The follow-up to 2017’s Wonder Woman has been, to say the least, divisive among audiences. Criticism arose from the film, including the controversial storyline of Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine. On Twitter, the director Patty Jenkins defends the decision to bring back Steve Trevor from the dead to inhabit the use of an unknowing man in the sequel.
The storyline goes that Diana unknowingly wishes for him to come back holding the dreamstone. It got a little bit more complicated than just coming back; he was resurrected in another man’s body. The film does let the audiences know that the man had no idea that someone took over his body. In the movie, to other people, Steve looks like a different person played by Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected). So the issue is that when Steve takes Diana back to this person’s place, it is assumed that Steve and Diana sleep together. To many viewers, it begs the question, was it consensual?
One fan took to Twitter to defend that choice in the movie. Twitter user Dustin Philipson points out the Body-Swap movie genre that Jenkins used that trope and notes movies like Big starring Tom Hanks that did something similar, mainly when a child inhabits an adult version of Hank’s character who has sex with an adult woman. Jenkins retweeted the defense, writing, “Hahaha. Exactly @DustyDontShoot!!”
Despite that defense, however, those critical of the storyline still have legitimate points. Even that doesn’t seem to slow things down for the franchise. Just a few days after Wonder Woman 1984 was released in theaters and on HBO Max, it was announced that Wonder Woman 3 had a go-ahead with Jenkins and Gal Gadot returning.
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