After a three-year wait, the next Wonder Woman installment is here. Wonder Woman 1984 serves
as yet another thrilling installment in Diana's modern-day story. That said, it still left
some unanswered questions in its wake. Here are the biggest unanswered questions in Wonder
Woman 1984.
Wonder Woman 1984 opens on the secret Amazonian island of Themyscira during Diana's childhood.
In an incredibly arduous sort of Amazon-style Olympic games, Diana, despite being years
younger than her competitors, easily takes first place before falling behind when the
race is nearly finished. Though she finds a shortcut and regains first place, her aunt,
the warrior Antiope pulls her out of the running, telling her that she cheated and can't win
if she doesn't do it honestly.
However, the existence of these games in general raises some questions, none of which get answered.
What are these games called, and how often are they held? Why is Diana, a literal child,
even allowed to compete against adult Amazonian warriors? Also, how are the competitors chosen?
Are they from noble families, like Diana, or are they chosen from a larger group? And
what do they win when they take first place in these games?
Shortly after she gets started at the Smithsonian, Barbara shows off some of her discoveries
to Diana, including a mysterious stone with an ancient language written along its base.
Ultimately, the two discover that the Dreamstone can grant wishes, but the Dreamstone's exact
origin is never specifically revealed.
Diana and Barbara do discover that the stone was crafted by the God of Mischief and Treachery
and will grant any wish — though, in doing so, it steals a person's most cherished ability,
which can only be reversed if the person takes their wish back or the stone itself is destroyed.
However, we never learn where the stone came from, and much of its backstory remains a
mystery.
As the film introduces us to Diana's lonely life in D.C., the camera pans across the shelves
of her apartment, which contain photos from throughout her life as well as Steve's watch,
which he gave her right before he sacrificed his life in the war. These photos, which chronicle
several adventures in Diana's life, include one that raises some questions: Diana posing
in front of a pastoral area with a sign that reads "Trevor Ranch."
While this is clearly a sweet gesture, it also raises some big questions, the most obvious
of which is: What and where exactly is Trevor Ranch? Did the ranch already exist within
Steve's family — and did Diana visit and meet them? Or did Diana start it as a tribute
to her fallen love? What does Trevor Ranch do, exactly? Aside from the fact that it bears
Steve's name, we still know nothing about Trevor Ranch.
After Barbara and Diana make their initial wishes on the stone, Maxwell uses an unwitting,
newly confident Barbara to gain access to the artifact and does something completely
unprecedented: He becomes the stone itself by wishing to be the human embodiment of the
Dreamstone. In doing so, he wrecks his body but also earns unprecedented power, using
his ability to grant wishes to manipulate people throughout the world into doing his
bidding.
Eventually, Diana, with her powers restored, uses the Lasso of Truth to speak through Maxwell
as he broadcasts his own image across the world and begs people to recant their own
wishes. However, this doesn't really answer the question of what happens to the stone
when Maxwell recants: Does this destroy the Dreamstone altogether, or does it still live
within him, ready to grant wishes once again?
Throughout his time as the human embodiment of the Dreamstone, Maxwell accomplishes a
lot. Maxwell becomes uncorrupted when he recants after he's subdued by Diana, reuniting with
his son and promising to be a better father.
However, the fact still remains that Maxwell did some pretty abominable things during his
tenure as the Dreamstone, and despite being returned to reality, it seems like Maxwell
should probably be held accountable for everything he did. Does Maxwell ever face any legal consequences
for everything he does as the Dreamstone? If so, perhaps it's possible that he'd be
cleared of all charges, deemed unable to control himself while his body was more or less possessed
by a mythical force.
As Maxwell manipulates unsuspecting people into making rash wishes that end up serving
his bottom line, we see people across the world making a ton of crazy requests. Under
Maxwell's Dreamstone rule, the world ends up on the brink of nuclear war, becoming a
crazed, apocalyptic place that looks absolutely terrifying.
By the time the film ends, it's the holiday season, and we see Diana as she happily watches
families play together at a local Christmas village in D.C. However, the fact remains
that everybody celebrating Christmas this year seems, well, suspiciously happy after
the cataclysmic events of the entire film. This raises the question: Do humans remember
any of their wish-induced lives, or was it wiped from their memory, allowing them to
move on?
After Steve Trevor sacrificed himself in the first Wonder Woman film, viewers spent three
years wondering if he'd return. Thanks to the Dreamstone, Steve does return in the sequel,
and though his and Diana's romance is short-lived once again, they still get some time together
in the 1980s before Diana makes her own grand sacrifice.
Wonder Woman 3 was recently confirmed, with Jenkins at the helm, but she previously said
she'd only return if the film will get a fully theatrical release. As far as Gadot is concerned,
she wouldn't even want to do the film if Pine doesn't make another miraculous comeback.
Gadot told Entertainment Tonight,
"I couldn't imagine doing another one without him. The fact that they figured out the right
way to bring him back that actually helps the story, it was delightful to work with
him again and it felt like coming back home, working with Patty and with [Chris] and with
our wonderful crew."
There's no word on if Pine would be willing to return, but the question of whether Steve
can come back from the dead a second time still remains.
"I wish we had more time."
When Barbara first arrives at the Smithsonian, she's meek and shy, flying under the radar
thanks to a spectacular lack of confidence. Though Diana initially turns down Barbara's
first lunch invitation, the two begin to bond over ancient artifacts leading Diana to invite
Barbara out for drinks after work. Over wine and cocktails, Diana opens up to Barbara,
saying she admires her new friend's open nature, and even admits that she has largely closed
herself off emotionally... which is more than Diana typically gives to anyone in her life.
After Maxwell and the rest of the world recant their wishes, Barbara transforms back into
a human being, and we never see her again. It does seem like Diana and Barbara have a
genuine connection, especially after they've both been affected by the Dreamstone. Do they
ever rekindle their friendship?
"Have you ever been in love?"
"A long, long time ago."
"You?"
"So many times. Yeah. All the time."
The Dreamstone is definitely too good to be true, which is a fact that Maxwell and Barbara
both learn pretty quickly, as Barbara gives up all of her humanity and Maxwell's body
literally crumbles under the pressure of being the stone itself. There's no question that
the Dreamstone can be used for evil, which leads one to wonder if it could also be used
for a significantly less selfish reason.
Both Barbara and Maxwell use the Dreamstone to gain power and strength, but the way Diana
uses it raises some interesting questions. Though Diana is already plenty powerful as
an Amazonian and doesn't need the Dreamstone to wish for that, her wish to bring Steve
back is extraordinarily personal and doesn't seem as if it could cause any adverse effects…
except for the stranger's body that Steve seems to hijack. Considering how even Diana's
wish isn't immune to corruption, is it even possible to use the Dreamstone for good and
not evil?
If you watch Wonder Woman 1984 closely, you might notice that the actress playing Asteria
— an ancient, legendary Amazon warrior whose gold armor helps Diana defeat Maxwell and
Barbara — looks pretty familiar. In fact, that actress is none other than Lynda Carter,
who made the character of Wonder Woman famous during the television series in the 1970s.
As if that wasn't enough, Carter pops up in a mid-credits sequence, which reveals a stunning
fact: Asteria, like Diana, secretly lives among humans.
Naturally, this raises an enormous question: Will Carter ever appear aside Gadot, who took
over the mantle of Wonder Woman for the big screen, in a possible sequel? It's entirely
possible that both Carter's cameo and credits sequence are simply Easter eggs for longtime
Wonder Woman fans, but it also brings up the exciting possibility that Carter and Gadot
could join forces as Asteria and Diana in future Wonder Woman projects.
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