WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984, in theaters and on HBO Max now.
Wonder Woman 1984 has Diana of Themyscira battling two of her long-time comic book antagonists, Cheetah and Maxwell Lord. While most people connect Wonder Woman with Cheetah, her relationship with Lord results in one of her most infamous moments from the comics.
Towards the end of 1984, Wonder Woman confronts Lord as he broadcasts to the entire world that he can grant everyone their wishes, which would make him all powerful. Diana pleads with him to stop his evil plan, but he says he'll never stop, and this moment feels reminiscent of DC's 2005 "Sacrifice" storyline; however, that ends differently.
In Wonder Woman #219, written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Tom Derenick, Georges Jeanty, Karl Kerschl, David Lopez and Rags Morales, the "Sacrifice" is a four-part tale and features Lord mind-controlling Superman. Here, Lord is not the television shyster Diana fights in the movie; instead he's a dangerous soldier and businessman, and he's all the more dangerous with Superman at his side.
Wonder Woman realizes Lord has control of Superman, and with that power, he could do anything he wanted, including conquering the planet. It is very similar to how Diana finds Lord in 1984, with the antagonist powered up by the Dreamstone and having the word eating out of the palm of his hand. Comic Wonder Woman does manage to get her lasso of truth around Lord, and she asks how to free Superman from his control; however, the only way to do so is to kill Lord, which is exactly what Diana does, snapping his neck.
While 1984's Wonder Woman also gets her lasso around Lord, things take a different turn. Here she asks Lord to stop because he's destroying the world, but he says he never will. While he says this, Diana has faith in humanity, so she tries to convince the world not to let its greed and anger destroy everything. Even Lord sees the error of his ways, renouncing his wish for the sake of his son.
She could have snapped Lord's neck and killed him, ending the threat by destroying the person that housed the Dreamstone's power. It would have been the same ending that the DC Extended Universe took with Man of Steel, where Superman snapped General Zod's neck; however, in 1984 Diana proves she is one of the purest and greatest superhero in the world, something her comic counterpart is uncertain of after "Sacrifice."
In the comics, Diana feels guilty after killing Lord, and the murder cost her Superman and Batman's friendship at the time. However, in 1984, the film does not repeat the mistakes of the comics. Something like this would've destroyed everything Diana stands for in the DCEU. Wonder Woman is a hero who will stop fighting the villains to save children, and she's someone who sees the value in all life. By having her not kill Lord, she continues to be one of the greatest heroes in DC canon.
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 available in theaters and on HBO Max.