Wonder Woman 1984

Having been in love with cinema ever since I was a kid, DC superhero films are
undoubtedly amongst the films I grew up with. I was thrilled when they came back to the big
screen in the mid-2000s with a whole new standard, which started with Christopher Nolan’s
Batman Begins (2005). Thus, in 2020 where movie theatres had nearly no activity, the release
of Wonder Woman 1984 had lit me up again.

Not only does WW84 serve as a ray of light in the gloomy year of movie theatres, but
it also means as a standout in the superhero genre. It gives us a fresh insight on the
characterization of a superhero, on how humane a superhero could actually be. And, most
importantly, WW84 is also a good example on how filmmakers would take on a female-lead
superhero film along with her characterization.

The Long-Waited Female-Lead Superhero Film

Superhero films had existed since the late 1930s with serial films like Flash Gordon
(1936), Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), and the full-length Batman: The Movie (1966)
based on the famous 1960s TV show, Batman, starring Adam West as the caped crusader.
However, it’s not until Richard Donner made Superman in 1978 that superhero truly became
a standalone, massive hit genre. Superman became the grandfather of superhero genre that it
inspired filmmakers to start to put serious effort in making superhero films, as their fans
began to grow in numbers up until now.

Later on, superhero films began to spread

I remember writing about Marvel’s Ant-man on 2015, blabbering a bit on how the
genre ‘superhero’ sometime becomes a particular genre some people use as an excuse to
forgive the mediocrity that a film of said genre has. Back then, I was wondering if I could see
another fresh and well-crafted superhero films that are able to be a standout in the genre, e.g.
The Dark Knight trilogy and Guardians of the Galaxy. Two years later I was happy to have
Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman (2017)