the moment a bit. When she finally arrives at the sequel's final location, she lands wearing Asteria's shiny gold armor.
When did she have time for an outfit change mid-flight? The change in outfit suggests that at some Wonder Woman stopped mid-flight, acknowledged she didn't have all of the tools necessary to fight the bad guys, flew back home, and then frustratingly started her journey all over again.
While it's a bit of an absurd moment, it's also an unexpectedly relatable one. How many times have you left the house, nearly arrived at your destination, and then realized you left something vital at home causing you to drive all the way back?
Wonder Woman is truly all of us.
Are we supposed to believe Wonder Woman's gold armor held back an army of men but could easily be destroyed by one cat woman?
Yes, yes we are.
Diana Prince tells Steve Trevor earlier in the film that the gold armor was made for the greatest warrior of her people. It was made to withstand an entire army of men so that the Amazonians could flee to a new home.
It's obviously really strong so it may have been surprising to see Cheetah tear through the wings in a matter of seconds. Are her claws made of an indestructible metal like adamantium (Wolverine's claws) or vibranium (Captain America's shield)?
No, not quite. But in the comics, Cheetah's claws are supposed to be able to slash through almost anything because they're enchanted.
How is Diana able to broadcast to everyone in the world simply by lassoing herself to Max Lord?
This is a real headscratcher. It's unclear how this entire communication system operates.
It's probably best to just let this one go if I've already accepted that there's a woman who can stop bullets with a lasso and another woman who can turn into a cheetah two hours into this sequel.
Where is the Dreamstone now?
Max Lord renounced his wish to be the dreamstone at the film's end.
Did it return to Max Lord's office, where it was last seen, or was it destroyed? Is it just out there in the world waiting to be found again?
We learned earlier in the film that the stone turned up in random places throughout history, causing havoc wherever it turned up.
Did you notice that the man Diana sees at the film's end is the man Steve took over?
He was even wearing the outfit that Diana picked out for Steve earlier in the film but refused to wear.
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