New Wonder Woman 1984 Photo Is Extremely Revealing

The release of Wonder Woman 1984 has been delayed a few times now, but that just means that there's more time to theorize about how Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) is even in this film in the first place. Did Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) pull off some time travel to do Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) a solid and snatch her beau from the past? If so, why was Steve dropped in 1984 of all years? It's the elephant in the room as far as the DC sequel is concerned.

On June 23, 2020, Total Film released a shiny new image from Wonder Woman 1984 for their July cover story that features Diana and Steve together. Let the speculation continue. 

It's no secret that Diana's lost love is back in Wonder Woman 1984. His return was teased as soon as hype started building for the sequel, despite his death at the end of the original Wonder Woman. Even Steve's '80s-tastic windbreaker ensemble we see in the image was already spotted in the Wonder Woman 1984 trailer, and therefore not exactly new information. So what can we actually glean from this fresh picture of Steve and Diana, working together and looking concerned?

First of all, it looks like the two of them are in some sort of high school storage room surrounded by A/V equipment — almost as if they've entered an episode of Stranger Things. There's even one of those iconic rolling TV carts in the background, the kind favored by hungover teachers and substitutes everywhere. There's definitely something institutional about the setting. There's a snake on a poster in the background, and a taxidermy animal on a shelf behind Steve. Diana is focused on something we can't see — maybe a map, or a video, or a computer of some kind. Alternatively, they could be in the back room of a museum. There's an art museum in the trailer (the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.) and we know from Batman v Superman, Justice League, and Wonder Woman that Diana ultimately ends up working at the Louvre. 

Steve's focus, on the other hand, is solely on Diana. If nothing else, this picture is a testament to how much he loves her. Look at all that care and worry in his expression. Maybe this is an indication that, for Steve, no time has passed since he last saw her during World War I, and he hasn't been able to move on. We don't want to spend too much time analyzing gazes in our shipping corner, but let's have more men in movies who love Strong Female Characters without being weird about it, please. 

There's one Wonder Woman 1984 rumor that suggests a magical wish-granting rock possessed by Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) is what summons Steve from the dead. That could be very well be the thing that the two of them are researching in the new still. Even if the rumor is false, the trailer does briefly show Pascal's character gazing in awe at a crystal, so some sort of connection seems likely.

Total Film spoke with Pine for the cover story, but what he had to say doesn't shed much too light on the situation. "He's excited to be back with Diana. He's excited about this world," Pine said, noting that Steve's vibe has changed in this new environment (even though his 1910s haircut is conveniently still in style). "He's not jaded. It's a complete 180 from the tone of the character of the first one." Brooding comic book characters are so yesterday, so that's good to hear. However, if Steve's so perky in the movie, that makes his worried expression in this new photo (and in a shot of Diana taking a phone call that was revealed by Total Film in April) even more troubling. Note that they're wearing the same outfits in these two shots, meaning the scenes in question can't be too far apart in the film. Whatever this story's conflict is, we're getting our first look at it.

Diana was still mourning the loss of Steve Trevor in the theatrical cut of Justice League. That seemed odd at the time, because over a century had passed, and surely Diana would not still be preoccupied by one man's death. Now we know she got to chill with him in the '80s. Hopefully Wonder Woman 1984 can help fill in the gaps in their story — literally, as far as the timeline is concerned — and give us an exciting new adventure at the same time.