Diana: I can't say goodbye. I can't say goodbye!
Steve: You don't have to. I'm already gone.
Steve: You don't have to. I'm already gone.
Spoilers Off for moment subpages. You Have Been Warned.
- Barbara's descent into villainy, mainly because it happens by accident. She envies Diana and admits it, but understands it's not Diana's fault. Indeed, the movie implies she may be attracted to the other woman. Instead, she wishes to be like her to have her confidence. The Dreamstone turns her into a Corrupted Character Copy: a woman with Diana's grace and charisma, but not her kindness. When Diana tells her what's happening, Barbara is in denial, saying she can't give up this new her. (She eventually does, however.)
- Even after she has Diana dead to rights, Barbara cannot kill her. She pauses, and apologizes to Diana that she can't give up her wish, warning her that if Diana stops Maxwell, Barbara will go for the jugular.
- In the aftermath of their fight in the White House, Diana is shown to be heartbroken to see such a kind and sweet woman turn into a selfish monster.
- Maxwell's first scene with Alastair. He gives his son a huge Bear Hug and promises a fun weekend with him. Then an investor reveals he was waiting in the same room as Alastair was and berates Maxwell for lying about oil deposits. At first, Maxwell tries to go for Not in Front of the Kid, but Alastair refuses to leave his dad at the man's mercy. He gives Alastair another hug, promising him he's not a loser.
- Barbara snapping at the homeless man she's typically on friendly terms with. Not only does it show that her kinder side is fading away, but from his perspective, he'd just been shoved aside by one of the few people who saw him as something other than a waste of space. Especially since the culture of the '80s determined a person's worth through possessions and status, of which he had neither.
- When Maxwell's successes start coming in thick and fast, he finds himself overwhelmed to the point where he snaps at his assistant for telling him that he's supposed to be spending this weekend with his son Alistair. It takes him only a few seconds to realize he's losing sight of himself.
- Diana has a photo of herself with an elderly Etta Candy, and given that Diana is completely on her own in this decade, it's all too clear Etta has long since passed.
- All the photos in Diana's home are of Steve, Etta, and her WWI comrades. She didn't just not find love again, she never even made friends again.
- This actually makes sense given the way Diana was raised. Amazons don't age, it's possible no one Diana knew ever died before the Germans came to Themyscira. Even if an Amazon did occasionally die, since Amazons don't reproduce, no one would ever take a dead Amazon's place, their loss would leave a void that would never be filled. To normal people, grieving the loss of a loved one then moving on is a natural part of life, but to Diana, it's a completely alien concept.
- Diana and Steve being separated once more, with Steve having to convince Diana to let him go so she can save the world again. Not to mention she's been shot at several times, badly injured and barely able to walk. It's implied if she doesn't renounce her wish, she will die for Steve to live. Diana's actually unable to say goodbye and leaves him behind, rejecting her wish in order to get her powers back.
- Before that, there's Diana's initial refusal to renounce the wish. As she puts it, she's fine and even happy to sacrifice so much for the world and the people who live in it. But now that she has Steve back, she can't understand why she can't have him, just him, because he is all she really wants.
- Steve's response to Diana admitting she can't say goodbye. "I'm already gone."
- And when the full impact of Steve's nonexistence hits, Diana breaks into a sprint and screams her heart out. It's not too far removed from Superman's guilt-ridden scream after killing Zod.
- As Diana pleads with Max to revoke his wish, you can hear people all around the world being angry and lashing out at each other. The worst part is that you can clearly tell not all these people are bad, just upset over how things had gotten for them. At one point, you can basically hear what amounts to a marriage falling apart.
- Alistair confused and scared as the world is falling apart around him, calling desperately for his father.
- Max admitting to Alistair that he is not a good person and that he has lied to him, stating that he just wanted his son to be proud of him.
- It's hard not to tear up at Alistair's response.Alistair: I don't need you to make me proud. I already love you, Daddy.
- Maxwell grew up with a feeling of impotence as both he and his mother were abused by his father at home, and attending school in England, he was discriminated against for his Latin-American and blue-collar background. This inspired him to be a cheat and a liar, as well as a loving, though flawed, father to his own son.
- The way he screams "It's finally my turn!" hints that he's not a villain out of inherent cruelty, but because the world was cruel to him first and for no real reason.
- It's hard not to tear up at Alistair's response.
- The world is saved when everyone has their wishes reversed. Since Barbara has reverted back to her human form, it's assumed she also took part, but we never heard her formally surrender her power, and the scowl on her face implies she still resents Diana. (Note that her full Cheetah transformation came not from her wish, but from when Lord gave her some of the vitality he stole from people as payment for their wishes. Returning to her human form would come from those people renouncing their wishes, and she was nowhere near a screen after the battle so the light from the Lasso of Truth couldn't force her into a Heel Realization.) In all likelihood, that sweet-natured woman that Diana befriended early on might be gone forever. And again, the loss of her kindness was the result of the wishes carrying a price; she never knew anything like this could happen when she innocently asked a rock to make her more like her cool friend.
- It's hard not to feel bad for the nameless handsome man whose body ends up being possessed by a resurrected Steve as he's being possessed against his will. To make this worse, Diana has sex with him while he's still in Steve's control which is pretty much sexual assault and/or rape since he has no way to consent to anything. And he has done nothing to deserve any of it.
- The man who offhandedly wished for his wife, a restaurant owner, to "drop dead" desperately revoking his wish when Diana urges the world to do the same. He looks absolutely devastated that he just killed someone.
- After all is said and done, we'll never know if they ever reconciled.
