Should Wonder Woman fans be worried about the sequel?

With Wonder Woman 1984’s setting, the sequel is taking an abrupt turn away from the original’s 1910 wartime backdrop.

Even though it may be ill-advised to scrutinize a movie that has yet to be released, the following analysis is based on the already apparent direction that Wonder Woman 1984 is taking.

After Wonder Woman focused on the titular hero first training to be a warrior and then facing war head-on, the sequel drops the future Justice League member into the 1980s. Are the filmmakers abandoning what made the first movie and the character great? Sure, good sequels should not simply regurgitate the events of its predecessor with slight differences, but Wonder Woman 1984’s time period seems to be drastically modifying the look and feel of the series.

Even though a large part of the first movie is set in the fantastical island of Themyscira, those sections, and especially the Great War environments, are relatively grounded. War was practically omnipresent, as the Amazonians are always combat ready and then Diana takes the battle right to the enemy, showcased in an unforgettable No Man’s Land sequence. Even the best scene in Justice League takes place on Themyscira, as Wonder Woman’s people desperately attempt to keep the Mother Box away from evil forces.

Based on the new Wonder Woman 1984 trailer, Patty Jenkins is altering the tone of the sequel. Even the stylized techno-colored lettering used in marketing this post-disco era suggests the time period will play a big part in the movie’s aesthetic. To go from a world war to the decade of questionable music, hair, and clothes is, well, a questionable decision. While Taika Waititi lightened the tone and cranked up the music for the third Thor feature, that move successfully revitalized a franchise whose second film was the only not-so-great movie in a 20-film universe.

On the other hand, Patty Jenkins is taking the best film in the deficient DCEU and putting its characters in a movie that, so far, is not particularly recognizable. Could this be a genius maneuver, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, or could it cause the DCEU to unravel into oblivion? As mentioned earlier, Jenkins seems to be merely altering the tone, not wholly changing it. Despite Wonder Woman taking down bad guys in a brightly lit mall, there are signs that the sequel’s makeup will still align with the original: the thumping bass, realistic-looking threats, and a lot of serious gazing.