Wonder Woman 1984 Easter Egg Teases the Gorilla Knights

Some Wonder Woman fans are wondering whether some of Diana's choice of reading material in Wonder [...]

By Russ Burlingame

Some Wonder Woman fans are wondering whether some of Diana's choice of reading material in Wonder Woman 1984 might be an Easter egg, teasing the existence of some familiar Wonder Woman foes from the comics. In one of the earliest scenes in the movie, Wonder Woman 1984 shows Steve Trevor's watch springing back to life, and on the same shelf is a scholarly book called The Natural Life of the Gorilla. It has already led some fans to wonder whether Diana may have had some encounters with Gorilla Grodd, King Solovar, or the other denizens of DC's Gorilla City (as seen in live action on The Flash).

Besides Grodd himself, there is an elite force of villainous, intelligent gorillas put together by Grodd. Called the Gorilla Knights, Grodd trained them to distrust humanity, and gave them all the best weapons and training at his disposal.

The plan was to use the Gorilla Knights to fend off serious threats like Superman and Wonder Woman, but pretty quickly after meeting Diana, they decided that humanity couldn't be all bad. She realized that they weren't evil, but had been misled, and managed to convince their leader Tolifhar that Grodd was the real danger to Gorilla City.

She also promised at the time to deal with Man's World issues like poaching and pollution that had taken a toll on Gorilla City, the Knights agreed to work with Wonder Woman to make up for their crimes. They moved into Diana's apartment -- where that book would be sitting -- and helped her battle a number of big threats, finally winning back the love and respect of their home and returning to Gorilla City.

Of course, there are other explanations for the book. Diana works at a museum, and of course one of the most respected and beloved women in 20th century academia was Jane Goodall, who primatologist and anthropologist known for her breakthrough work with gorillas. It's entirely plausible Diana would be fascinated by Goodall's work.

There's also the possibility that the book -- if it is really an Easter egg -- is a reference to an episode of Wonder Woman in which a group of Nazis brainwashed a gorilla to hunt Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) down. The episode, titled "Wonder Woman vs Gargantua," aired in the show's first season in 1976.

You can decide for yourself by watching Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max, or in theaters, right now.

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