Over a year ago Patty Jenkins announced Pedro Pascal was joining the cast of Wonder Woman 1984 in an undisclosed role, and she’s only now confirming he’ll be playing a second villain in the film.
We already knew that Kristen Wiig would play Barbara Ann Minerva AKA Cheetah, one of the villains, and now Jenkins has officially confirmed what many had thought was the case – Pascal will star as Maxwell Lord.
Tagging Pascal in a tweet, Jenkins wrote, “Well hello… Max,” alongside a photo of the comic book version of the character.
In July she shared the first look at the character with the caption, “Can’t…Stop… Watching…”
According to Entertainment Weekly, Maxwell Lord was forever changed by the discovery of his father’s dead body after he apparently died by suicide. When Max grew up he became a businessman and held a deep disdain for non-humans.
He believed that for the betterment of society, superheroes need to be taken out of the picture and began executing attacks on them. Gizmodo reveals that Max also gained telepathic powers at one point in the comics, which could make him a very formidable foe for the movie.
In the comics Max’s most famous storyline sees him gaining control over Superman and ordering him to kill Wonder Woman. However, Wonder Woman manages to trap him with her lasso of truth and ask how to break his control. After revealing the only way to do that would be to kill him, Diana does just that in order to save Superman.
However, the murder was captured on camera and the footage was broadcast all over the world, ruining Wonder Woman’s reputation. It’ll be very interesting to see if this is the storyline they have chosen.
A press release for the film released for Comic Con Experience in São Paulo read, “Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big screen adventure finds her facing all-new foes. Director Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984 stars Gal Gadot in the title role, alongside Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Kristen Wiig as The Cheetah, Pedro Pascal as Max Lord, Robin Wright as Antiope and Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta. Jenkins directs from a screenplay she wrote with Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham, story by Jenkins and Johns.”
The highly anticipated first trailer for the movie will also be released at Comic Con Experience in São Paulo on December 8, before being released online.
The movie was originally scheduled for release next month but has been pushed back to June 2020.