Chris Pine Has Known For Years That He’d Be Back For Wonder Woman 1984

It came as quite a surprise to see Chris Pine wandering around the set of Wonder Woman 1984, not just because his character hasn’t aged since the World War I events of last year’s Wonder Woman, but also because Steve Trevor seemed very much dead at the end of the movie.

The actor himself, however, had known for a while that he’d be returning, telling BBC Radio 1 that director Patty Jenkins brought up the idea halfway through filming Diana’s first standalone flick:

“She, Patty had told me her idea somewhere in the middle of the first one and…when Patty gets an idea it’s a pretty powerful thing because you can see the kernel land in the dirt and then all of a sudden it just starts growing and becoming a tree you know, and she could make you do anything. That happened with a TV show we did and she just fully formed, and then she acts out every part.”

Presumably, Pine is referring to the Jenkins-helmed TV series I Am the Night, which despite its Batman-esque title, is an unrelated drama starring Pine that’s set to air this coming January.

Anyway, the actor went on to offer an example of Jenkins’ persuasive ways when he admitted that he didn’t even want to do the first Wonder Woman before she talked him into it.

“I mean when she pitched me Wonder Woman there’s not a chance that I wanted to do Wonder Woman,” Pine said. “First all it’s not about me (points to himself). It’s not Wonder Man, but we met at this restaurant and she just, there was no script and dishes pitched the story and I was like ‘yes! All day yes. When do you want me to start?’ And that’s the joy and beauty of Patty.”

Evidently, Jenkins has also found a way of convincing Pine to return for 1984, leaving the fans to spend the next year-and-a-half wondering what sorcery could’ve brought back Diana’s old love interest. And since the character has a habit of dying and reappearing in the comics, the source material provides fans with plenty of inspiration for their theories.

One potential source of awkwardness for this return is the fact that it was never alluded to in last year’s Justice League, despite Steve himself being brought up in the dialogue and Jenkins apparently planning this twist in advance. Still, after that film proved a flop at the box office and wasn’t exactly embraced by most viewers either, it’s unlikely that audiences will be too fussed about Wonder Woman 1984 staying true to the continuity of the wider DCEU when it hits theaters on June 5th, 2020.