The Popculty Podcast
The Popculty Podcast
Mini-sode: First look at 'Wonder Woman 1984'!
First, an announcement: The Popculty Podcast Patreon is now live, just in time for the season of giving! Check out all the perks you can get for showing your support! xo
But lesbihonest, the reason we're all here: THAT WONDER WOMAN 1984 TRAILER. Have you recovered yet?? Nope? Me neither. Gotta geek. We break down the big reveals from CCXP last weekend, and get hyped for Lasso of Truth realness, the return of Steve Trevor, and Kristen Wiig as Cheetah!
Credits:
Wonder Woman 1984 trailer courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
Logo by Max Badger.
Follow Popculty on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram for all the news and commentary on the underrepresented pop culture you care about!
Follow Popculty on Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram, and watch video episodes on our brand-new Youtube channel!
Hey, Popculties! SJ here, popping up from my weeks-long Jessica Jones deep-dive. I am hard at work editing and getting these episodes in final shape for you all. This past weekend though, we got a major Wonder Woman update that I am dying to talk about. First though, I've got a couple of announcements, things that I'm really going to need your guys's help with. First big update is a long time coming: The Popculty Podcast finally has a Patreon page. This means if you've been enjoying the show, you now have a place to show your support in a way that's going to help me keep doing the show and make it an even better listening experience for you all. If you've noticed, I don't interrupt every episode 10 times to try to sell you a mattress or toilet spray. That's because I frickin' hate ads. And I don't want to make you all sit through that nonsense either, even if it means I'm getting paid. But therein lies the catch, because that's how most podcasts make their money, is by getting sponsors, which is why you hear those ads. Because I really don't want to do that, I'm asking you all to kind of helped me out. If you've been listening to the show, if you enjoy it even a little bit, or if you just support what I do in general principle, it would mean the absolute world to me if you would check out our Patreon. Click on the link in the shownotes, and there you can look at the different tiers we have set up, from $1 a month to $20 a month. The more you give, the more perks you get, from bonus episodes of the show to an on-air shout-out, to my favorite: personalized TV recommendations just for you, by yours truly. I've mentioned that this podcast is a real labor of love, and I don't make any money from it, as of now. But it's getting to the point where I kind of need to, because there's a lot of costs that go into podcasting, from paying my host, Buzzsprout, to paying to have the episodes transcribed for those who are deaf and hard of hearing, to the recording equipment itself. That's all stuff that I have so far been paying for out of pocket, but it's getting to the point where I just can't afford to do that anymore. And I know that if I have to keep doing this on my own, I'm going to burn out and this podcast just isn't going to last very long. There's actually a term for it, I learned - It's called pod-fade. Apparently, like 70% of new podcasts fade out within the first six months. I really don't want to be one of those statistics, you know? I want to keep doing this. I get a lot out of it, and I love having these conversations with y'all. But the truth is, most podcasts have a team of between three and 20 people working on them. That's just not the case for this one. I don't have the manpower (or woman power, as it were). It is a full-time job on top of my day part-time job. So it's a lot of work, y'all. I'm not trying to overblow it. Them's just the facts. Bottom line is I really want to keep this podcast going. If you do too, you can show your support by clicking on that Patreon link and just signing up for any of the tiers that fits your budget or your interest in the show. Any amount that you give is so appreciated. And here's a little bonus: If you become a patron this month, you will be getting the bonus episode for the upcoming Jessica Jones conversation, and I promise you, you are not going to want to miss it. Bethany I talked for hours. I had so much content, I didn't want to cut it all, so I turned it into a bonus episode which is going to be just for patrons of the show. That could be you. I promise you, it's not going to be just a throwaway episode - It's good stuff, okay? So please, help a girl out. It's the season of giving. It's also my birthday, if I can guilt you like that. But mostly, it's a way for me to see that what I am putting out, all the energy I'm putting into this actually means something and it's not just being thrown into the void. This is a way for you all to engage with the show more and to help me make it the best show it can be. So thank you so much if you are able to give. I see and appreciate each one of you. Last thing before we jump into Wonder Woman, as we look forward to our Jessica Jones conversation coming up, there's something I'm going to need your guys's help with: I'm asking for audio or written submissions on what the show has meant to you. So if you are a Jessica Jones fan, if the show has impacted you, if you have a story you want to share, if you have thoughts about the finale, we want to hear them. This is a chance for you to be actually part of the show. Here's the two ways you can submit: You can either write something and email it to podcast@popculty.blog, or you can tweet something using #ThankYouJessicaJones. But the best way to share your thoughts so we can actually hear your words in your own voice would be to use the voice memo app on your phone to record your thoughts, and then just send that file to podcast@popculty.blog and I will incorporate it into the episode. If the file is too big to be an attachment, go ahead and Dropbox it to me using that same email address. The deadline for submissions is December 15, so coming up real quick here, but I really hope to hear from you.
SJ Palm :Okay, let's get into Wonder Woman news! This past Sunday, we got our first real look at Wonder Woman 1984, the sequel, of course, to 2017's massively successful Wonder Woman. The full trailer debuted on Sunday at CCXP, a huge Comic-Con event in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was one of the millions of people around the world who tuned into this Twitter livestream, and it was incredible. The energy from this crowd - Imagine the Super Bowl live crowd times ten. That'll give you kind of a sense of what this felt like. This whole arena was decked out with lights and giant screens, everything was timed and choreographed perfectly, everyone in the audience was wearing these bracelets that glowed gold when you said, "maravilha," the word for "wonder" in Portugese. A couple of times the moderator had everyone in the stadium say it at the same time, and the whole stadium just lit up in this sea of gold flashing lights.
