Wonder Woman 1984 properly explains Diana's controversial dialogue in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Debuting in the 2016 Zack Snyder film, the Themysciran princess has been in four DCEU movies thus far, including her second solo installment, which sees her in the '80s. Directed by Patty Jenkins, the sequel reveals more of Diana's life throughout the decades before she joined Batman and Superman's fight against Doomsday in the modern era.
The Amazon's arc in the DCEU already spans several decades, which is unique to the character. After her introduction in Batman v Superman, her 2017 origins film, Wonder Woman, traced her first foray to the human world during World War I following her chance encounter with Steve Trevor after he washed up on the shores of Diana's native Themyscira. In Wonder Woman 1984, Diana is in the '80s, living a lonely life as a social recluse since all her trusted allies and friends from the early 20th century are gone, along with her love, Steve. This makes fighting two new dangerous foes in Maxwell Lord and Babara Ann Minerva/Cheetah so much more difficult
Because Wonder Woman has had the longest stint as a superhero in the DCEU's current roster of heroes, filmmakers have to be more careful in crafting her narrative as details can easily be mixed up, causing plot issues. One of the more vexing ones is from Batman v Superman, where a particular piece of dialogue insinuates she turned her back on mankind, which is inconsistent with what has been seen from her arc thus far. Fortunately, Wonder Woman 1984 shines a light on this issue, clarifying that it's not an inconsistency.
Wonder Woman Says She Walked Away From Mankind
Following their initial encounter at Lex Luthor's party, Bruce Wayne learned about Diana's superhero persona as Wonder Woman after finding Luther's files, which included information for each future member of the Justice League. Her first instinct was to get as far away from Bruce as possible, wanting to maintain her anonymity, but her commitment to the greater good motivated Diana to eventually join Batman and Superman's fight against Doomsday in Metropolis, which resulted in Superman's death following a sacrificial play. At the end of the movie, realizing that her secret was safe with Bruce since he, too, had an alter-ego, she opened up a bit about her life in the past, why she hadn't come out and openly fought bad guys to protect people. “A hundred years ago I walked away from mankind; from a century of horrors… Men made a world where standing together is impossible,” she explained. This line caused some confusion after the first Wonder Woman film came out as Diana didn't seem the type to turn her back on humankind; if anything, she exhibited unwavering faith that there's good in people.
That said, Wonder Woman 1984 makes it clear that this particular dialog has been misinterpreted. Diana said that she walked away "from a century of horrors" and not "for a century," which may mean that she simply shut herself down from mankind, not necessarily for how long. After her first real friends slowly died of old age as she remained the same, she likely opted to keep to herself rather than go through the pain of losing another person she cared about in the future. The sequel highlights this by showing black and white photos of her old allies in her apartment, a few of Steve, and one of an older Etta Candy. So, her Batman v Superman line doesn't necessarily mean the DCEU's Wonder Woman abandoned her responsibility as a superhero — staying true to the morals that motivated her in the first place to leave Themyscira.
Diana is a Hero in Wonder Woman 1984, But Still a Secret (Mostly)
The idea that Diana only walked away from mankind and not her role as Wonder Woman checks out in Wonder Woman 1984. In the sequel, she's very much still active as a superhero, leading a double life as a Smithsonian employee by day. While she remains committed to her cause, the film also makes it clear that Diana operates anonymously. In the opening sequence, she saves a woman out on a jog by quickly pushing a charging car away from the unaware woman. Diana opted to do this instead of getting the woman out of the way which is arguably much easier to do but would draw more attention to her, effectively blowing up her cover.
Later, during a mall heist, she made sure to disable the CCTV cameras around the area first before going after the perpetrators. While there were a number of onlookers who saw her in action, there was no photographic proof of her operation or evidence it happened. This makes it difficult to confirm her identity as proven by the subsequent news broadcast that only called her "a mysterious female savior." After she heartbreakingly said goodbye to Steve in Washington, she reveals herself to the crowd as Wonder Woman flies for the first time, but people were too busy running around and panicking about the impending doom of potential nuclear war to pay attention to her.
Why Wonder Woman Still Hasn't Revealed Herself to the World
In the contemporary DCEU, Diana has continued to operate stealthily as Wonder Woman as seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and also Justice League. This means that even after Wonder Woman 1984, she refused to make any personal attachments with other people. In fact, she was reluctant to do so even with Bruce, but she had no choice in the matter after she realized that a potentially bigger threat than Steppenwolf and Lex Luthor was coming in Darkseid.
In hindsight, it makes so much more sense that she wanted to live in isolation after Wonder Woman 1984; losing Steve again was a stark reminder of how painful it is to say goodbye to people she truly cares about. So, instead of subjecting herself to that vulnerability, this experience only reinforced the idea that it's best to be alone. This could potentially change moving forward, however. Between Diana willingly associating herself with other heroes through the Justice League and Wonder Woman 3 potentially set in the modern DCEU, there's a good chance that she could finally reveal herself to the world.
