By Graeme McMillan

The subject has been the matter of much speculation, but now Wonder Woman star Chris Pine has confirmed that the Warner Bros. movie featuring the DC Entertainment icon is, indeed, a prequel taking place before the character’s cinematic debut in this year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Almost a century before, in fact, with action set during World War I.



“It’s a period we don’t see often; it’s usually World War II,” Pine told the Toronto Sun. “Our costume design is incredible. We have scenes with, like, 500 extras all in period dress. I’d never been on a film with extras casting as beautifully done as it is here.”

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The mechanics of the period setting considering Gal Gadot’s appearance in the contemporary Batman v Superman remain a mystery, although two obvious possibilities suggest themselves from the character’s comic book mythology.

Although a 1990s storyline featured the then-active Wonder Woman (actually the regular Wonder Woman’s mother, filling in for her daughter temporarily; don’t ask) traveling into the past to fight in World War II, a more straightforward solution comes in the fact that Wonder Woman literally isn’t human; as an Amazon — and one whose father is a mythological god — it’s possible that she simply ages slower than the average Joe or Josephine.

Pine plays (the entirely human) Steve Trevor in the movie, a character traditionally portrayed as Wonder Woman’s love interest. The Star Trek actor told the Sun that there’s more to him than that, however: “Steve Trevor is a roguish, cynical realist who’s seen the awful brutish nature of modern civilization,” he explained, going on to describe him as “a worldly guy, a charming guy.”

Related: From ‘Wonder Woman’ Love Interest to Jilted Ex: A Guide to Steve Trevor

He was also effusive about Wonder Woman as a whole, saying, “it’s going to be a great, fun film. There are some incredibly deep, interesting and morally relevant themes. Patty [Jenkins] is just directing the daylights out of it. It’s shot beautifully, feels so wonderfully period, but also has this wonderful pop sensibility.”

Wonder Woman is scheduled to open June 2017.

Watch a breakdown of the ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ trailer: