Wonder Woman 1984 is one of the most exciting films on the DCEU slate. Featuring the return of director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot, the film is a sequel to the hugely popular Wonder Woman. The plot is shrouded in mystery, with Warner Bros. drip-feeding information one drop at a time. So slowly, in fact, that the title alone has been the subject of intense debate.
Studios carefully workshop film titles for impact, and that's particularly the case with comic book movies. A classic of the genre is Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which crams in a whole host of ideas Warner Bros. hoped would excite fans. On the face of it, Wonder Woman 2's title is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. But while viewers have long known Kristen Wiig's Cheetah will be a major antagonist, Jenkins recently revealed Pedro Pascal is the DCEU's Max Lord. And he may be the key to the thematic meaning of "1984."
Who Is Max Lord?
Maxwell Lord was first introduced to DC Comics back in 1987, as a shrewd and powerful businessman who became a key supporter of the Justice League International. He was always portrayed as ruthless and unscrupulous, going so far as to set up a would-be terrorist for the Justice League to defeat; although he sometimes displayed a conscience, Lord kept falling back to shady strategies. Max's life took an unexpected turn when an alien race known as the Dominators detonated a Gene Bomb in Earth's atmosphere, granting a number of humans superpowers. Max was one of the people affected, gaining the ability to influence minds.
Moving into the 2000s, DC retconned Max Lord as having had a secret agenda all along. It turned out that Lord had feared the power of superheroes, viewing them as the modern equivalent of gods whose unchecked might would ultimately doom the planet. This fear only grew as a result of Lord's power-up, because he reasoned that if he could even control the minds of superheroes, others could as well. Thus he'd positioned himself into a place of influence in the Justice League in order to learn their secrets and undermine them from within.
Maxwell Lord's Most Famous Story Features 'Brother Eye'
This retcon was a core part of the 2005-2006 Infinite Crisis event, in which Max Lord's plans came to a head. Lord had been working alongside a computer system created by Batman--known as "Brother Eye," the most sophisticated monitoring system ever--able to tap into every computer system in the world. It was also capable of taking control of some cybernetic heroes, overriding their wills. With Lord's help, Brother Eye developed tools known as the OMACs - the One Man Army Corps. Nanobots transform innocent men and women into OMACs, powerful warriors who can even go one-on-one against Superman and Green Lantern.
Lord then attempted to turn the heroes against one another, using his mind control powers to gain sway over Superman and force him into killing Wonder Woman. In the end Diana managed to trap Max Lord in her lasso of truth, and asked him if there was any way to break his control. When revealing there was none other than to kill him, Diana did exactly that in order to free Superman. She inadvertently played into the fanatical Lord's hands, because Brother Eye broadcast footage of the murder across the entire world. Wonder Woman's reputation was ruined, and Brother Eye launched a devastating attack upon her home island of Themyscira using its OMACs in an act of retaliation.
Brother Eye: The Reason For Wonder Woman 1984's Title?
Given Maxwell Lord's inclusion in the story, it's reasonable to assume that Wonder Woman 1984 has been given its title because of his ties to Brother Eye--a concept lifted directly out of George Orwell's 1984, one of the most important political fictions of all time. Published in 1949, Orwell's novel was set in a dystopian future of 1984, imagining a world that had fallen victim to perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and constant propaganda. The plot was set in Great Britain, ruled by a mysterious entity called Big Brother. Its classic refrain reminding all citizens must remain compliant, as "Big Brother is watching you."
Orwell imagined a world where people were forced to live "in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized." He intended 1984 to be his legacy, a cautionary tale to warn the world that it could happen anywhere, but it's doubtful even Orwell could have expected its impact. It introduced countless words and phrases now commonplace in political rhetoric; doublethink, thoughtcrime, Room 101, Newspeak, and of course Big Brother. DC Comics' Brother Eye was intended as an homage to George Orwell's ideas, made all the more interesting by Batman creating it for what fans would hope were admirable or at least ethical means, but was ultimately used for dark purposes.
The comic book publisher took Orwell's idea one step further, with a plot that hinted people would give up their freedom to good men, who started out with the very best of intentions. But in so doing, make themselves vulnerable to the tools which could then be corrupted by others. Considering Maxwell Lord's key role in that very twist of fate, it seems like Warner Bros. has given their upcoming blockbuster the title "Wonder Woman 1984" to reflect these same ideas.
It's a smart, thoughtful title, confirming the film's central themes and ideas, as well as strongly hinting at the comic book arc that Max Lord is most famous for. Of course, the plot will need to be substantially adapted; the film is set during the Cold War, meaning it can't feature the Justice League and Superman won't be going on any psychically-manipulated rampages. Brother Eye's origin will be different, Max Lord isn't expected to be a psychic, and there have been rumors that he'll have connections to the Greek gods. But the core concept will still presumably be the same.
