WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984, in theaters and on HBO Max now.

Wonder Woman 1984 is in large part influenced by the time it's set in. While the year lends itself to the movie's name, it also influences plenty of other parts of the movie, from fashion to world politics to larger themes. The film is set in the height of the Cold War, but also tries to be relevant to our current political landscape. Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord is a thinly-veiled stand-in for Donald Trump, and the movie's overall message is about how the way the world is is more important than the way you want it to be. That's a powerful message, especially in a world of "fake news" and increasing uncertainty over how important the truth really is.

The Cold War stands as a stark backdrop for that message, a time where propaganda from both sides combined with nationalism to push the world to the forefront of nuclear annihilation. Diana even confronts that prospect head-on, very narrowly averting nuclear war as she convinces the world to step back from the brink of destruction. But after that, she vanishes, only stepping in when the world is threatened by a supernatural menace. So, if the role of Wonder Woman is to protect the world, why can't Diana try to end the Cold War altogether and convince both sides to disarm their weapons?

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Superheroes fight crime. That's a staple of their identity, from Superman in Action Comics #1 to Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15. Some would become embroiled in World War II when it took place, but for the large part, superhumans don't deign to involve themselves in the larger politics of human affairs. Of course, superheroes aren't real, meaning the larger conundrum is why they're not written as doing anything more.

The answer is tied into one of the strangest parts of comics themselves. In other narrative mediums, we might expect to see things change and shift over time, but comics are a format where stagnation is the standard. Peter Parker has undergone nearly six decades' worth of adventures since 1962 but has come out hardly any worse for wear. The same can be said for Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and the Hulk. Few superheroes are allowed to age or die, and even then, death in comics is a revolving door.

If superheroes were allowed to affect real change in the world around them, they'd have to get somewhere eventually. Fighting crime is taken as a ceaseless challenge that will always be there, a Sisyphean struggle that will never end. There will always be more supervillains to fight, as they too never age or change. Any new invention is incorporated into the unceasing tapestry, which grows outward but never forward. That's what makes superhero stories true modern myths. They're stories that we tell time and time again, refracted and reflected through the lens of modern context.

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Tony Stark Snap Endgame

And now, superhero movies might run up against the same problem. 2008's Iron Man brought with it a modern renaissance for the superhero film, one that embraced the idea of a shared universe. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has managed to skirt around the edges, only recently sunsetting both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Live-action actors set a clock on the number of stories that can be told with the same characters, as actors grow older and demand higher and higher amounts of pay. But both the MCU and the DC Extended Universe still seem to flinch at the idea of changing their societies in response to the presence of superheroes. 2018's Black Panther came the closest, with real change coming to the policies of the fictional Wakanda.

Having real change come to the United States or the rest of the world would invite the viewer to ask why those changes can't happen in the real world. Superhero movies are aspirational, but only ever on the personal level. Wonder Woman 1984 emphasizes the importance of truth but invites change from each individual person. It does not question the status quo that led to the Cold War, nor does it attempt to resolve any of the world's other ills. And maybe that's too much to ask from a superhero movie. Unfortunately, superheroes have remained the same for almost a hundred years, and the world has outpaced them.

Directed and co-written by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman 1984 stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal and Natasha Rothwell. The film is now in theaters and on HBO Max.

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