Seeing as Wonder Woman is, by and large, the sole entry to provide both critical and financial triumph, I think it’s safe to assume that the future of the DCEU is hinged upon the success of Wonder Woman 1984.
Although Aquaman and Shazam! are scheduled for release during the interim, the ceiling of either isn’t particularly vertiginous. The besmirching of Diana Prince, meanwhile, inarguably one of the few positives to emerge from Warner Bros.’ temporarily ill-advised venture into superhero cinema, would almost certainly spell the end of the DCEU.
Thankfully, with Patty Jenkins at the helm and Gal Gadot wielding the Sword of Athena, there’s no reason to suspect Wonder Woman 1984 will be anything short of spectacular. What’s more, last week, the Monster director confirmed that Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) would be returning for the Cold War-set sequel, despite, you know, being blown to smithereens.
Since the announcement, many have offered their theory as to how General Steven Rockwell Trevor could have survived his heroic, last-ditch effort to save the day. And on the most recent episode of his Hollywood Babble-On podcast, Kevin Smith pondered this very notion.
Rather than fill you in on all of Smith and co-host Ralph Garman’s spitballing – trust me, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, as they think it’s actually Steve Trevor’s son – the most intriguing supposition amongst the “babbling” is that which Smith cribbed from his Fatman on Batman co-host, Marc Bernardin.
“On Fatman on Batman, another podcast I do, Marc Bernardin theorized which I thought was pretty clever maybe that’s the Martian Manhunter. Because he can change his appearance and stuff like that, that’s one possible answer.”
For those unfamiliar, the shape-shifting Martian Manhunter, AKA J’onn J’onzz, is the last known member of the Green Martian race, who’s brought to Earth accidentally and eventually adopts our planet as home. He also goes on to become one of the founding members of the Justice League of America. Frankly, we can’t see Warner Bros. using Wonder Woman 1984 to introduce a hugely important character like Manhunter, but I guess you never know.