Gal Gadot: ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Is Not A Sequel

Gal Gadot, star of ‘Wonder Woman: 1984’ Image by Getty Images

By Jenny Singer July 23, 2018

Why the 1980s? How is Steve Trevor still alive? And what else can we expect from “Wonder Woman: 1984’?

Co-stars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, as well as “Wonder Woman” director Patti Jenkins, spoke at Comic Con over the weekend about the much-anticipated addition to the Warner Bros “Wonder Woman” story, “Wonder Woman: 1984,” which is set to premiere on November 1, 2019.

“It’s not a sequel,” Gadot told the audience. “It’s its own story. It’s a whole new movie.” This is a wild claim, but it does seem like Jenkins’ goal, given that the movie is jumping decades forward in time.

“I grew up in the ’80s,” Jenkins said, when asked about the time gap. “It really was mankind at its best and worst,” she explained. “It was grand and wonderful and there was great music at the same time that we were revealing the worst of us. … [It’s fascinating] to see Wonder Woman in a period of time that is really us at our extreme.” In that case, now seems pretty extreme. When is “Wonder Woman 2018” coming out?

All three panelists refused to explain how Pine’s character Steve Trevor, who appears to die heroically in the first “Wonder Woman” movie, will be featured in the new one. Pine did let slip that he’s “just an aura of emotional support for my pals,” which seems to suggest that he could just be a blip in Diana Prince’s memory, or a vision. But asked how he appears in the movie, Jenkins silenced him. “It’s something I’m super excited [for people] to see the movie to find out,” she said. “It’s a very important part of our movie.”

Oh, Steve! Oh Diana! On one hand, we want him to have died to truly fulfill the subversive promise of the first film, that Steve is merely a male sex-symbol who must die to further Diana’s emotional journey. On the other hand, we want him to live, because we believe in love and Chris Pine is one of our favorite Chrises.

November 1 can’t come soon enough.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

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