Between ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ and her game getting canned, the 2020s haven’t been Diana’s decade. Maybe that’ll change with the 2030s?
The start of the pandemic in 2020 sent ripples throughout the world, upending our way of life in ways we’re still feeling. Everything was affected by it, including the entertainment industry, with many Hollywood studios delaying the making and releasing of films. Eventually, though, some bit the bullet and chose to release something, even if it was just on streaming, and that’s how we wound up with Warner Bros. releasing Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas Day 2020 both in theaters and on HBO Max.
Watching a movie in theaters is an entirely different experience compared to just watching it at home, especially superhero movies. Without access to a big screen, I wound up watching the film on my phone back when it came out and then on my TV more recently. I will never know how I and most of us would’ve taken to this movie if it’d come out in a regular world, but in the one we are in now, it’s still surprising how not good it is.
Nothing about it has really gotten better with time, and if anything, elements like the parallels to Donald Trump and everything surrounding Steve Trevor have gotten worse. It’s open-hearted, sure, and goofy, yes, but it all makes for something that feels like work to watch even when you’re not actually watching it for work.
Another thing about it that’s aged badly? The concept of Wonder Woman as a multimedia franchise, of which 1984 will effectively remain the final word for the foreseeable future. Despite garnering a lot of views at the time, reactions weren’t feeling the sequel, and after popping in for short cameos in The Flash and Shazam 2 to remind you she was still around, Diana was put back on the shelf.
