Can Steve Trevor perform another miraculous return in Wonder Woman 3? Chris Pine made his DCEU debut in 2017's Wonder Woman as Steve Trevor, a dashing American pilot who washes up on the shores of Themyscira and lures Diana away from her isolated home to aid the world of men. Together, Diana and Steve face the harrowing perils of World War I, but while the Amazonian survives her brush with Ares, Steve sacrifices his life to prevent the release of a deadly gas upon innocent civilians.
Diana spends decades mourning the loss of her first and only love, before chancing upon the Dreamstone during a regular workday at the Smithsonian. Without realizing the stone is an authentic artifact imbued with the power of the gods, Diana innocently wishes for Steve's return, and is shocked when her ex-boyfriend actually turns up during a fancy party thrown by Maxwell Lord. In a strangely unnecessary twist, Steve is revived in the body of a random guy, but played by Chris Pine anyway. By the story's end, Diana reluctantly acknowledges that Steve's presence is a lie, draining her powers and preventing her from saving the world. She duly abandons him (and the innocent individual whose body he's occupying) in the middle of the street.
Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot will return for Wonder Woman 3, turning Diana's DCEU story into a trilogy. After Wonder Woman 1984, it seems unlikely that Steve Trevor will come back from the dead a second time, and to do so likely wouldn't play well with audiences. But so integral is the character to Diana's story, there remains a possibility that Chris Pine will appear in Wonder Woman 3 in some capacity. Here are the best ways Steve Trevor can make a DC comeback... again.
A Reward From The Gods
Before renouncing her wish and bidding Steve Trevor farewell for a second time, Diana laments how much she gives to the world as Wonder Woman, saving people, protecting the peace, and putting her life on the line without asking for anything in return. Although she's happy to be of service, Diana wonders why she can't just have one thing in return. Why must she be denied the man she loves after devoting her existence to the world?
Diana's wish could come to the fore in Wonder Woman 3 thanks to the Old Gods of the DCEU. As demonstrated by the Dreamstone, these Gods possess enough power to bring the dead back to life. Since the relic was constructed by the God of Lies, however, each wish was tainted, and the price proved great. After inevitably saving the world again in Wonder Woman 3, Diana may be visited by one of the Old Gods (perhaps even her father, Zeus) and granted a reward for dutifully protecting the Earth. Naturally, the only thing Diana would want is the permanent, no strings attached resurrection of Steve Trevor. Problematically, Zeus and his cohorts have been declared dead in the DCEU, killed by Ares in a bygone era. But when dealing with divine entities of such great power, anything is possible, and it wouldn't be beyond his power for Zeus to live on in secret, watching over his daughter.
Diana Brings Steve Back
If the Old Gods really are dead in the DCEU, Diana might be able to resurrect Steve Trevor herself, given a little time to hone her powers. In the original Wonder Woman movie, Diana harnessed the power of her bearded old man to defeat Ares, becoming the fabled God-killer in the process. Wonder Woman 1984 expands on Diana's divine abilities, revealing that the Amazonian princess has been training ever since, attempting to replicate more of Zeus' God-like abilities. Understandably, this doesn't happen overnight. By the 1980s, Diana has barely improved, but she has at least grasped Zeus' gift of invisibility, used previously to hide Themyscira from the outside world. Channeling her father's bloodline, Wonder Woman casts a cloak of concealment across Steve's stolen aircraft, riffing on the superhero's Invisible Plane in the comic books. If Diana continues to develop her demigod powers, her potential is limitless. With enough training, she might one day be able to breathe life into Steve Trevor without endangering herself or the world.
The DC Multiverse
The DCEU is set to become a decade-spanning multiverse in 2022's The Flash movie, which will unite Ezra Miller's Barry Allen with Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne from the Tim Burton Batman movies. With this pairing, Warner Bros. is sending a very clear message: every live-action DC franchise now falls under one giant multiverse umbrella, allowing characters from any TV or movie series to intersect as the studio sees fit. Inevitably, there will be further crossovers in future movies, but thr introduction of the multiverse also means that multiple versions of each character exist throughout the various Earths.
This development gives Chris Pine an easy route back into the franchise. The DCEU's Steve Trevor might be dead for good, but in another universe's 1918, he never landed on Themyscira and met Diana. In another, he survived the Great War and Diana was killed. Whatever the specifics might be, the multiverse mechanic means alternate versions of Steve Trevor are out there, and could make their way to the DCEU's section of the franchise. Whether Diana would accept another universe's Steve Trevor as "her Steve" is another matter entirely.
Visiting The Afterlife
After reuniting with Steve in Wonder Woman 1984 (and after the long-parted couple were finally able put each other down), Diana asked what Steve remembered of his final moments. While he recalled the fatal plane accident from the first Wonder Woman film, Steve couldn't quite remember what came after, but told Diana that there was something, and it was good, implying the existence of some kind of heavenly DCEU afterlife.
In Wonder Woman 1984, Steve visits Diana's world leaving the land of the dead for the bright lights of the 1980s. The exact opposite could occur in Wonder Woman 3, with Diana making a trip to the mysterious afterlife Steve spoke of, and finding her former lover to make more stolen memories together. Diana's demigod blood might be enough to explain her transcending between the worlds of the living and the dead, or her crossing over could connect to the Justice League Snyder cut's Knightmare sequence. In Snyder's apocalyptic future, it's suggested that Diana has been killed by Darkseid. Before the timeline is changed by the surviving Justice League members, maybe Diana and Steve enjoy some time together in the great beyond.
Flashbacks & Dream Sequences
Should resurrection, god powers, the afterlife and the wonders of the multiverse all fail Diana and Steve in Wonder Woman 3, there's always flashbacks and dream sequences to fall back on. It's almost inevitable that Chris Pine's image will feature in the third film via a photograph or footage from the previous installments, but Wonder Woman 3 could go further, recording new scenes between the fated lovers. Perhaps a flashback reveals previously unseen moments between Diana and Steve during their initial Themyscira meeting, or their daring World War I mission, adding more context to the relationship without breaking the laws of science. After all, Wonder Woman 1984 already makes effective use of flashbacks by harking back to Diana's childhood. Alternatively, Diana could take a beating from whatever villain she's facing in her third adventure and experience some kind of spiritual hallucination that allows her to converse with Steve Trevor - or at least a figment of her own imagination masquerading as Steve Trevor. This could present a compromise between including Chris Pine in Wonder Woman 3, and retaining some level of permanence for death in the DCEU.
