Zack Snyder's Unmade Wonder Woman Movie Could Have Fixed One Of The DCEU's Most Controversial Stories

Summary Zack Snyder had unique plans for Wonder Woman, which could have prevented the controversial Steve Trevor plot in Wonder Woman 1984.

Snyder envisioned Wonder Woman as a warrior traveling the world, meeting multiple lovers before and after Steve Trevor, redefining her story.

While Snyder's ideas were interesting, the final Wonder Woman was more comic-accurate and a significant departure from Snyder's concept.

Zack Snyder’s unrealized Wonder Woman movie plans could have prevented the most controversial element of Wonder Woman 1984. Introduced to the DC Extended Universe in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman brought complexity, likability, and comic accuracy to the iconic role, making her one of the franchise’s best characters. Unfortunately, Gadot’s future in the upcoming DC Universe soft reboot is unclear, with a recast seemingly likely, despite conflicting reports on her potential reprisal in the new continuity. As Gadot’s character was being developed for the DCEU, however, she was envisioned as a markedly different character.

Gadot’s Wonder Woman is accurate to her comic counterpart, with some of the most notable differences being that the Greek Gods are deceased (though they could have been resurrected like their comic counterparts) and that Wonder Woman fought in World War 1. The DCEU Wonder Woman films include key supporting characters from the comics, such as Steve Trevor, who tragically dies at the end of the 2017 film. Diana and Steve’s chemistry is one of the 2017 film’s strongest elements, so it was no surprise that Chris Pine reprized his role in the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984.

Many incarnations of Wonder Woman - including her Golden Age comic counterpart - fought in World War 2, not World War 1.

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Wonder Woman 1984's Steve Trevor Controversy Explained

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Wonder Woman 1984 explores one of Diana Prince’s many adventures between World War I and her battle with Doomsday at the end of Dawn of Justice. Upon coming into contact with the Dreamstone, Wonder Woman inadvertently uses it to bring Steve Trevor back to life, and the two resume their romantic relationship. Tragically, Wonder Woman had to endure saying goodbye to Steve a second time to regain her powers, as the Dreamstone exacts a cruel toll on its users for each wish. In Diana’s case, bringing Steve Trevor back had another cost, in addition to draining her of her powers.

Rather than simply returning to life on his own, Steve Trevor’s consciousness instead inhabited the body of another man. This was highly controversial among some viewers, as Diana and Steve shared intimate moments while Steve was inhabiting another man’s body, leading said viewers to voice concerns regarding bodily autonomy. Interestingly, an early concept for the DCEU’s Wonder Woman by Zack Snyder would have effectively prevented this plot point from happening in the first place.

Zack Snyder's Wonder Woman Plans Could Have Avoided WW84's Controversial Steve Trevor Twist

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Zack Snyder discussed some of his unrealized ideas for Wonder Woman in an interview with Empire. The early concept would have differed quite substantially from what would end up being the canonical DCEU Wonder Woman. Snyder toyed with the idea of Wonder Woman leaving Themyscira without meeting Steve Trevor and traveling the world in search of Ares herself. One of Snyder’s ideas was a movie titled Wonder Woman 1854, which would have had Diana fight in the Crimean War and possibly meet Steve Trevor (further contradicting what would become the canonical Wonder Woman story).

This original concept for Wonder Woman would have given her many love interests aside from Steve Trevor, with Snyder noting:

The idea of that was an early riff we were doing: once Wonder Woman left the island in search of Ares, what happened to her in her different incarnations? My idea for it was that she would travel around the world looking for Ares and she would go to every place where there was conflict. On those battlefields she found these lovers, warriors, and they would age out because she is immortal. They would be her lover for ten years or they might die in battle, and it was probably sad for a lot of the guys because they would see her starting to be nice to the next young soldier and be like, ‘Oh, I’m being replaced.’ But all the guys that she had with her were those loyal warriors she found on the battlefields all over the world. We talked about if Steve Trevor was there in Crimea. It was never a screenplay, but we talked about it so much that it kind of had its own life.

This, of course, would redefine Wonder Woman’s relationship with Steve Trevor, as she would have had numerous lovers before (and likely after) him. Wonder Woman most likely would not resurrect Steve decades after his death like she did in Wonder Woman 1984, and thus the film’s controversial plot point would have been avoided.

How Zack Snyder's Wonder Woman Would Have Differed From Her DCEU Story

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Zack Snyder’s early concepts for Wonder Woman would have resulted in a notably different character, whose beloved 2017 film would have to be significantly changed. Moreover, Snyder also voiced interest in reimagining Zeus as a Kryptonian rather than an Old God, further changing Wonder Woman and her relation to her Justice League teammates. Ultimately, while Snyder’s early concepts are interesting, the final version of Wonder Woman was far more comic-accurate, which is for the best, even with Wonder Woman 1984’s controversial method of resurrecting Steve Trevor.

Wonder Woman Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available Wonder Woman is the first film in DC's series focusing on Diana Prince. Gal Gadot reprises her role from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and, this time, must stop the villainous Ares with the help of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). The film received generally positive reviews upon release and was followed by Wonder Woman 1984 in 2020. Director Patty Jenkins Release Date June 2, 2017 Cast Elena Anaya , Robin Wright , Lisa Loven Kongsli , Connie Nielsen , Lucy Davis , Gal Gadot , Danny Huston , Chris Pine , David Thewlis , Mayling Ng

Source: Empire