Despite being killed off after making a heroic sacrifice at the end of Wonder Woman, Chris Pine returned for sequel 1984 under circumstances that remained shrouded in mystery until the blockbuster DCEU movie came to theaters and HBO Max in December 2020, and it would be an understatement to say the plot device used to resurrect Steve Trevor turned out to be divisive.
Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince effectively hijacked the body of an innocent person in order to spend more time with the man she loved, leading to all sorts of horrifying hypotheticals about this poor fellow being trapped within the recesses of his own subconscious, unable to do anything about a long-deceased pilot using his physical form.
Director Patty Jenkins tried to play down the wave of backlash that swept over the polarizing plot point, but it was just one of many issues audiences had with Wonder Woman 1984. A third installment was fast-tracked into development shortly afterwards, though, and with Rogue Squadron on the back burner, it could be next up for the filmmaker.
However, it doesn’t sound as if we should expect Steve to return once again, with Pine seeking to pour cold water on the speculation during an interview with USA Today.
“I think poor Steve is dead, but I wish them all the best on the third one.”
Of course, nobody really dies and stays dead in the comic book genre except Batman’s parents and Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben, so it would hardly go down in the history books as a shocker were Pine to show up in Wonder Woman 3.
