Wonder Woman Trailer #2: Five Clues and One Question
Fans were treated this week to a second look at the upcoming 2017 movie Wonder Woman, the next film in the DC Comics lineup. Starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, and Robin Wright and directed by Patty Jenkins, the movie focuses on the titular character of Princess Diana of Themyscira, an Amazonian princess, and fierce warrior. The arrival of crashed American pilot Steve Treynor brings news of a terrifying war, leading Diana to join forces with him in order to save mankind. Armed with the Lasso of Truth, a pair of bullet-repelling bracelets, and Olympian sword and shield, the newly designed Wonder Woman faces a world of chaos head on.
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Now, since the announcement was made that Wonder Woman would be getting her own films fans have been most interested in seeing what facets of her origins and storylines would be included. This new trailer offers some tantalizing clues, but also raises more questions.
Unlike the SDCC 2016 exclusive trailer, this one clearly shows that we are being given a glimpse into Wonder Woman’s past and memories, seen through her eyes and narrated in her voice. She is recounting her story to someone in the present day, indicating that her story will be primarily told through flashbacks. Whatever happened back then, though, it has clearly traumatized her and resulted in her reluctance to get involved once again.
As previously portrayed in the comics and in the Lynda Carter era, Diana will take on an alter ego a la Superman/Clark Kent in her quest to defeat evil and save the world. This is seen in her various interactions with Steve and his superiors, as well as the “end credit” scene at 2:03 of the trailer, showing her attempting to fit in wearing traditional women’s clothing from that time (and hilariously referring to its lack of practicality for fighting).
As Couch Potato of We Got This Covered points out in his review of the trailer, we also get a peek at a potential showcase of one of Wonder Woman’s lesser known powers – flying. At 1:55, we see her jump into the air to avoid an explosion and rising into the sky, crossing her bracelets as lightning strikes. Could this be just her superhuman strength allowing her to jump high, or could she indeed take to the skies?
As for the all-important question of who the antagonists will be, many signs certainly point to the possibility a God being involved. The fact that the trailer starts out with a fight scene between the Amazonians and troops of men, along with her ominous narration about evil, hints at the idea that there’s a force at play not immediately visible. Fans of the comics know that the God of War, Ares, is a longstanding classic villain out to destroy the Amazonians. With the focus on a war between mankind being central to the plot, is it a far stretch to think perhaps he’s the one pulling all the strings?
At 0:54, we see our first glimpse of a woman with a strangely scarred face glancing into a container poisonous gas, and it isn’t a stretch of the imagination to think she will come to be revealed as one of Wonder Woman’s main foes. Given this very specific facial deformity, could this woman, in fact, be the Baroness Paula von Gunther? First appearing in Sensation Comics #4, William Moulton Marston created her as one of the first enemies of Wonder Woman. Although originally written as a Nazi-spy turned inconsistent ally, could she have been reimagined for the movie?
We have also introduced again to Danny Huston’s mysterious German general at 0:56, telling someone off screen that “the world can be ours.” There is still very little known about this character, but if Huston’s previous turn as Colonel William Stryker in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is any indication, we should expect he is not on the side of good.
Having seen this trailer as someone who grew up watching Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman, Gadot’s Diana was a bit of a change (although not unwelcome). She is powerful, intelligent, assertive, and has an unerring sense of justice. From what I have seen of this trailer, the movie should be a great balance of action, romance, and drama.
This Wonder Woman is the heroine all little girls can aspire to, and someone I am very excited to see on the big screen when it hits theaters June 2, 2017.
