Wonder Woman is a 2018 live-action DC Comics based film directed by Matthew Vaughn, and is part of the Keith Stone Justice League Universe. The film stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Ryan Phillippe as Steve Trevor, and Christoph Waltz as Ares.
Cast[]
- Gal Gadot as Princess Diana of Themyscira/ Diana Prince/ Wonder Woman
- Ryan Phillippe as Steve Trevor
- Christoph Waltz as Ares
- Uma Thurman as Hippolyta
- Maggie Q as Dark Angel
- Kevin Bacon as Colonel Rick Flag
- Christina Hendricks as Artemis
- Patrick Wilson as Hades
- Bruce McGill as General Phil Darnell
- Hilarie Burton as Etta Candy
- Kyle MacLachlan as The President of the United States
Former Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter has a cameo at the beginning of the film as the goddess Hera. Mark Strong also has a brief cameo as Maxwell Lord, reprising his role from The Flash.
Plot[]
On the Amazon island of Themyscira, an army led by Ares, the god of war, attacks the queen Hippolyta and her army of women, including the fierce Artemis. After a fierce and intense battle, Hippolyta decides to execute Ares, but is stopped by the goddess Hera, who tells her that if Ares is executed, then Zeus will be angry at the Amazons and most likely retaliate. Hera instead proposes that Ares be imprisoned by Hippolyta, and in exchange for her cooperation, Hera will grant the Amazon women eternal youth and give Hippolyta a daughter. Hippolyta agrees, and orders Artemis to lock Ares up in a prison chamber on the island.
Twenty-five years later, the daughter given to Hippolyta by Hera has grown into a beautiful and strong woman named Diana. Diana has proven to be tougher than any woman on the island, even Artemis, but Hippolyta is still very protective of her and forbids her from visiting the outside world. Diana goes to her mother's chamber with Artemis, and vents her frustration about not being able to leave the island. While yelling, she hits a mirror which is actually a portal to the rest of the world. Artemis tells Diana that Hippolyta protects her because she does not want her to be broken by man, like she was long ago by Ares. Little do the two of them know that when Diana hit the portal open, a broken down fighter jet crash landed to avoid being killed. The pilot's name is Steve Trevor, and he makes his way out of the jet and looks for shelter.
Steve eventually finds his way onto the island, but gets distracted once he spots Diana and is stunned by her beauty. He is soon captured by Artemis and brought to Hippolyta for questioning. Hippolyta is confused as to why there is a man on the island, and asks him what he is doing there. He assures her that he means no harm and that he crash landed there by accident. After much consideration, Hippolyta decides that Steve is telling the truth, and orders Artemis to escort him back to Earth. Diana, however, is infatuated by Steve, as she has never met a man before.
Meanwhile, a mysterious woman is shown lurking the island, going unnoticed by everyone else. She enters the prison chamber and breaks Ares free. He asks her to show herself, and she lowers her hood to reveal herself as the Dark Angel, sent by Hades to free Ares from Themyscira. Just as Artemis is about to bring Steve back to Earth, one of the islanders notice that Ares has been broken free. Diana notices Dark Angel, and challenges her in a fight. After a while, Dark Angel gains the upper hand and prepares to kill Diana, but Artemis intervenes to rescue her. Artemis is soon savagely beat by Dark Angel, severely injuring her. Dark Angel and Ares are able to escape the island.
With Artemis injured, it becomes obvious that she will be unable to bring Steve back. Diana volunteers her services, and after a while and much hesitation, Hippolyta agrees to let her go, but tells her not to go after Dark Angel or Ares, that they will devise a plan to catch them both. She also gives Diana the sacred Amazonian battle armor to wear just in case of an emergency.
Diana and Steve make their way back to Steve's home in Washington D.C. However, Diana is fascinated by the society that she currently finds herself in, and tries to put off returning to Themyscira. She asks Steve to help her find Ares and Dark Angel, but he is hesitant and reminds her that her mother didn't want her to look for them. Diana becomes frustrated with Steve and uses her strength against him, and he eventually caves and agrees to help her, but tells her that if she plans on staying with the humans, then she should start acting like a human.
