Chris Pine's character Steve Trevor is back in Wonder Woman 1984 to help Diana Prince take on the villains Max Lord and Cheetah. The sequel, which drops on HBO Max on Christmas Day, has mostly been met with positive reviews.
While much is known about Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman, there is still much mystery surrounding her love interest and sidekick Steve Trevor. This is mostly because he wasn't such a well-known DC character prior to the 2017 film, which leads fans to have questions about the character.
Wonder Woman 1984 is set 66 years after Steve's death. As viewers might recall, he died after he flew the jet carrying Doctor Isabel Maru’s poison to a safe space and detonated it. DC fans might also recall that the scene is similar to how Batman saved Gotham in The Dark Knight Rises.
Yet Steve is back in Wonder Woman 1984 thanks to a magical historical artifact called the Dream Stone; the artifact has the ability to grant anyone their wish. When Diana casually wishes that Steve was still alive, he reappears.
Just like Diana, Steve has appeared in several animated DC movies. He also appeared in Lynda Cartner's live-action Wonder Woman series where he was played by Lyle Waggoner. However, his first appearance in a DCEU movie was in 2017's Wonder Woman. However, his presence was felt in two other movies.
In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Steve (Chris Pine) is seen standing alongside Wonder Woman in a photo taken in 1918. He is also mentioned in Justice League during a conversation between Diana and Bruce Wayne. Chris Pine signed a multi-picture deal, so expect Steve to be back for a couple of more movies.
Steve does not have any special superpowers. His abilities are those associated with his military training. He is an expert combatant as he managed to beat General Ludendorff's spies when they ambushed him.
He is also an expert pilot. In the first installment, he managed to avoid German air attacks with ease; there is also a line in the sequel that confirms how good a pilot he is. Steve is an expert sailor, too, seeing as he revealed this information to Diana in the first movie. His other notable skill is espionage.
Steve has been spotted with three different kinds of weapons during his time in the DCEU. He had the German Mauser C96 in the first movie since he was pretending to be a German military officer. He used the gun on the battlefield.
He also took a Mauser Gewehr 1898 rifle from a German soldier. He was found with it on Themyscira where he used it to shoot Antiope's killer. His service weapon was a Winchester 1897 which he used in the Battle of Veld and while reclaiming a German village that had been occupied by Ludendorff's men. Lastly, he drew a Colt M1911 while confronting Diana.
We mentioned earlier that Steve's presence is felt in two other DCEU movies. Well, here's how he is how the connection comes. After saving a Belgian village with Diana in the first movie, a local took a photo of them.
Decades after Steve's death, the photo was discovered by Lex Luthor. He then compiled it into footage that showed all of the earth's superheroes. The photo was later recovered by Bruce Wayne who returned it to Diana. This means there might be a number of people in the DCEU who know about Steve.
Unfortunately, players can't play him. Steve Trevor appears in Injustice 2 as part of the game's storyline but he isn't a playable character. However, the game has 28 playable characters that include popular DC faces like Wonder Woman, Superman, Black Adam, Barry Allen, the Joker, and Aquaman.
The DC game developed by NetherRealm Studios is a sequel to 2013's Injustice: Gods Among Us. The game was released in 2017. Injustice 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One.
Even though he only made his first movie appearance recently, Steve Trevor has been around for a very long time. His first appearance was in All Star Comics #8, which was released in January 1942.
The eight-page comic book marked the first appearance of Wonder Woman. It was included as an insert in other popular comic books and was only meant to test reader interest in a female superhero. When the fan response was positive, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor were made recurring characters.
Since there are many parallels between DC and Marvel, it makes sense to assume that there is a character similar to Steve Trevor. With that in mind, Steve Rogers aka Captain America is the likely candidate.
Both characters were introduced during a world war. Both characters also served in the military and were called "Steve." Interestingly, in live-action, both characters are played by actors named "Chris." (Chris Pine and Chris Evans). Since Steve Rogers was first introduced first (in April 1941) Steve Trevor is the likely copycat.
In the comics, Steve meets Diana during World War II. In the 2017 movie, he meets her during World War I, but everything else is pretty much the same. There is a good reason for the change, according to screenwriter Allan Heinberg.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: "World War I was the first time that civilization as we know it was finding its roots, but it's not something that we really know the history of. In this world, there are questions about women's rights, about a mechanized war where you don't see who you are killing. It's such an interesting time."
Actors Alexander Skarsgård and Liam Hemsworth were also considered for the role of Steve Trevor. Interestingly, both actors have brothers who are part of the MCU. The role eventually went to Chris Pine, who has also worked with director Patty Jenkins in a few other productions.
It's reasonable to conclude that the casting choice was a perfect one. Chris has been great on the role, though one can't help but wish he waited for a bigger role. It's been reported that he was almost cast as Green Lantern.
