One big mystery of Wonder Woman 1984 may now be solved, as some new reports are claiming to have identified the mystery role that Kingsman and Game of Thrones star Pedro Pascal is playing in the film. According those rumors, Pascal is playing DC Comics Villain Maxwell Lord!
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SuperBroMovies is now confirming it’s early report, which broke down character details for Pascal’s mystery role. In that confirmation, the fan site reports that Pascal is indeed Maxwell Lord as many fans suspected, and that this DC Extended Universe version of the character will be different than his comic book counterpart. Here’s what SBM is now hearing:
“We hear this version of Maxwell Lord is more “hammy” than people would expect and it will be evident they have gone with a more liberal take on the character. One thing that will differentiate him from his comic counterpart is the fact that he won’t have the psychic powers that he sometimes wields in the comics.”
Further speculation debunks rumors that Maxwell Lord will follow Ares in the first Wonder Woman, as an undercover god hiding in human form. The updated takeaway is that the DCEU Maxwell Lord will be exploring the Greek gods and the mysticism associated with them, in order to transcend his mortal coil and become a god himself. It’s maintained that Lord’s mystical knowledge will allow him to have an active hand in resurrecting Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor.
In DC Comics lore, Maxwell Lord is a shady and powerful businessman, who is connected to the Justice League and Wonder Woman by a long, and often dark, history. The most milestone DC Comics storyline involving Lord saw him use his mind-control powers to make Superman go on a rampage against those close to him (Batman, Lois Lane), resulting in Wonder Woman having to make the hard choice to kill Lord, in order to stop his psychic influence. That decision was a major turning point in Diana’s career, as surveillance footage of her committing the act was broadcast around the world, thereby destroying her reputation as a hero.
This version of Maxwell Lord described above does seem to connect to quite of bit of the narrative and/or thematic clues we’ve seen associated with Wonder Woman 1984. The title of the film has an Orwellian implication that is very timely, as the current socio-political climate is filled with red-flag events straight out of Orwell’s 1984 novel. More to the point, this version of Lord sounds like it could be a not-so-subtle satire of President Donald Trump in his 1980s heyday – a shady, flamboyant, businessman with (aspirations? Delusions?) of grandeur. In terms of plot: Lord’s knowledge of mysticism sounds like it could be the key to both Steve Trevor’s return, and the creation of Kirsten Wiig’s Cheetah, as her character, Barbara Minerva has her transformation into a “cat spirit” spurned on by mystical artifacts that someone like Lord would have a keen interest in procuring.
Upcoming DC Extended Universe films include Aquaman on Dec. 21, Shazam! on April 5, 2019, and Wonder Woman 2 on Nov. 1, 2019.