Steve and Diana go to the Pentagon, where Steve reports to his superior, Colonel Rick Flag, that he survived the plane crash. Flag is suspicious about Steve's story, as it contradicts the stories told by his fellow pilots. Flag then asks who the woman with him is, and Steve introduces her as "Diana Prince", and comes up with a story that she is visiting from Keystone City. Steve and Diana then go to the offices to search for potential leads on the location of Ares and Dark Angel, where they come across Etta Candy, a secretary who clearly is flirting with Steve. Diana is disgusted at Etta self-degrading herself like that, and makes a comment that clearly offends her. After Etta leaves, Diana asks why she was acting like such a damsel in distress, and Steve says that she was flirting. Diana asks if all human women are like that, and Steve sarcastically responds "only the fun ones." Diana does not appreciate his attempt at humor.
When Steve uses the government computers to try and track Ares, he finds reports of attacks in New York, Baltimore, and Bludhaven, and Diana claims that the attacks could only be by the hand of Ares, as no mortal could do that kind of damage. Steve agrees that the attacks are unlike anything that he has ever seen before. Meanwhile, Flag tracks what Steve and Diana were looking up, and is too intrigued by the mysterious attacks, and forwards the files to an address with the username "Black King", and adds a message reading "I think I've found the final piece of the puzzle."
Later that night, Steve and Diana are at a bar, where Diana is trying to figure out where Ares will attack next, and Steve is trying to show her a good time. After a while, Steve gets drunk and makes a move on Diana, which she physically rebuffs. Some onlookers think that Steve is trying to assault Diana, so they shove him away, which leads to a brawl. Diana joins in and humiliates the bar patrons by beating them all to a pulp, getting both her and Steve kicked out of the bar.
Outside of the bar, Diana is confused as to why the men came to her defense when Steve was obviously no match for her, and Steve tells her that women are helpless in the eyes of most men. Diana laughs at this statement, and says that she doubts any of those men will think that ever again. Steve accidentally bumps into a man on the sidewalk who Diana notices has the mark of Ares. She asks him where he got that mark, and he tells her that there was an old man and a hot chick who kept saying that they were gods and demanded to be told the location of "Infernus", an abandoned nightclub, so he told them where to go and then the man started saying some crazy stuff and branded him with his sign, which the citizen attributes to some kind of "black magic bullshit". Diana deduces that Infernus (latin for "Hades") leads to the gates of hell, where Ares will get Hades to unlock the bracers that remain around his wrists from Themyscira, which can only be removed by another god, thus giving Ares his full power, and possibly being able to destroy the entire world. Steve tells Diana where Infernus is, and she flies there, leaving Steve behind.
Ares and Dark Angel are then shown entering Infernus, where Dark Angel finds the portal to hell and prepares to open it, but Diana enters and prepares to fight them both. Dark Angel takes her on and proves to be the superior fighter, but Diana still holds her own and gives Dark Angel a run for her money, but is ultimately unsuccessful in preventing them from opening the portal. Before they enter, Dark Angel decides to kill Diana, but Steve arrives and begins firing his gun at Dark Angel, prompting her to leave Diana where she is and join Ares. Steve comes to Diana's aide, and she expresses her frustration at failing to stop them, as now Ares will have more power than anyone could ever imagine.
Ares and Dark Angel arrive in hell, where Hades is there waiting for them. Hades reveals to Ares that he sent Dark Angel to rescue him from the Amazons because he couldn't stand the thought of someone in his bloodline being imprisoned like an animal, and that he also needed his help. He tells Ares that he could have a chance to rule the humans simply through their rage, as they have the potential to be an even more violent race than the gods themselves, and Hades could feed off of their rage and become the most powerful god of all. He makes Ares promise that if Hades removes the bracers, then he'll use his power to start a war between the humans, thus increasing their rage. Ares agrees, and Hades removes the bracers from his wrists, thus giving Ares full power.
As Steve and Diana make their way back to his apartment, Diana asks Steve why he would come back to save her when he could have died. He tells her that a soldier never leaves a man behind, and she is clearly disappointed by his answer, but he clearly cares for her and is just too stubborn to admit it. Meanwhile, Flagg is shown in his office, where he gets a reply from "Black King", who says, "Whatever it is, find it. We need it."
