The Big Picture · Review · Discussion · Interview

'Wonder Woman 1984' Is Here, on HBO Max. Plus: Paul Greengrass!

December 25, 2020/ 85 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins

Wonder Woman 1984 lands at home on HBO Max for Christmas, day and date with a small theatrical run. Sean and Amanda dig into Patty Jenkins's sequel, the DC slate's continuity problems, and the streaming-vs-theatrical fight around it. Then Sean talks to Paul Greengrass about News of the World, his change-of-pace Western with Tom Hanks.

23 films across 4 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Wonder Woman 1984full spoilers

Wonder Woman 1984 2020

Patty Jenkins's sequel, with Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, and Pedro Pascal. Both hosts liked the first hour a lot and lose patience once the Dreamstone plot and the Cheetah showdown take over; Amanda says she'd have been happy if it ended at two hours. Jenkins's line about wanting a superhero movie where 'nobody dies, and she wins in the end with a conversation' gets some credit, even though the ending still turns on stopping a nuclear apocalypse. 155 minutes, released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.

Wonder Woman 2017

The original, also Jenkins/Gadot/Pine. Amanda's a big fan of it; both agree it mattered for putting a female superhero at the center of a blockbuster, chemistry between Gadot and Pine included.

Superman 1978

Richard Donner's film comes up as the reference point for WW84's tone, especially the fireworks flying scene, which Sean says immediately recalls Lois Lane's first flight with Superman.

Aquaman 2018

Cited as the only other DC movie with the same lighter, weirder energy Sean says sets the Wonder Woman films apart from the rest of the DCEU.

Commando 1985

Amanda's comparison for the opening mall sequence, all the crime happening inside one shopping center.

Police Story 1985

Sean's other reference point for the mall set piece, Jackie Chan's film.

The DC slate problemSuicide Squad, twice

Suicide Squad 2016

David Ayer's film, brought up as the thing Warner Bros. is essentially redoing with James Gunn. Sean says the studio chopped up Ayer's original cut.

The Suicide Squad 2021

James Gunn's version, arriving five years after the first, with some cast members returning (including Viola Davis) and others replaced. Both hosts find the near-identical titles genuinely confusing.

The Batman 2022

Matt Reeves's next DC movie, mentioned in the upcoming slate. Sean is excited, cites the trailer, and says he's seen enough Batman movies to be genuinely looking forward to this one.

The Flash 2023

Named in the 2022 DC slate as the Ezra Miller solo film.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 2023

Referred to on the show simply as 'Aquaman 2,' part of the upcoming slate Sean runs down.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods 2023

Referred to on the show as 'Shazam 2,' also part of that slate.

Batman & Robin 1997

Comes up as the prior example of DC's continuity whiplash: George Clooney playing Batman for one movie amid constant director and vision changes.

Christmas at homethe streaming math

Tenet 2020

Its $20 million opening weekend back in September is the box-office bar nothing else has cleared since, in the hosts' running tally of pandemic-era grosses.

The Croods: A New Age 2020

Its $9.7 million Thanksgiving opening is the other data point, and Sean notes it topped Tenet in PVOD rentals over Christmas weekend.

Soul 2020

Pixar's Christmas Day Disney+ release, competing with WW84 for family attention. Amanda cried watching it and calls it one of her favorites of the year, and they table a fuller discussion for the new year.

Promising Young Woman 2020

Opening in theaters the same day; Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell had already been on the show to discuss it.

News of the World 2020

The other theatrical release that day, which sets up the back half of the episode: Sean's interview with director Paul Greengrass.

News of the World

Paul Greengrass on

News of the World 2020

Greengrass's Western with Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel, adapted from Paulette Jiles's novel. He describes wanting a slower, more classical film after 22 July, and calls the mountain shootout sequence, shot after a two-hour rope climb to the location, the hardest logistical stretch of the shoot. Shot with cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, released by Universal day-and-date in theaters and (eventually) on demand.

Paul Greengrass on

The Searchers 1956

The only film Greengrass rewatched while prepping, John Ford's Western, whose influence he says he felt on set.

Paul Greengrass on

Captain Phillips 2013

His previous collaboration with Tom Hanks, brought up as the last time the two worked together.

Paul Greengrass on

Bloody Sunday 2002

Greengrass's own dramatization of the 1972 Derry massacre. Sean's intro calls it 'Sunday, Bloody Sunday,' but the context (Greengrass's own filmography, alongside the Bourne films and Captain Phillips) makes clear this is the film meant, not John Schlesinger's 1971 film of that near-identical title.

Paul Greengrass on

22 July 2018

Greengrass's previous film, about the 2011 Norway terror attacks, which he says left him wanting to make something about 'the road to a better place' next.

Also mentioned raised along the way

In passing X-Men: Days of Future Past Triple Frontier Rogue Squadron

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV WandaVisionHis Dark MaterialsThe MandalorianGame of ThronesFive Came Back

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