As any superhero movie worth its grain of salt, Wonder Woman 1984 is also easy to understand even for those members of the audience that don't read comic books. The film creates a story different from what is found in the comics and mostly borrows the characters from it. However, even though the same heroes play a part both in the movie and in the comics, they're not always identical. In fact, there are many differences between various versions of the same character.
As a result, the film and the comic books work like two separate forms of media. Wonder Woman 1984 does contain multiple references to the comics and Easter Eggs, though, and their knowledge presents a nice bonus.
10 The Golden Armor
It would be easy to think that the armor Diana ends up wearing in the film has no backstory. In the film, it belonged to Asteria, one of the Amazons, who wore it when she fought the armies of men. That gave the other Amazons enough time to escape to Themyscira and hide from the world.
However, the Golden Armor did, in fact, appear in the comics. It's called the Golden Eagle and Diana first wore it in the Kingdom Come series but she was much older than she's in the film.
9 The Villainous Broadcasting
In the film's finale, Maxwell Lord decides to hold a broadcast that will reach millions of people and fulfill their wishes. In return, Lord will have the power to steal their health for himself. Wonder Woman then confronted Lord in the broadcast room and solved the situation peacefully.
In the comics, the two characters also met while Lord was doing a broadcast. However, unlike the film, Wonder Woman killed him and because of that, many people believed she was evil.
8 Diana Has An Invisible Jet
Both in the films and in the comics, Wonder Woman has an invisible jet. However, its creation is different in the comics. In the film, Diana uses a particular power of hers to make a jet she and Steve Trevor stole invisible.
In the comics, the jet is custom-built for Wonder Woman. As such, she doesn't need her powers to turn it into an invisible machine.
7 Koslov Jewels
The initial sequence taking place in the 1980s sees Diana take on a group of jewel thieves in a mall. They steal the jewels from Koslov Jewels. That doesn't refer to a shop in the DC Comics, rather to two different people. Colonel Koslov was a military leader of Lubania, a fictional Eastern European country.
Koslov used a hypnotic ray on Batman and Superman in World's Finest all the way back in 1970. The second character was a boxer who appeared in The Brave and the Bold, once again in 1970.
6 Maxwell Lord Doesn't Have Powers...At First
Maxwell Lord is the main villain in Wonder Woman 1984, not Cheetah. Even though he starts out as a non-powered human, he eventually gains powers. Something not everyone might know is that the same thing happened in the comics, albeit in a different way.
Maxwell Lord used to be a normal human in the comics as well, except he had a dormant meta-human gene. It manifested when a Gene Bomb exploded. Its goal was to negate the power of the already active meta-genes in humans, but it did the opposite for Maxwell Lord.
5 He Bleeds When He Uses His Powers
Maxwell Lord's powers might be different in the comics but one thing the film takes from the source material is what happens when he uses them. It's never a good idea to strain one's body, to overdo things.
When Maxwell Lord uses his powers in Wonder Woman 1984 and overdoes it, his nose and ears bleed. He also loses blood in the comics when he's using his powers, proving that it's in fact dangerous for him to do it.
4 Amazons Hold Games
The initial long sequence sees child Diana competing in athletic games on Themyscira. She does well in the games but makes a mistake later. In order to win, Diana cheats, but Antiope calls her out on it. She ends up disqualified from the race.
A similar event takes place in the comics. Queen Hippolyta held a contest in order to choose one Amazon who would travel into the men's world and represent Themyscira there. As suspected, Diana won the contest and the honor fell on her.
3 Diana Lives In Washington, D.C.
Most superheroes have a place they most often live in and work in. For Batman, it's Gotham. For Superman, it's Metropolis. And for Wonder Woman, it's...actually, she has worked in multiple places.
Diana has lived in many cities in the comics, such as Boston, London, or New York City, to name just three. The film pays homage to the time Diana made her home in Washington, D.C. It gives her the opportunity not only to do the job she loves but she can also protect the president if needed.
2 The Dreamstone Is Real
The Dreamstone might not exist in the real world but it has a rich history in the comics. In the comics, the villain Doctor Destiny uses the Dreamstone. However, it has a different purpose than fulfilling one's deepest wish like it does in the film.
Doctor Destiny uses the powerful artifact to look into other people's dreams and transform them into reality. So in the end, it's about dreams in the comics, not wishes, since people can't control what they dream about.
1 Wonder Woman Can Fly
Finally, there's also the matter of Diana's many powers. She uses her Lasso of Truth and is fast and strong. However, she proved in Wonder Woman 1984 that she can fly too, although she needs her Lasso to do it.
In the comics, Diana has the power of flight too, but she first got it in 1987. Previously, she could manipulate air currents and glide for short distances instead, which wasn't the same as flying.