The end of this month will finally bring the return of the DC Extended Universe as Wonder Woman 1984 premieres both in select theaters and on the HBO Max streaming network. After multiple delays pushing this release from over a year ago, fans will see Gal Gadot's second solo movie as her Diana Prince faces a new era of history and more challenges than ever before.
Outside of Kristen Wiig's Barbara Minerva/Cheetah, one of Wonder Woman's next major foes will come in the form of Maxwell Lord, played by The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal. This role will pit him as a villain who utilizes his brains and mental warfare, as Diana deals with his tactics and the physical battles with Cheetah.
While no specific details were revealed, Pascal recently shed some light on one of his inspirations for a scene in his latest upcoming project.
NEWS
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Wonder Woman 1984 star Pedro Pascal opened up about his role as Maxwell Lord, saying it helped to push him out of his comfort zone by bringing a "greedy dream-seller" to life. He even revealed that Nicolas Cage, with whom he worked on The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, inspired a particular scene in Wonder Woman 1984, referencing it with this quote:
"With Wonder Woman, [Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig] are doing the action, baby, and I'm doing the schm-acting! I am hamming it up!"
Pascal also gave this quote celebrating how much the script of this movie allowed him to tackle the role straight on, with everything he needed already being in the screenplay:
And in this case [on Wonder Woman 1984], there was just so much for me to meet rather than to invent...That was an incredible delight and challenge because Patty Jenkins is a director who loves actors and when she sees she can ask for more, she does. And there isn't anyone better, in my experience, to give more to.
WHAT THIS MEANS
Pedro Pascal has become one of the busiest actors in all of Hollywood, which means he has the opportunity to draw inspiration from legendary sources like Nic Cage and others. It will be exciting to find out exactly which scene Pascal used Cage's influence for in Wonder Woman 1984 upon its release, but the mystery should keep fans that much more excited as promotion continues.
It's also enlightening to learn how much Pascal was able to take what was given to him in the comics and the script and run with it, as opposed to creating something entirely new. He has put forth amazing work over the past few years in shows like Narcos before leading the way as Din Djarin on Disney+'s The Mandalorian, and he should have everything he needs to make Maxwell Lord a fascinating comic book movie villain as 2020 closes.
Wonder Woman 1984 is set for global release in select theaters and on HBO Max on Christmas Day 2020.
