Wonder Woman 1984 Ending Theory: How Diana Defeats Maxwell Lord
How will Diana stop Maxwell Lord in Wonder Woman 1984? The coronavirus pandemic has caused massive problems for Hollywood, with movies continually pushed back. Wonder Woman 1984 is currently set to come out in October 2020, although it's anybody's guess whether it will hit this release date. Unfortunately, with all the chaos and delays, something was bound to go wrong — in the case of Wonder Woman, it looks like a junior novelization has leaked aspects of the movie's plot. The question remains, however, how the film's heroine will actually defeat the movie's main antagonist, villain Maxwell Lord.
The Wonder Woman 1984 junior novelization was published in July 2020, and it blew the plot wide open. Copies aren't too easy to come by — it's currently out of stock on Amazon, probably reflecting DC Films' attempt at damage limitation — but some made it into public circulation, and one was exclusively obtained by Screen Rant. It's only a children's novelization, so it isn't too deep in terms of characterization, and dialogue may well differ wildly. Still, many of the scenes are instantly recognizable from the trailers, so it's pretty clear the overarching plot is accurate.
Curiously, the Wonder Woman 1984 junior novelization ends right before the beginning of the third act. So what will happen in the final battle between Wonder Woman and Maxwell Lord? Be cautioned: spoilers follow.
There's a strange sense in which Wonder Woman 1984 feels almost like a Phase 1 Marvel movie, complete with a stone possessed of tremendous power. In this case, the gem is not an Infinity Stone, but is the Dreamstone, an ancient artifact created millennia ago by the God of Lies. Anyone who sees the Dreamstone is able to make a single wish, and reality itself will be rewritten in order to grant it. Diana, not realizing the Dreamstone's power, wishes for her long-lost Steve Trevor; this is how Steve Trevor is resurrected. But — as should be expected for something fashioned by the God of Lies — there will be a dangerous twist to every wish. An early example sees someone who jokingly wishes for a cup of coffee given one that is too scalding to drink.
Most people satisfy themselves with just one wish, but Maxwell Lord hits upon a far smarter idea. He wishes to possess the Dreamstone's power for himself, essentially turning himself into the ultimate wish machine. Lord is a consummate con artist, and he then simply manipulates others into wishing for whatever he wants. Unfortunately, the consequences begin to build up, with Lord plunging the world into political chaos. He finally worms his way into the presence of the President of the United States and offers him a wish. To even Lord's amazement, the President wishes for more nuclear weapons, situated more closely to the USSR. Soon the Cold War is getting pretty hot, when Russia learn about these nuclear weapons. The Dreamstone's power has been responsible for causing the collapse of numerous other civilizations; how will Diana prevent the modern world ending in nuclear holocaust?
Fortunately for humanity, Wonder Woman has a good idea how magic works. She believes destroying the Dreamstone will undo every wish it has granted, and she's headed to Washington, DC in pursuit of Maxwell Lord. It's a smart plan, and it would have worked if the Dreamstone was still the real problem. But Maxwell Lord wished for the Dreamstone's power, meaning he has become a human Dreamstone. What's more, the experience seems almost addictive, as though he has a growing compulsion to grant as many wishes as possible. By the end of the Wonder Woman 1984 junior novelization, Maxwell Lord is casting an intrigued eye at TV cameras, clearly considering using them to appear in as many houses as possible. Diana doesn't know it, but there's no way her plan can work.
Everything seems to be building up to a scene lifted straight from the comics — one of the darkest moments in Wonder Woman's life. The comic book version of Maxwell Lord is very different to the character seen in Wonder Woman 1984; in the comics, he's a telepath who was even able to control Superman, and he was responsible for launching a devastating attack upon the superhuman community using Batman's stolen Brother Eye technology. In Wonder Woman #219, Diana confronted Maxwell Lord and wrapped him in her enchanted lasso of truth. To Diana's horror, Maxwell Lord warned her he would keep coming back, again and again, until he succeeded. "Tell me how to free [Superman] from your control," Wonder Woman demanded. Still wrapped in the lasso of truth, unable to lie as a result, Maxwell Lord told her to kill him. Maxwell Lord's goal was to undermine people's faith in superheroes, and he had always known this would likely end with his death; he essentially saw himself as nothing more than a sacrifice to achieve his nefarious ends. He had ensured his entire confrontation with Diana was captured on live TV, and his murder was transmitted to the entire world.
The story may be different, but it feels as though the conclusion will be the same. Diana believed destroying the Dreamstone would reverse every wish it had granted. If she was correct, then there is only one way to stop the living Dreamstone: to kill Maxwell Lord. What's more, there is the clear potential there for the deed to be watched by the entire world. Such an act would save the day, but it would perfectly explain why Wonder Woman ceased serving as an active hero decades ago — because her reputation was ruined. Fortunately, though, she is acting in the Golden Eagle armor, which means by the time of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League she will probably not be associated with Maxwell Lord's mysterious killer any more. The dramatic conclusion would just about fit with the DCEU's rambling continuity, and there would be a striking parallel with Superman's decision to kill Zod in Man of Steel; this wouldn't be anywhere near so controversial, though, because in this case there really would be no other way to save the day. But no doubt it would be a little too dark an ending for the junior novelization, explaining why the third act battle is cut from the book.