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Why Diana Doesn't Have A Sword Or Shield in Wonder Woman 1984
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This post contains SPOILERS for Wonder Woman 1984
In Wonder Woman 1984, the latest addition to the DC Extended Universe, the filmmakers purposefully chose not to have any characters die. The film was recently released on Christmas Day in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously with Warner Bros. hoping to avoid Wonder Woman 1984 becoming stale if released in 2021. Though it is currently being met with mixed reviews, the film has become the current box office leader during the pandemic, surpassing both The Croods: A New Age and Tenet.
Those who enjoyed Wonder Woman 1984 believe it was the ideal antidote for 2020, undoubtedly one of the darkest years in history. The film conveys a message of love and hope, which is in line with Wonder Woman's core beliefs and values. In contrast from the original Wonder Woman, which ended with a massive battle against Ares, Wonder Woman 1984 sees Diana save the world by appealing to the best of humanity through compassion and understanding, giving everyone a chance at redemption. While the film still has plenty of action, it was an intentional choice to downplay violence, as notably no characters die.
In an interview with JoBlo, Jenkins and Gadot wanted to make a film that didn’t prioritize superhero violence, stating how it was a purposeful choice not to have any characters actually die during the film:
Gadot:
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“This is part of the reason why we decided that she shouldn’t have a sword or a shield. Diana is not aggressive. She’s not there to fight. She’s a peacemaker. She also has the higher understanding that people are not bad per se, you know? Continuation to what Patty just mentioned, we’re all the same, we all have our moments where we don’t do the right thing in order to fill this hole. She assumes the best out of people, and her default is always to protect them and she leads by example. For her, humankind, they’ll get it, they’ll understand it eventually, but she will always do and give whatever she has in order to bring goodness to humankind.”
Jenkins:
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“And not one person dies in the whole movie. You may or may not notice, but we went out of our way, because if all these people were under the power of something else, then it’s not their fault. I loved dealing with that. It’s not their fault that they’re attacking you, so it became hilariously entertaining…”
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It becomes evident quite early on in the blockbuster that nobody was going to die in this film when Wonder Woman stops a jewelry store heist, throwing the thieves around and around inside the mall with her Lasso of Truth, constantly catching them before they smack into something. But killing some thieves might seem cruel to do, especially so early on in the film, so the filmmakers double down on this idea when Diana’s chasing after the main villain, Pedro Pascal’s Max Lord. Lord has insulated himself with soldiers and even though they attempt to shoot and crush Diana, she stops their vehicles or knocks them out. During one instance, she rips the steering wheel out of an armored vehicle and tells the driver, “The brakes still work.”
By having one of the main characters of the DC Extended Universe not kill anyone for the entirety of the film, it shows how restrained and protective she is, even when placed in her enemy’s crosshairs. Wonder Woman, like most other heroes, is meant to save and protect those who cannot do it themselves, but if she was constantly killing everyone that stood in her way or who decided to do a petty crime, she wouldn’t be much of a defender. Even with the filmmakers making this decision, the action sequences are still well-developed and at times jaw-dropping, never taking away from the content but instead giving them a creative way to show how Diana Price will solve the issue at hand.
