'Problematic': Wonder Woman 1984 body swap causes controversy online

It managed to fly under the radar, but a sex scene in the movie is now causing drama. Photo / Getty Images

As far as sequels go, Wonder Woman 1984 was up high on the anticipated list.

After several delays, the Warner Bros film was released in theatres in December and has just dropped early on Foxtel's Store today ahead of the three-month release window.

And while reviews were favourable among fans of the first 2017 film who were yearning for a blockbuster-worthy release, a point about one of the film's plots is slowly gaining traction.

The plot in question sees Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) taking over the body of a character known as "handsome man" after Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) uses the Dreamstone to wish for his return from the dead.

One scene insinuates the couple had sex after they wake up in bed together, with some viewers having raised issues around consent about the random man whose body Steve inhabited.

Pop culture website The Mary Sue went as far as describing the incident as "rape" or at best "fantasy rape", while countless users took to social media to call out the storyline.

WW84 director Patty Jenkins responded to criticism on Twitter in late December, retweeting a tweet from the account @DustyDontShoot, who had fiercely defended furore over the body swap.

Hahaha. Exactly @DustyDontShoot!! https://t.co/83cm3Uhb9t

— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) December 30, 2020

The tweet links WW84's body swap trope to the likes of 1988 Tom Hanks film Big, in which a child is in the body of an adult and has sex with an adult woman. It also points out that Diana revoking the wish meant she and the mystery man never actually slept together.

But users quickly hit back at Jenkins, with one declaring the correlation "false equivalence".

False equivalence. In bodyswap movies it's generally an even swap, the moral of the story is almost always about learning what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes, and there's rarely implied sexual contact. Plus "someone else did it too" is never a valid defence. Do better.

— Zachary Coleman (@ZacharyDColeman) January 19, 2021

Wow, Patty, seriously? I didn't like the movie, which I'm allowed BTW, but now after reading this defense, I don't know what to make of the movie anymore. The more I've read about #ww84 since the 25th, the worse I've found it to be. This tweet does it for me. WW84 - Abomination.

— Manfredi Johnson (@ManfrediJohnson) January 4, 2021

Others though didn't see an issue with the plot point.

It's easier than that. The man's soul WASN'T in his body at the time. Same thing happened in MEET JOE BLACK and there wasn't an outrage then. Shouldn't be now.

— Lester Medina López (@justicieroJLA3) December 31, 2020

Can't believe this body swap thing is an issue

— Matt ʬ⁸⁴ (@mattbo_0) December 30, 2020