There are some genuinely exciting superhero movies to look forward to this year – three of which are in the phenomenally popular Marvel Cinematic Universe – but as we stated in a previous article, we’re actually most excited about the DC Extended Universe’s Wonder Woman 1984.
It will be the second movie centred around Gal Gadot’s character, after 2017’s Wonder Woman, and her fourth appearance as the character in the DCEU overall.
The movie will see Wonder Woman going up against Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah, Pedro Pascal’s Maxwell Lord, as well as the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Going by the recent trailer, it looks absolutely fantastic and, in this piece, we’ll be discussing nine reasons why we think it’ll be THE superhero movie of 2020.
Let’s get to it!
9. The Titular Character
One very obvious reason why Wonder Woman 1984 is set to be THE superhero movie of 2020 is because of its titular star – Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman.
She has everything you could ask for in a movie hero – she’s pure and wholesome, she’s righteous, she’s courageous, she’s beautiful, she’s likeable and, perhaps most importantly, she’s a great fighter, very tough and incredibly powerful.
She shone in her first solo movie, but she’s also been the highlight of both of the two ensemble movies she’s appeared in – 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (even though she only appeared relatively briefly in it) and 2017’s Justice League – and there’s no reason to believe she won’t be the best thing about Wonder Woman 1984.
This movie will see her interacting with characters both new and old, protecting those she loves, doing everything she can to take out the bad guys, wearing new armour, quipping, unleashing powers we’ve never previously seen her display on screen and generally kicking butt – and we’re sure to love every minute of it.
Gadot’s version of the character is essentially one of the most popular characters in mainstream popular culture right now – barely anyone has criticised her in any way, shape or form – and that popularity is set to continue in 2020.
8. The Returning Director
When a director returns for any given sequel, in any given genre, after the initial movie was a major success, it’s always considered to be a good thing.
It’s happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the likes of Joss Whedon (The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron), the Russo Brothers (Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), Peyton Reed (Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp) and Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home) and, of course, it happened with Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan) – and it’s fair to say it generally worked out for the best in all of those cases.
That’s definitely the case when it comes to Patty Jenkins returning to direct Wonder Woman 1984, after successfully helming the brilliant first Wonder Woman movie back in 2017.
Jenkins knows the characters – especially the lead one – and knows what the fans want. Essentially, she knows how to make a good Wonder Woman flick – so she’s the perfect director for this sequel.
Heck, if there’s a third movie in the pipeline, we can already adamantly confirm that we’d be over the moon to see her name attached to the project – and we haven’t even seen the second one yet!
7. The Villains
One of the things that truly makes Wonder Woman 1984 such an exciting prospect – and one that undoubtedly will separate it from the other superhero movies of 2020 – is the quality, range and versatility of its villains.
The titular heroine will have to go up against three very different antagonists in the form of Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah, Pedro Pascal’s Maxwell Lord AND the Soviet Union itself in the midst of the Cold War.
Granted, the idea of multiple villains hasn’t always been a good thing in superhero movies – look no further than Venom, Sandman and the New Goblin in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 for evidence of that – but Cheetah, Lord and the Soviet Union are so different to each other that this can only serve to make the movie more interesting.
Cheetah will provide a physical threat (courtesy of her godly powers), Lord will provide a mental, intellectual and corporate threat (courtesy of his telepathy, his genius and his business dealings) and the Soviet Union… well… is an entire country.
Assuming we get good performances from Wiig and Pascal (and why wouldn’t we when they’re both hugely talented?), Wonder Woman 1984 may just end up being one of the best superhero movies ever made in terms of its bad guys.
6. A Romance to Get Behind
When it comes to superhero movies, the relationships between the main characters and their love interests aren’t always great.
Sometimes they just seem completely pointless and go nowhere (like with Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter in Captain America: Civil War or with Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner in Avengers: Age of Ultron), while others just don’t work, no matter how much the writers try to force them down our throats (like with Thor and Jane Foster in the Thor movies or with Logan and Jean Grey in the X-Men franchise).
Diana Prince and Steve Trevor, however – and indeed Gal Gadot and Chris Pine who play the two characters – have the kind of chemistry and spark that makes their relationship worth getting behind and rooting for.
It’s pure, it’s wholesome, it’s meaningful and everyone watching should want them to be happy together (as unlikely as that might seem, given the superhero life Diana leads and the fact that a relationship might not be the first thing on the mind of a man who’s been resurrected after seventy years of being dead).
Any good movie has a good love story as a subplot, but not many superhero movies can say they have one – that’s one of the things that will separate Wonder Woman 1984 from the other superhero movies in 2020.
5. The Humour
One thing Wonder Woman definitely got right in 2017 was its humour – and we’re expecting more of the same in Wonder Woman 1984.
Humour is important – any given audience loves a bit of a giggle – especially when it’s delivered in the correct dosage, which some superhero movies get wrong.
2011’s Green Lantern was a prime of example of when superhero movies get humour terribly wrong.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, has just about perfected the art of comedy – but even that iconic franchise gets it wrong sometimes. Did Iron Man really need to come out with so many humorous quips in such dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations?
