Wonder Woman 1984 Updates: When Barbara Minerva makes her final transformation into Cheetah, the single-wish-per-person stakes of Wonder Woman 1984 are called into question.
Wishes are at the core of Wonder Woman 1984, but she cracks the guiding logic of the Dreamstone and creates a plot hole as Barbara Minerva wishes to become Cheetah.
Diana fits against Max Lord and a Monkey’s Paw wish-granting artifact in the new installment of the mighty heroine’s film series. She’s overcome by lust as Barbara navigates this conflict, using wishes to turn herself into an apex predator.
But the wish goes against the single-wish laws of the stone, bringing into question not just its boundaries, but the film’s own stakes.
Characters wish on the Dreamstone over the course of Wonder Woman 1984, having their heart’s wishes but at a horrific cost.
Diana wishes Steve Trevor for her lost love, Barbara wants Diana to be visible and powerful, and Max Lord wants to become the Dreamstone itself, kicking the story into motion.
The universe is plunged into confusion as more and more people use the Lord to fulfill their wishes, or worse, as the Lord uses the wishes of people to accomplish his ambitious plot. It is only in the final confrontation that peace is returned when Diana implores humans to renounce their impulses.
Wonder Woman 1984 Max Lord’s Plan
The Dreamstone, though, is not a simple wish-granting factory: it ostensibly meets certain laws of the universe. The stone only gives one wish per customer, when having direct contact with the stone, the wish must be said out loud, and the stone determines what it takes in return for granting your wish, similar to the popular short story “The Monkey’s Paw.”
In exchange for her kindness, Barbara, among the first in the film to make a wish on screen, acquires Diana’s power and allure. But she makes a second appeal later, having united with Dreamstone-Max: she wishes to become an apex predator.
And then, after having already used her wish in Act I, she becomes a Cheetah in Act III. She violates rule number one of the organizational logic of the Dreamstone by doing so.
Critics also referred to Barbara having a second wish as one of the main issues of the film, as it not only creates a Wonder Woman 1984 plot hole but also destroys the stakes of the film.
Earlier in the film, Lord enlists the aid of an employee to get an audience with the President, but he is unsuccessful when he learns that the wish of the employee has already been spent on a Ferrari days earlier.
However, the scene of the Lord with his son Alistair is of greater importance. The fraught father-son bond redeems the Lord as a well-intentioned villain. Everything he does to achieve power amounts to his desire to have a good future for his son.
Critics also referred to Barbara having a second wish as one of the main issues of the film, as it not only creates a Wonder Woman 1984 plot hole but also destroys the stakes of the film. Earlier in the film, Lord enlists the aid of an employee to get an audience with the President, but he is unsuccessful when he learns that the wish of the employee has already been spent on a Ferrari days earlier.
However, the scene of the Lord with his son Alistair is of greater importance. The fraught father-son bond redeems the Lord as a well-intentioned villain. Everything he does to achieve power amounts to his desire to have a good future for his son.
Can the Lord modify the terms? After all, he is the physical Dreamstone itself. This would indicate that he sets the terms himself, like the Dreamstone.
So why, then, wouldn’t he be able to do the same for Reagan’s audience, or for his beloved son? The intention of the Lord to become the Dreamstone may have reset the wish-counter of the stone, beginning the wish record of everyone again just as the stone in the form of Max is remade anew.
It’s also likely that Max Lord used a loophole that allowed him to advance what he took in return for Barbara’s wish. It fulfills its promise of an entertaining, wild, and optimistic film fitting for these troubled times, even with this plot hole.
