New Wonder Woman 1984 Image Teases Amazon Olympics
It so happens that Wonder Woman 1984 will feature an event associated with that titular year: Olympic games. Only these particular games will be of the Amazonian variety.
Director Patty Jenkins recently sat down with Empire for a mostly spoiler-free discussion, but she did let slip one telling detail: that Wondy '84 will take a brief detour, via flashback, to the island of Themyscira, the birthplace of Diana (Gal Gadot). Said flashback will treat us to the scene of a very young Diana taking part in a javelin throw during the Amazon Olympics — a small but vital component of the character's lore.
How small, you ask, and how vital? Well, the story which featured the games was a one-shot that didn't even appear in a Wonder Woman comic, instead showing up at the end of an issue of All-Star Comics #8 (so, pretty small). This particular volume, though, was published in 1941, before DC Comics as a brand even existed — and that story was the very first appearance of Wonder Woman (so, ridiculously vital).
In the story, the Olympics are held in order to determine which Amazon will accompany American airman Steve Trevor back to America — in the words of Hippolyta, to fight for "America, the last citadel of democracy, and of equal rights for women." Um... moving right along, Diana is forbidden to compete — but of course, she disguises herself to take part in the games anyway, and kicks major butt en route to victory. Hippolyta begrudgingly hands over Diana's iconic costume (prompting Diana, since this was the '40s, to exclaim, "Why, mother, it's lovely!"), and a legend is born.
Obviously, Jenkins' take on the Amazon Olympics will be an updated one — starting with the fact that Diana apparently takes part in the games early and often, and from quite a young age. Did we mention that Jenkins shared a photo? No? Well, feast your eyes.
Patty Jenkins has her own take on the Amazon Olympics
Jenkins told Empire that the Amazon Olympics will be featured in a wildly different context from that decades-old story, with perhaps the most significant difference being that the games will not be a one-off thing with the winner receiving the honor of saddling up with a handsome airman to go fight for America. Jenkins envisions the games as an annual contest — and judging by her remarks, what we see of them in Wonder Woman 1984 is going to get pretty crazy.
"What I love about the Amazon Olympics is everything that we got to really celebrate in the first movie," the director explained. "Here are these people who are incredibly powerful and capable, but different in how they approach things. If you've been training for hundreds of years because of an impending invasion, you're going to be constantly working on all these skill sets. So, to me, every year, they would have these Olympics to see who's doing the best on horses or swimming the fastest, and seeing new tricks people have figured out."
The portion of Wonder Woman set on Themyscira is one of our favorite parts of that first movie, and it'll be cool to return to the island for the sequel, however briefly. Jenkins did remind fans, though, that the Amazon spin-off movie she conceived with comics legend Geoff Johns is still in the works — and that, as part of "the in-world story of Wonder Woman," it will add thematic context to what she hopes will be a trilogy.
"That's the greatest thing to me about superhero stories," Jenkins said. "You're able to have a dialogue about what a hero would be right now. So yes, I have ideas for what I'd like to say [in a third Wonder Woman movie],and Gal does, too."
We couldn't be any more on board. Wonder Woman 1984 is currently slated to hit the big screen on October 2, 2020.