Warning: contains spoilers for Sensational Wonder Woman Special #1!
The infamous plot element in Wonder Woman 1984, the Dreamstone, makes its way to Wonder Woman comics - but with a twist. The rock is debatably one of the most powerful objects in the entire DCEU, capable of granting nearly any wish to anyone who holds it, albeit at a cost; they lose something of themselves with every wish granted. Sensational Wonder Woman Special #1 brings back the Dreamstone in a brand-new adventure, but the use of the stone is quite different.
Wonder Woman 1984 was highly anticipated by fans but reception was lukewarm when it debuted in theaters and streaming services on December 15th 2020. The film was wildly different in tone compared to its predecessor and was more in line with the Richard Donner Superman films, albeit with a higher budget and modern-day special effects. In particular, Diana wishing on the Dreamstone for her deceased love interested Steve Trevor to return from the dead came with a mysterious side effect: Trevor returned in another man's body and Diana's powers were weakened overall.
Fans were not pleased that Steve Trevor did not make a "proper" return, and the chaos caused by the Dreamstone was arguably more destructive than the world-ending threat caused by Steppenwolf during Zack Snyder's Justice League. Nevertheless, Sensational Wonder Woman Special #1 brings the stone back, this time as an item coveted by the Wonder Woman villain Circe. Unlike Max Lord in the film, Circe doesn't want to become the stone, but does want to use it.
But the comic goes one step further and uses the Steve Trevor plot device again, but in a much better way. Instead of Trevor taking over the body of someone else, Circe uses her magic to put Wonder Woman's mind in the body of one of the civilians she rescued - and vice versa. Over time, both must appreciate the struggles that each character deals with on a regular basis: Diana must go to school and deal with teachers who don't know their own subject matter while the civilian must rescue people as Wonder Woman, even after calling her "lame."
This is proof that bringing back Steve Trevor could have been implemented better in the film - perhaps Wonder Woman would discover that Steve is only alive because Death took another in his place. As for the Dreamstone, it's recovered eventually and causes considerably less havoc than in the film. Wonder Woman's most controversial elements were actually used correctly in the comics - the stone and the resurrection.
