By Ani Bundel
The slow roll to reopen theaters here in America has delayed every high profile film from 2020 since the end of March. But DC is doing their best to make lemonade out of it with the DC Fandome event. The all-DC related-content fest, from the Arrowverse to DC Films’ big-screen offerings, kicked off with the delayed Wonder Woman 1984 panel, featuring director Patty Jenkins, and stars Gal Gadot, Kristen Wiig, Chris Pine, and Pedro Pascal.
The trailer was the main event of the panel and included the reveal of Wiig’s Cheetah costumes, which will slowly evolve throughout the film. Fans got a good look at her fights with Wonder Woman both in realistic spaces like the White House, and other, more fantastical locations as well. The trailer also did more to explain the mystical return of Steve Trevor to the DC Universe after his death at the end of Wonder Woman, with his appearance directly tying to Maxwell Lord’s promise to give people “everything you dream of… you can have it.”
But it was not the only part that mattered. The point of DC Fandome is for fans to connect with their favorites and address them directly virtually. There were video questions from fans around the world, and some fan art shared as well for the panel to admire.
Most of the questions were standard issue, touching on the 1980s outfits to the cast chemistry. Pascal admitted he was horrified by the images of ’80s power suits. He was so impressed by the film’s costume designer’s work in referencing those now-ridiculous looking roots without making him look foolish.
As for how the cast got along, Jenkins admitted she was jealous of how much fun they would have off-set between takes while she was “stuck working.” Chris Pine also shared the wonder of filming in Washington DC, where several major set pieces were shot on location, and how it was a reminder of how the dream of growing up to be a movie star was supposed to feel.
But the panel also served to remind everyone how big the fandom is. Questions came from other stars, like tennis phenom Venus Williams, asking who would win in a match between Cheetah and Wonder Woman. (Wiig insisted she would win, as Diana’s gold tennis racket would be too heavy.) But the biggest fan to show up was none other than Lynda Carter, causing the entire panel to lose their cool. Kristen Wiig practically screamed she’d once owned 1970s Wonder Woman underoos.
Carter wasn’t there to ask a question, though. She was there to thank Jenkins, Gadot, and everyone who had brought Wonder Woman back to the mainstream. “My daughter gets it now,” she told them, bringing tears to more than one eye. Despite the delays, Wonder Woman’s legacy rolls on.
Wonder Woman 1984 is currently slated to open in theaters on Oct. 2, 2020.
