[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984 .]

Wonder Adult female 1984 , the sequel to 2017'southward Wonder Woman , returns us to the world of Diana Prince. This fourth dimension around, the year is 1984 and Diana is 65 years older despite not having aged a twenty-four hour period. She lives in Washington, D.C., and works as a senior anthropologist at the Smithsonian Found. Despite the prospect of having a new friend to commiserate with — that'd existKristen Wiig's Barbara Minerva, who later becomes the villain Cheetah — Diana nevertheless pines for the companionship of her long-lost dear, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). When an run into with a mystical artifact seemingly resurrects Steve, Diana must figure out how he's back from the expressionless and what it ways for their future as a couple.

Steve's arc in Wonder Womancomes to a pretty definitive end after he sacrifices himself to save the world. As such, his miraculous return in Wonder Woman 1984 has been a point of curiosity since the first trailer for the moving-picture show debuted back in Dec 2019. While the DCEU is a pretty magical place, death frequently sticks (unless yous're Superman) and it's rare to meet someone come up dorsum from the expressionless without at that place being disastrous consequences. So, how exactly doesWonder Woman 1984justify Steve's return?

What Happened to Steve at the Stop of Wonder Woman?

Cast your minds back to the last moments of Wonder Woman. As Diana fought Ares (David Thewlis), Steve and his team realized there was no easy manner to prevent a airplane from releasing tons of Dr. Maru's (Elena Anaya) poison gas without killing millions of people and increasing the carnage wrought by Globe War I. Steve realized there is only one condom way to save the world and it required saying goodbye forever to his true dear, Diana. After their last, heartbreaking conversation, Steve took command of the plane carrying the poison gas and flew it high enough into the sky so that – after making peace with his decision — he could accident it up, thus preventing the gas from spreading. It also meant he had to go down with the plane.

chris-pine-gal-gadot-wonder-woman-1984
Image via Warner Bros.

How Exactly Does Steve Render in Wonder Adult female 1984?

Nosotros run into howWonder Adult female 1984brings Steve dorsum from the dead about 45 minutes into the movie's runtime. Just one solar day before Steve's render, Diana holds the Dreamstone (more than on that beneath) while helping Barbara examine information technology. She makes a silent wish after reading the Dreamstone's inscription, with the implication being that she is thinking about Steve as she makes her wish. The side by side nighttime, at the Smithsonian Fellow member's Gala, an unknown man (Kristofer Polaha) approaches Diana. She tries to castor him off, being all besides familiar with men trying to make unwanted passes at her. The nameless man — literally credited as "Handsome Man," by the style — repeats Steve's parting lines to her from 65 years earlier, thus disarming her information technology is Steve.

And so, what Wonder Woman 1984tells united states of america is that the Dreamstone has brought Steve back in a sketchy version of reincarnation. Steve'due south physical body may be lost to time, but his soul is not. As such, the Dreamstone pulled Steve's soul out of the afterlife and placed it inside the body of a random man. In the scenes after the couple'south reunion, information technology is explained that Steve remembers his terminal moments in 1919, and then he remembers that he existed in a kind of sky or limbo that he tin can't quite draw other than "it's practiced," so he woke up in Handsome Man'due south trunk in 1984. Back at Handsome Man'south flat, information technology's established that to others, Steve looks like the man whose body he has possessed; yet, to Diana, he is proficient onetime Steve.

wonder-woman-1984-pedro-pascal-max-lord-dreamstone
Image via Warner Bros.

What Makes Steve's Return Possible?

Steve's render is made possible by the Dreamstone, an ancient antiquity examined by both Barbara and Diana at the Smithsonian. The Dreamstone appears to be a trio of citrine crystal points that are bound together past a metal ring with a Latin inscription that reads: "Place upon the object held but one great wish." Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) eventually gets his easily on it and wishes to literally be the Dreamstone. The magical object then disintegrates and infuses itself into Max Lord'southward body, leaving backside the metal band which, equally Diana afterward discovered while looking through Max'southward office for the artifact, bears an inscription in the ancient linguistic communication of the gods. With the assistance of some research from Barbara, it's revealed the rock has had a mitt in the downfall of a diverseness of aboriginal civilizations. A consultation with a so-called Mayan mystic (Ravi Patel) in Washington D.C. too revealed that the Dreamstone carries a Monkey's Hand -like price to those who use it, taking the wisher'southward most valued possession as payment.

Diana learns the Dreamstone was created by Dechalafrea Ero. As well known as Dolos, Mendacius, and the Duke of Deception, he is a demigod of manipulation. The Duke of Deception is an actual grapheme from theWonder WomanDC Comics. Outset introduced inWonder Woman #iiin 1942, the Knuckles of Charade is an enemy of Diana'southward and a frequent ally of Ares, the God of State of war.Wonder Woman 1984's efforts to tie in Diana's ancient past with her present-day stop after this scene, equally does whatsoever idea of perhaps introducing the actual Knuckles of Deception.

wonder-woman-1984-chris-pine-gal-gadot-aviation-museum
Image via Warner Bros.

Wait, What About the Guy Steve Is Living Inside?

The implications of Steve'due south return are messy and problematic. Equally previously explained, Steve'southward soul has possessed the body of Handsome Homo, a random Washington, D.C. denizen. As far as we know, Handsome Human being is a very fashionable engineer and bachelor that sleeps on a futon in an apartment with tons of photos of himself effectually the living space.Wonder Adult female 1984'south script, which was written by Jenkins,Geoff Johns (Aquaman,The Flash), andDave Callaham(Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), doesn't do much to flesh out Handsome Homo'southward character beyond these basic facts. This, in addition to only showing the bodily Handsome Human being a few times, helps the audition come across only Steve when looking at the character rather than being forced to remember that this is not really Steve.

I cannot speak to the intentions of the screenwriters or Jenkins in how they wanted this narrative decision to play out. Every bit a viewer, seeing Steve's soul inhabit the trunk of another man and and so having Steve apply that body nonetheless he pleases doesn't sit down well with me. If the Dreamstone is so powerful and magical, why not write that Steve's soulandtorso were returned back from the expressionless? It requires only a slightly bigger suspension of disbelief thanWonder Woman 1984 already asks of us and frees Diana and Steve from turning into consent violators. That's right:consent violators. In case that wasn't articulate, the two of them being physically intimate with one another while Steve is in the trunk of a man who tin can't consent is absolutely not okay. It's also completely antithetical to who these two characters are, as Wonder Adult femaleestablished them: Honorable, considerate, and loving people.

wonder-woman-1984-steve-trevor-tank-egypt-desert
Image via Warner Bros.

What Happens to Steve at the End of Wonder Adult female 1984?

Post-obit a confront-off with Max Lord and his forces in both Arab republic of egypt and at the White House, Steve and Diana come to terms with the fact that the Dreamstone took Diana'southward superpowers as the price for bringing Steve back. Steve encourages Diana to accept that it is not fair for him to stay while she is forced to give up her powers, especially when the globe needs her to be a hero. Knowing that one of the two ways to get back what the Dreamstone takes from you is to renounce your wish, Diana does exactly that after kissing Steve for the concluding time.

Wonder Woman 1984 is now bachelor to stream on HBO Max until January 24, 2021. For more than, read our spoiler-filled breakdown of theWonder Woman 1984credits scene and refresh your memory on other characters in the DCEU sequel with our handy guide.

'Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off' Review: A Captivating Doc About the World'south Greatest Skateboarder | SXSW 2022

Read Next

About The Author