CCXP Moderator :Um, dois, tres, [with crowd] MARAVILHA!!!
SJ Palm :It gave you a sense of just how many people were there to see this. Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman, who is returning for 1984 (thank God), got the total rock star treatment. I've never seen a director, let alone a female director, have her name chanted in a packed stadium.
Crowd :[chanting] Patty! Patty! Patty! Patty! Patty! [breaks into roaring cheers]
Patty Jenkins :Thank you so much. Thank you.
SJ Palm :That was so cool to see people giving her the recognition that she deserves for being at the forefront of these movies and really this wave of female superhero movies and media that are changing the game, in terms of representation and the stories they're telling, and the messages of empowerment. And then Gal Gadot comes out... [hype music]
Crowd :[goes wild]
SJ Palm :She rises from below the stage, and the crowd just goes wild.
CCXP Moderator :Everyone - Gal Gadot!!!
Crowd :[roaring applause]
Gal Gadot :Eu te amo, Brasil!!!
Crowd :[deafening cheers]
SJ Palm :So Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot came out, talked about the movie a little bit, introduced the trailer. Some highlights from that conversation: One big concern was, as the trailer gives away, Steve Trevor comes back, even though he died in the last Wonder Woman. Patty promises that it's not a gimmick, so I trust her that it's going to work and it's not going to feel just fan service-y. I cannot wait to see Kristen Wiig as Diana's BFF/nemesis, Cheetah. Patty talked about the decision to cast Kristen Wiig:
Patty Jenkins :So we were super-fans of Kristen, and we love how funny she is. But also, I've been a huge admirer of what a great actress she is for a long time. So when we needed someone to go all the way from one end of the spectrum of being funny, sweet Diana's friend, all the way to a totally different place, we knew that Kristen Wiig would kill it. And she went beyond our wildest dreams.
SJ Palm :Apparently Gal and Kristen got on so well during filming that they kept making little funny behind-the-scenes videos and bloopers and that sort of thing. They have so many of them, apparently, and they're so funny, they've already decided that they're going to release them on the DVD. So that's something I'm looking forward to already.
Patty Jenkins :I felt like I was making a movie with my best friends, except for I was having to stay focused, and I would turn around and say, "Wait, where's-- ? Oh, God, you guys!" They're off making some funny video.
SJ Palm :One of the things I'm most excited about for this movie is Patty talked about how, because this is set in the 80s, they wanted to make this in the style of 80s films. So they do everything as much as possible, practically instead of relying on CGI. So everything is shot on real locations, not CGI backdrops, the fight scenes and stunts and effects, to the greatest extent possible, are all real effects. They're all done practically, with wire-work and stunt people. Gal is doing quite a few of her own stunts. And actually, the two of them said that they developed such a strong bond as actor and director onset, that when Gal injured her shoulder doing one of her stunts, Patty actually developed sympathy pain in her shoulder. And they'd have things like that happen all the time, where something that happened to Gal, Patty could feel it in her body, which I thought was really interesting and kind of cool. It just shows how in sync the two of them are, in terms of bringing these movies to life, and they're always on the same page. I think that's one of the things that made the first movie so good and is going to make this movie so good, because it's always awesome to see directors and their muses working together so closely and so well. Okay, let's talk about the trailer itself. I am still buzzing. Haven't been able to stop bobbing my head to this "Blue Monday" remix, and now I'm going to put it in your head.
Orchestral remix of "Blue Monday" :[builds]
Steve Trevor :The world needs you. You know what you need to do.
SJ Palm :The colors, the costumes, Steve with his little fanny pack in typical 80s fashion! Diana steps out in her golden eagle armor. It's vibrant and bright, as opposed to most of the DC-verse, which has this monochromatic bleakness to it. There's a scene in a mall that is ripped directly from Greg Rucka's amazing comic book run that I recognized immediately. Pedro Pascal looks great as the villain Maxwell Lor. No glimpse yet of Kristen Wiig in full Cheetah form. I have a feeling they're waiting to drop that til the last second, which, fair enough, I want to be surprised. Return to Themyscira, which means those badass Amazon warriors are back. Also, can we talk about the fight scenes for a second? There is some Lasso of Truth realness happening here, and I am all about that. There was a little bit of Lasso of Truth in the last movie, but a lot of her fighting was with her sword. But if you remember, that got destroyed by Ares in the end, so here we see Diana fighting with just her fists and the Lasso of Truth, and she is killing it. I didn't think that fighting with a glorified rope could look this cool, but she makes it look like a dance - a violent, beautiful dance. She just be laying out men that get in her way. love to see it. The Lasso is going to be her MVP in this movie, and that is just so creative. I can't wait to see more of those fight scenes. To summarize, June 2020 cannot come quick enough. Patty Jenkins is continuing to differentiate Wonder Woman from the grim-dark Snyder DC-verse, and the world is so much better for it.
Orchestral remix of "Blue Monday" :[swells]
Diana :Nothing good is born from lies. And greatness is not what you think.
Orchestral remix of "Blue Monday" :[crescendos]
SJ Palm :This is the pop culture thing that has given me life this week, and I hope it can do the same for you. I will see you all right back here next time for part one of our Jessica Jones conversation. Transcribed by https://otter.ai