Wonder Woman Comic-Con Trailer Breakdown and Review

Alongside the Justice League trailer, DC decided to overwhelm San Diego Comic Con with the incredible trailer for Wonder Woman.

Here it is:

 

Compared to the Justice League trailer, this trailer is a lot more in-depth as to its setting and style. Taking a far more serious approach whilst maintaining some humour.

As the trailer begins we can see Wonder Woman on the beach, over-looking an unconscious Steve Trevor (Chris Pine – Star Trek, This Means War). The beach is empty, and Wonder Woman is wearing what appears to be her basic/first costume, as it is different from her normal suit. The fact that it is an empty, peaceful beach suggests that they may have just escaped a fight on the ocean, and Wonder Woman potentially saved his life. As he wakes up, she asks, “You’re a man?”.  Even more confused than she is, Steve asks, “Yeah, I mean…  Do I not look like one?”  It then cuts to her homeland and what appears to be a throne-room, before showing Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielson – Gladiator, The Devil’s Advocate) holding Diana’s face saying, “You have been my greatest love.” The footage then shows Diana and Steve in civilian clothing, as well as a packed railway station, as Hippolyta continues, “Be careful Diana”, which is followed by a sudden drop in tone of the music as Diana enters a party in a dress, clearly looking for a specific person.  The camera then focuses on an unidentified general (Danny Huston – X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 21 Grams), before she approaches him, reaching for a sword that’s sheathed in the back of her dress. Hippolyta finishes, “They do not deserve you.” The screen then cuts to the Warner Bros. and DC logos.

It returns to the party, focusing on a masked woman, before cutting to Steve walking away from a plane he may have just landed. His voice carries over to a low key shot of him laying down, saying, “Have you never met a man before? But what about your father?”, clearing up the unusual question she asked at the start of the trailer. As it shows her being examined by who can only be assumed is a doctor, followed by a shot of her laying opposite Steve, replying “I had no father, I was brought to life by Zeus.” Confused once again, trying to make sense of it, “Well that’s neat.” The action then begins to kick in as it shows a female horseman riding through a forest at night (potentially Diana), followed by a warrior jumping backwards over a boulder, ready to fire her bow, as she lowers just in front of enemies and fires two arrows. It then shows the entire squad charging a beach of enemies on horseback, as well as fighting on foot. Whilst the same music continues, the setting changes to Diana and Steve in outside of a snowy café, getting close. It then cuts back to the action inside of some trenches as soldiers line up and take position, before Wonder Woman steps in to the trenches ready to take them on. It briefly cuts away to Diana stopping a man as he pulls out a gun, throwing him across the room. As he flies across the room it cuts to a shot of Wonder Woman jumping across a room whilst fighting an entire squad of soldiers. This is then interrupted  by an explosion outside of a building.

Standing close to one another, Steve tells Diana, “I can’t let you do this” as it cuts back and forth between shots of them both separately in action, such as Diana fighting soldiers in the street with her glowing Lasso of Truth, and Steve riding a motorbike and flying a fighter jet, ending the montage back at the trenches with Wonder Woman using her shield to block turret fire. It cuts back to them both with Diana responding, “What I do is not up to you”, ultimately underlining not only her independence, but also the level of ‘woman power’ that this film will deliver. For one final awesome montage, it shows more footage of Wonder Woman fighting in the room and on the street, using a mixture of evasive manoeuvres, slow-motion, explosions and focus on her weapons/suit to show why this is going to be one of the most badass films ever made. This montage is backed by a similar song from the first X-Men Apocalypse trailer, In for the kill by Ghostwriter.  This is then followed by the Wonder Woman logo, backed by her official character theme song as debuted in Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Is she with you? by Hans Zimmer & Junkie XL.  As per usual, the title is followed by a final clip, which in this case displays Etta Candy (Lucy Davis – Shaun of The Dead, The Office) shaking Diana’s hand, “I’m Etta Candy, I’m Steve Trevor’s secretary.” Confused, Diana asks “What is a secretary?” “I go where he tells me to go and I do what he tells me to do.” Disapprovingly, Diana responds “Well where I’m from we call that slavery.” Immediately, Etta states “I really like here.” Before being moved along by Steve.

The first thing I took away from this was the time setting of the first World War, and how much of a Captain America-esque vibe this suggest (despite Captain America: The First Avenger being set in World War II). The first interesting part of this is the similarities between the two: they both use a shield, they both fight for the right reasons no matter who they’re fighting against, they’re both out of their own time period and own culture, etc. The second and potentially more significant part is the fact that this is the first solo hero film with a female lead, and is set in a time where there was significant gender inequality, posing a huge statement for the modern world.

The interesting part, like most origin films is how Diana’s Amazonian home will be portrayed, as well as how she is shown to leave it. Whilst the only look we are given of it is what appears to be a throne room, we are sure to gain a better look within the next trailer or so.

Once again, we are not distinctively shown who the villain is supposed to be, and it is unlikely that it is Danny Huston’s unnamed general. As with the Amazon, the villain is most likely to be introduced within the next trailer.

To support the underlying style of ‘woman power’, it is directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster, The Killing).  Whilst she has not delivered many films so far in her career, her debut film Monster, based on the life of the convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos was a huge success, followed by directing the pilot for AMC’s hit The Killing, she has immediately established her capability, and is sure to deliver Wonder Woman to her full potential.

Even without this trailer, the Wonder Woman film already had enormous fan-base when Gal Gadot basically stole the show as Wonder Woman in Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, not only because she was the coolest, most stylish character, but also had the best character theme tune. And now, this trailer shows how action-packed and effective it is set to be, showing that women can be just as good heroes as men, if not better.  With her also starring in Justice League later the same year, 2017 is set to be the year of Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is set to be released on 2nd June 2017 in the UK and US.