And if Diana has to face not one formidable villain but two, doesn’t a demigoddess deserve a little backup? Pine’s Steve Trevor will be returning, though there is not a Lasso of Truth on this planet that will get anyone in the cast or crew to reveal exactly how. Just know that her fighter-pilot paramour has somehow made the journey through space and time to find himself by her side once again — and if he has to strap on a fanny pack to do it, well, that’s just what a real man does. “In the first movie, I played the world-weary soldier who has seen all the depravity that humankind is capable of displaying,” says the Outlaw King star, 39. “And in this one I get to be much more wide-eyed and joyful. My role is really just as a friend, lover, boyfriend-cum-bodyguard who’s trying his best to help Diana on her mission. I’m like the Watson to her Holmes.”
Though there’s much more than tweedy repartee in the playful romantic chemistry between Pine and Gadot that marked the first film, and set it apart from so many of its action-focused peers. That connection — and the easy, equal give-and-take of their onscreen banter — is owed at least in part to plain luck: “There was no chemistry test!” says Gadot. “Honestly, we just had it…. And where other men could be intimidated by the fact that they’re not, you know, the hero hero that men usually are, with Chris he enjoys it, and it challenges him in a way that is so much fun and so funny.”
That, says Jenkins, is exactly why she chose him: “He’s not beta at all. He’s a super alpha who can absolutely wear his discomfort on his sleeve. So, from day one, I was always saying that it should almost be like Wonder Woman meets Indiana Jones, where Indiana would never be emasculated. Chris just very naturally has that quality. You can tell by meeting him that he’s warm and he’s chill and he truly appreciates women.”
Pine appreciates, too, that the movie’s take on romance isn’t exactly typical of the genre. “I think sometimes superhero films may feel they have to fit in a love story just to tick that box,” he says. “Whereas in this, it’s part and parcel of the spine of the lead character. And that is Wonder Woman — she leads with love and compassion and protectiveness, and these qualities that I think are nurtured by a good strong relationship.”
Against all the odds, some part of them still held on to each other, still remembered each other… They promised that they would never let go. And they didn’t. *sobs*