The DCEU initially tried to play it straight, and while its comedic elements aren’t quite to the same extent as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s at least started taking a small leaf out of the hugely popular franchise’s book.
Wonder Woman 1984’s “man out of time” element is sure to provide some laughs, as is the inclusion of Kristen Wiig in the cast, and Wonder Woman herself is capable of some nicely-timed witty remarks.
What we’re saying is you can definitely expect the humour to be on point – and that probably won’t be the case in every superhero movie in 2020.
4. The Action
In terms of her powers and combat prowess, Wonder Woman is an absolute BEAST – and for that reason alone, we believe that Wonder Woman 1984 will be awesome in terms of its action scenes.
The first trailer for the movie provided plenty of shots of Gal Gadot in action scenes – kicking butt, using her lasso, wearing a new and more battle-appropriate costume, and even literally riding lightning!
In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman and Justice League, every fight involving Wonder Woman was awesome – and we expect them to be even better in Wonder Woman 1984.
Her most prominent physical battle will likely come against Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah – a character who has superhuman attributes that rival her own (especially in terms of her speed), which will make for a truly thrilling and particularly brutal contest.
We haven’t really seen too many superhuman female versus female fights in superhero movies over the years – although that situation is starting to be rectified – and this one stands to be the most incredible that we’ve ever seen depicted in live action on the big screen.
Add that on to the fact that Wonder Woman will also be going up against Maxwell Lord and the Soviet Union and there’s no doubt the action will be incredible in Wonder Woman 1984.
3. The DCEU is Riding a Wave
After a sloppy start, the recent movies in the franchise would suggest that the DC Extended Universe has finally found its feet.
2013’s Man of Steel, although underrated, was a little underwhelming, 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was simply a mess, as was Suicide Squad later that year, the first Wonder Woman movie in 2017 proved that the DCEU was capable of making good movies (and, notably as far as this piece is concerned, good Wonder Woman movies), but Justice League took the franchise backwards later that year.
However, the last two movies – 2018’s Aquaman and 2019’s Shazam! – were both fantastic. The DCEU is officially on a roll!
DC finally know how to make good movies, balancing that typically darker DC feel with awesome superhero action and a touch of the popcorn humour that makes Marvel Cinematic Universe movies so popular.
With all of that in mind, Wonder Woman 1984 is sure to be great, right? DC Films and Warner Bros. Pictures can’t let the quality of their movies slip now – they’ve potentially got something good on their hands.
Essentially, if Wonder Woman 1984 is as good as – or improves upon – Aquaman and Shazam! – there’s no reason to believe it won’t be the best superhero movie of 2020.
2. The Delayed Release
Wonder Woman 1984 will be released on June 5, 2020.
Notably, it was previously set for a December 13 release in 2019, and then it moved to November 1 that same year, before settling on its mid-2020 release date.
That’s important, because it would suggest the people behind it wanted it to be perfect – and having not been perfect enough to make its initial release dates, it now IS perfect enough to be released this coming June.
Expect the detailing to be flawless, expect the special effects to be spectacular, expect the action to be epic, expect the script to be tight, expect the acting to be masterful and expect the cinematography to be downright beautiful – this movie has been carefully crafted to an obsessive extent!
The only other superhero movie in 2020 with that kind of delayed release is The New Mutants – it was originally set to be released on April 13 in 2018, then February 22 and August 2 of 2019, before settling on April 3 in 2020 – but that feels different. It feels as though the delayed release was due to the first version of the movie being a complete mess and the studio being outright hesitant to release it. In the case of Wonder Woman 1984, it was just because they wanted to get it just right. Hopefully, that’s exactly what they’ve done.
1. The 80s Setting
Pretty much everything was better in the 1980s; the clothes, the music, the technology, the toys, the television, the movies, the video games – yeah, everything!
In fact, it’s probably fair to say that quintessentially 80s movies are amongst the most beloved movies ever made; The Goonies, Ghostbusters, The Breakfast Club, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Top Gun, The Terminator, Sixteen Candles, Cocktail, Die Hard, Mannequin, Dirty Dancing – everybody loves them all.
Moreover, movies and television shows set in the 1980s are incredibly popular; Joker, Stranger Things, The Goldbergs, Bumblebee, The Final Girls, Mandy, It, The Americans and GLOW are all recent productions that prove that.
Wonder Woman 1984 is, of course, set in the 80s, so it should have a similar vibe to at least some of the aforementioned classics – the inclusion of an awesome version of New Order’s 1983 hit Blue Monday in the trailer (take a bow, Sebastian Böhm!) was a great start in that regard!
It also gives us the Cold War as a subplot, which could lead to some extremely interesting scenes! Just how will Wonder Woman’s intervention affect the infamous period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and the United States? We don’t have too long to wait to find out!
What do you think? Will Wonder Woman 1984 be THE superhero movie of 2020? Let us know your thoughts!
