Wonder Woman 1984

The movie has noticeable themes of female empowerment and the daily struggles of women in society. Barbara Minerva’s descent into villainy is driven by her desire to escape feeling weak and ignored by men. The plot highlights everyday sexism, but it also focuses heavily on classic superhero tropes.

The film critiques the greed of 1980s Western capitalism and features several scenes highlighting male entitlement and sexual harassment. Many of the male side characters are shown as catcallers or creeps, while the main villain is a greedy businessman inspired by Donald Trump.

Maxwell Lord is traditionally white in the comics but is played by Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal. This change was not heavily pushed as a political diversity statement. Barbara’s story is also modernized to focus on female rage against harassment.

The movie faced noticeable backlash from conservative critics who labeled it as a preachy, woke disappointment. Critics complained about the cartoonish "Trumpian" depiction of the villain and argued that the film portrayed almost all men as predators, fools, or criminals.

Director and co-writer Patty Jenkins has a strong public track record of advocating for feminist reforms and female representation in Hollywood. Other writers and producers involved have more standard industry backgrounds with little to no history of political activism.