Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins defends Chris Pine’s return

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

WARNING! THIS FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR WONDER WOMAN 1984. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

Wonder Woman 1984 has seen its fair share of polarizing criticism since its release on Christmas day but one aspect of the film's plot that has really been problematic for some is how the return of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) is handled. If you recall, Steve seemingly died in 2017's Wonder Woman but he does make a return in the sequel. The issue at hand is that it's done so in a way that becomes a tad bit creepy if you really start to think about it. Director Patty Jenkins has now given a short response to a fan's tweet about his return but it seems like she's laughing it off and not taking it too seriously.

In Wonder Woman 1984, Diana (Gal Gadot) uses a magic wish stone to bring back her deceased lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). The problematic part about his return is that he's brought back to life in the body of a random stranger (Kristoffer Polaha). The audience kind of forgets this because after establishing that a "body swap" did indeed take place, Chris Pine assumes the role of resurrected Steve and we don't see the stranger's face again until an awkward moment at the end of the film. This particular plot point has rubbed some viewers of the film the wrong way because the two characters have sex and as much as they want us to buy into the fact that this is Chris Pine's Steve Trevor, the hard truth is that this is a body of a stranger who has been infused with Steve's consciousness. Imagine if these roles were reversed. Let's say Superman lost Lois Lane and her consciousness was put into the body of a random stranger. There would likely be a huge uproar that Superman had sex with this particular woman, who wasn't a willing participant. 

A fan tried to defend the "body swap" by suggesting that it doesn't really matter that Diana sleeps with Steve while he's in the body of an oblivious participant because it all gets erased when Diana takes back her wish. While Jenkins didn't go into full detail with her response to the tweet, she did seem to laughingly agree with the fan's defense of the swap. You can check out the tweet below:

I don't want to look too deep into their decision to handle his return this way but the more it sits with you, the more problematic it becomes. Again, I address if the gender roles were reversed, I feel like the film would come under much more fire for doing this than it already has and they might call Patty Jenkins to task for it. I admit I even was distracted by the impeccable chemistry of Gal Gadot and Chris Pine and simply enjoyed watching them on screen together again but it really doesn't sit well with me the more time I have to think about it. I understand the desire to want to bring Chris Pine back for the sequel but it seems like another option could've possible by explored.

What are YOUR thoughts on the Wonder Woman 1984 body swap?