Wonder Woman 1984’s ‘sleazy businessman’ villain inspired by Trump, costume designer confirms

Wonder Woman 1984’s “sleazy businessman” villain Maxwell Lord was partly inspired by Donald Trump, the film’s costume designer has confirmed.

The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal appears as Lord in the forthcoming sequel, which sees Gal Gadot’s titular superhero living in 1980s America and battling Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah.

During a visit to the set while the film was in production, CBR interviewed costume designer Lindy Hemming and noticed a mood board for the film’s costumes covered with photos of Trump in the Eighties.

“That’s helpful to look at Donald Trump, isn’t it?” Hemming teased. “There is something about the period of Donald Trump and being a businessman, isn’t there, of being rather sleazy a little bit, and a bit goofy [in the] hair and a lot of talk. So that’s why he’s there. Yeah, so that’s it, really.”

Director Patty Jenkins, meanwhile, has suggested that Trump served as just one of a number of inspirations for the character.

“He’s one of them,” Jenkins told Screen Rant. “I mean honestly, the funny thing is he is [an influence], but I’m not trying to make… I don’t want to get political, it’s not about being political.”

Originating in Justice League comic books in the 1980s, Maxwell Lord is described as a powerful businessman who inherited a company from his late father, and seeks to control super-powered individuals for his own benefit.

Wonder Woman 1984 is scheduled to be released on 2 October, after being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.