There's a lot of stuff in Wonder Woman that's different, not just from the previous DCEU
films, but from most superhero movies in general that came before it.
As a result, it will likely have a lasting effect on the DCEU, opening doors with regards
to world-building and narrative.
Man of Steel was an extremely dark and bloody take on a traditionally upbeat character,
to the chagrin of fans and critics.
Batman v Superman took that even further, depicting two heroes who are traditionally
friends as bitterly opposed for most of the movie.
Suicide Squad featured super-powered criminals forced into service by the government, so
obviously it wasn't sunshine and rainbows either.
But Wonder Woman tells a different story.
It's certainly violent.
It is a war movie, after all, but it depicts its title hero as a symbol of hope.
When she's first revealed in costume, stepping out into No Man's Land in the midst of the
Great War, the point is not that she's there to destroy.
She's there to save everyone instead.
In a world where Superman snaps a villain's neck and Batman brands criminals so they'll
be killed in prison, Wonder Woman offers a refreshing return to the basic concept of
a superhero, moving away from the idea that traditional heroism has lost its place.
"It's about what you believe.
And I believe in love."
Where Superman is an alien and Batman is a billionaire with a lot of tech, Wonder Woman
is a demigod with magical powers who grew up on an idyllic island wit immortal women.
Her movie embraces fantasy elements to a degree that the DCEU really hadn't before.
It may not be the first DC movie to feature magic.
Suicide Squad's villain, after all, is literally named "the Enchantress."
But Diana's origin takes it to another level.
This is a movie that starts out in a purely fantasy setting before introducing the real
world.
Even the MCU presents Asgard as more of a sci-fi realm in another dimension that merely
inspired Earth mythology.
Wonder Woman, however, doesn't hedge its bets like that.
Diana grows up in a place that's like an all-female version of Lord of the Rings.
That doesn't just shape her abilities; it also affects her outlook.
Her reaction to learning about the horrors of World War I is to go on a quest to defeat
a mad god.
She's a superhero to be sure, but she's also a fantasy character, and that blend is carried
off perfectly.
Bringing her into a world that also features science-based heroes like Cyborg and the Flash
creates endless possibilities for future stories in this universe.
In actual real-world history, Wonder Woman's first comic book appearance was in 1941.
However, because comics continuity is constantly revised to keep everyone young, the version
of Wonder Woman in the current comics only left Themyscira roughly ten years ago.
The movie takes a different path, as this Diana leaves during World War I, and goes
on to live in the outside world for about a hundred years.
As far as we know, Wonder Woman was the first superhero in this version of Earth.
That raises the question: if she's been around for a century, who else might have shown up
along the way?
There's a whole roster of DC Comics characters from the 1930s and 1940s, and with Wonder
Woman setting the precedent, it's possible some of them might've existed even earlier
in the DCEU.
While it's unclear if the movies will ever deal with much of that, the precedent has
been set, and a 100-year history of superheroes is rich with possibilities.
Superheroes tend to be monogamous and mate for life, especially in movies.
In that vein, Steve Trevor plays a key role in Wonder Woman's origin story, so it's no
surprise he's a big part of the movie, as played by Chris Pine.
However, since the film is set a century in the past, there was never a chance for the
two to live happily ever after, since she's immortal and he isn't.
Ultimately the plot takes it even further, with Trevor sacrificing his life to destroy
a plane full of Doctor Poison's gas after he and Diana kiss.
For a superhero's lover to die in a movie is almost unheard of, especially by way of
a heroic sacrifice.
"I wish we had more time."
"What?
What are you saying?"
"I love you!"
In addition to this narrative departure, director Patty Jenkins has said that Diana will have
a different love interest in the sequel.
It'll reportedly be set in the 1980s, which means that whoever that person is, it will
also likely only last for one movie.
Depending on how long this goes on, Diana could become the first superhero since the
'80s and '90s-era Batman to have a different love interest in every movie.
Wonder Woman's power goes beyond her physical and mystical capabilities within the movies.
As a character, she's proven to be more powerful than anyone expected, and so has her first
movie.
The film wasn't just a huge success financially, it was a hit with critics, a feat managed
by no previous DCEU movie.
In the wake of its release, there was a lively public discussion about how the creative minds
behind the DCEU had lessons to learn from Wonder Woman.
"I want her to be everything for me."
It was too late to change much about Justice League, which came out only five months later.
But going forward it's clear that it's Wonder Woman, not Superman or Batman, who will light
the way forward for the DC superhero franchise.
Until now, Clark and Bruce have spent too much time fighting in the dark.
But it already looks like that's changing, as evidenced by Aquaman and Shazam!, which
are both brighter and lighter in tone and color palette than most of what's come before.
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