A new character who is set to be the antagonist of upcoming supehero movie Wonder Woman 1984 has been confirmed by director Patty Jenkins to be loosely based on Donald Trump.
In an interview with Screenrant, Jenkins confirmed that the new Trump-esque character, named Maxwell Lord, who is said to be a 1980s businessman, was indeed based on the current President of the United States.
“So, yes, Trump’s definitely one of the people that we looked at, but it’s any of those kind of mavericks of business success that was big in the ‘80s,” she said. “Who went on to be major players in our world in potentially questionable other ways.”
Lord is set to be portrayed by actor Pedro Pascal, known for his prominent roles in the Star Wars, Game of Thrones and Narcos franchises. The images released of Pascal in costume as Lord so far bear a close physical resemblance to President Trump.
Jenkins also noted that Bernie Madoff also served as an inspiration for the Maxwell Lord character.
“A huge influence of this movie was also Madoff,” she said. “Those young Madoff stories fascinate me.”
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Confusingly, Jenkins went on to claim that she didn’t have a political message, before making a political message that criticized “our belief system of excess” – i.e. laissez-faire capitalism.
“Yeah, I don’t have an agenda to have a political message to send to the world, but I think that the world all needs the same political message,” she added. “Everybody needs to look at themselves right now, and our politics, our belief system of excess.”
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In a concession to anti-Trump Republicans, however, she noted that she had put extra effort into distancing the President of the United States in the movie from Ronald Reagan, who served as President in the 1980s and helped lay the groundwork for the “belief system of excess” that Jenkins criticizes.
“We even have the president in this movie, and I’ve gone out of my way not to make it look like Ronald Reagan,” she said.
Wonder Woman 1984 is set to release in the United States on October 2, one month before the U.S. presidential election.
