Wonder Woman 1984 Gives Max Lord a Powerful Upgrade | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984, now in theaters and on HBO Max.

When Pedro Pascal was announced as Maxwell Lord for Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984, many wondered how the DC Extended Universe would change the classic character. Created in 1987 by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire, Max eventually developed psychic powers and became a key enemy of the Justice League, working to undermine and damage an organization he helped revive. However, the DCEU is much different than its comics counterpart, which changes Max from a telepath into something of a sadistic genie.

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Max, who is an oil tycoon and swindler, runs into trouble, as he only has access to dry wells and Simon Stagg's on the verge of bankrupting him for deceiving investors. Max, who has been researching gems for years, tracks a citrine stone to the Smithsonian, which is where Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) and Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) work. The businessman soon understands that this citrine stone -- which is actually a relic called the Dreamstone -- has the ability to grant wishes, and he seduces Barbara at a gala to take the powerful item for himself. He then wishes to become the stone itself, and it dissolves, using him as its avatar.

From there, Max uses his wish-granting power to get things that benefit him. Over the course of the movie, Max uses convinces people to buy into the idea of making a wish, as he offers hope, wealth and other boons. However, these people don't realize that they're losing something in the trade.

For example, Max gives the U.S. president more nukes to intimidate the Soviets, but this costs the American leader his power. But Max's big plan is to find a way to connect to the entire world, making their dreams come true in exchange for their life essence, which the villain needs as a result of the mental and physical strain the Dreamstone places upon him. There's even some reference to the comics here, as Max gets nosebleeds as a result of his powers, referencing what happens when he uses his mind-control abilities in the source material.

Eventually, Max learns the U.S. president has particle beam technology that can hijack any TV broadcast across the world. And seeing as these particles are seeded out, touching the people with their wavelengths and energy, Max places himself at the secret heart of that power. By connecting physically to the particles, the snake oil salesman extends his aura and reach to people around the globe, so during the broadcast, he's able to start draining their energy. The entire satellite plot point seems to be a play on Brother Eye, which Max stole from Batman in the comics and used against the DC Universe's heroes. However, only this time, Max isn't using powerful satellite technology to spy on others.

Overall, while there are references to Max's original powers in the comics, Wonder Woman 1984 makes some pretty massive changes to them on the whole, making him capable of doing much more than just telepathy. Still, Max's charisma comes through and allows him to trick people into giving up something very valuable so as to make him stronger.

Directed and co-written by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman 1984 stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal and Natasha Rothwell. The film is currently in theaters and on HBO Max.

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Renaldo Matadeen (4841 Articles Published)

I'm a former Chemical Engineer. It was boring so I decided to write about things I love. On the geek side of things, I write about comics, cartoons, video games, television, movies and basically, all things nerdy. I also write about music in terms of punk, indie, hardcore and emo because well, they rock! If you're bored by now, then you also don't want to hear that I write for ESPN on the PR side of things. And yes, I've written sports for them too! Not bad for someone from the Caribbean, eh? To top all this off, I've scribed short films and documentaries, conceptualizing stories and scripts from a human interest and social justice perspective. Business-wise, I make big cheddar (not really) as a copywriter and digital strategist working with some of the top brands in the Latin America region. In closing, let me remind you that the geek shall inherit the Earth. Oh, FYI, I'd love to write the Gargoyles movie for Disney. YOLO.