Ares disguises himself as a civilian and makes his way into the Pentagon, where he uses his powers to make it appear as though there is an incoming threat from the area that Themyscira is located at. General Phil Darnell alerts the President, who is manipulated by Ares's power and tells the general to fire a missile at the area. Steve gets an order to fly a jet in the air attack against the island, and tells Diana about it. Diana decides that she must get to the island and warn the Amazon women. Steve tells her not to go, as it is too dangerous, but she repeats what he said before, that a soldier never leaves a man behind. He tells her that he'll hold off the attack for as long as he can, but ultimately he won't be able to stop it. Diana tells him that Ares must be behind this, and that after warning the Amazons, she will stop him.
Diana goes back to Themyscira, and tells Hippolyta, Artemis, and the other women that an attack from the humans is coming because of Ares. Hippolyta is upset with her daughter for not following orders and returning as soon as Steve was back home, but she tells them that none of that matters now, and that Ares needs to be stopped before he feeds off of the rage of the humans once they attack the island.
Steve reports to the Air Force base to recieve instructions for the mission from Colonel Flag, telling all of the pilots to attack the island just off the coast of Greece, and the American government has proof that they are a threat to America. Steve is clearly hesitant to get into his plane, but gets in nevertheless as he has orders. Diana returns back to DC, where she gets the sacred Amazonian armor given to her before she left the island, and puts it on and leaves to face Ares.
Diana flies over to the Ares's location, near the capital building. Dark Angel appears and prepares to fight Diana. Ares then calls the souls from the underworld thanks to Hades, giving him an army and putting Diana at a severe disadvantage. However, Hippolyta, Artemis, and several other women from Themyscira arrive to fight the souls while Diana goes after Dark Angel. A huge battle ensues, catching the attention of Flagg and Darnell, leaving them stunned at what they are seeing.
After a long and intense battle, Diana is able to defeat Dark Angel, and goes after Ares, whose power continues to grow due to the rage. Ares starts off with the upper hand, as Diana is no match for his godlike powers. Meanwhile, Steve continues trying to stall the other pilots before they fire at the island, but is unable to stall any longer and one of the jets fires a missile at the island. Steve listens to his gut and destroys the missile before it reaches the island, incurring the wrath of the other pilots, and Flag once word gets back to him.
As Ares continues to savagely beat Diana, she musters up her strength and attacks back. He laughs at her for thinking that she can beat him, but Artemis soon tosses a staff to Diana while she is in midair, and she stabs Ares through the neck, killing him. Ares's death causes the president to come back to his senses, and he calls off the attack on the island immediately. The decrease in rage causes Hades to lose much strength, and the army of souls return to the underworld.
Once the pilots return, Steve is pardoned by the president and left unpunished for going against orders. Flagg goes to see Ares's body be retrieved by authorities, and he looks to the sky as if he is wondering what other forms of life can exist. Diana says goodbye to Steve before she goes back to Themyscira, and he confesses that he saved her life because he cares about her, not because it was a soldier's duty. Diana kisses Steve and then returns home.
Back on Themyscira, Hippolyta can see that Diana is sad because she misses Steve, and Artemis convinces her that she cannot protect Diana from the outside world, but that Diana can protect the outside world with her gifts and her heart. Hippolyta then gives Diana permission to return to Washington DC, under the condition that she uses her abilities to protect the humans from any kind of threat. Diana happily agrees and surprises Steve when she returns, deciding to continue using her alias "Diana Prince".
During the end credits, Flag goes to a mysterious office to meet with Black King, who is revealed to be Maxwell Lord. Lord tells Flag that Waller is very disappointed that Flagg was unable to bring them the god, and asks about the woman who people are now calling "Wonder Woman". Flag tells Lord that she could be just as dangerous to Checkmate as the alien. Lord then tells Flagg that he is going to Central City to see Dr. Ira West, who has a formula that can excel human DNA, which could prove to be a nice supplement to Checkmate's newest operation.
The End