A Wedge Between Diana and Steve

[Guy_McNichts]

It occurred to me that many of the better superhero romances have an element of conflict that keep the characters from getting together or, if they are together, something that perpetually rocks the boat.
For years, there was the triangle between Superman, Lois, and Clark. Peter Parker's relationships were often strained or fell apart because he had trouble juggling his life as Spider-Man with his personal life. Batman's most famous love interests, Catwoman & Talia respectively, are morally dubious if not outright villainous characters.

So I wondered if maybe that was something missing from Wonder Woman...specifically Diana and Steve Trevor. What is the thing that keeps them, if not apart, from going smoothly? Aside from the obvious "her enemies will target him" thing that every hero has. Diana doesn't really do the juggling secret identities thing and aside from their both leading busy lives, nothing that really drives a wedge between them.

This got me thinking about their relationship in the movie.
As we know, Steve dies and his return is going to be a major element of the sequel. Regardless of the how and why, I believe one of the major stakes for the movie will be the question of whether Diana is able to keep Steve around. And I'm predicting the film will end on a bittersweet note of Diana prevailing, but Steve goes back to the afterlife, and there will be feels.

I think there's something compelling in the idea of Steve being the love of Diana's life, but for reasons beyond their control, their time together is always brief and fleeting.

Now here comes the question: can that concept be incorporated into the comics?

No, I'm not suggesting Steve needs to repeatedly die and come back. That might work for a two-to-three movie arc, but it would get ridiculous in an ongoing comic book.
But could there be a way for that idea--that as much as Diana and Steve love each other, they're forced apart by means beyond their control--to be worked into the comics? Maybe that could be Diana and Steve's "thing" like Superman's love-triangle or Batman's fondness for bad girls?

As said, there's something powerful in the idea of Diana simply being unable to be with the love of her life...not to mention that, as an immortal, Diana will outlive Steve. So, from her perspective, she needs to appreciate the time she does have with him while it lasts.
Also, this would open a door for Diana to have other relationships during the periods where Steve is MIA.

But I have no idea how they would accomplish this. Like I said, I'm not suggesting Steve needs to constantly die and come back or anything too outlandish like that. Maybe the gods could tamper with his memories and hide him somewhere for some reason or another? Maybe Circe or some other villains can put a curse on them? I'm just spit-balling.

Thoughts? Ideas?

[LordUltimus]

Having them be torn between their loyalties to their respective nations and each other could work as an ongoing struggle they have to deal with.

[VonHammersmark]

They should totally bump heads over politics with Steve putting forward a different, more down-to-earth perspective that challenges Diana’s hard-set ideology. You'd need a writer who can be impartial though, which is exceedingly hard to come by nowadays

[WonderScott]

I kinda want them to be happy for a while... Until there’s a comic book Super Powers Team Galactic Guardians redux/revamp of Darkseid wanting to make Wonder Woman his bride at all costs.

[kjn]

I think wedge is the wrong way of thinking about this. Rather I think that the key to a good romantic interest for a superhero is that the romantic interest challenges the hero in some fundamental way. It can work as a wedge to their relationship, but can also help the hero grow and change.

In the case of Superman, the Clark Kent–Lois–Superman triangle helped to contrast the two aspects of his personality, and put his identities in conflict with each other. In the case of Batman, Catwoman comes from the lower rungs of society and interrogates Batman's belief: justice, but by and for whom? What makes property moral? (Earlier incarnations of Catwoman challenged Batman's puritanical beliefs.)

I think this was the fundamental aspect that was missing from the Steve–Diana relationship, because Steve didn't challenge Diana in any way that was central to Diana's character. That was also the key to why Steve worked so well in the movie: he both challenged Diana's naïvete and provided a clear moral guide for her on how to navigate Man's World and how to reconcile Diana's experiences there with her morals.

Looking at it, the challenge was really the other way: how should a man raised in the patriarchy to expect to be the stronger and dominant part in the relationship, react to finding themselves together with a woman who is stronger and better than them? But I think even Marston shied away from that question by introducing the Diana Prince identity, and I believe that most later writers shied away from exploring that question.

[Jackalope89]

Hate love triangles. Annoying and add unnecessary conflict (and the fact some are advocating for the Super-Lois-Clark thing to return over in the Superman forum is rather disheartening). And really not a fan of the "new direction" that whole relationship is going through right now.

For Diana and Steve, there's any number of things that they could face that would allow them to overcome and become a stronger couple for it. For example, Steve could want to marry Diana in a traditional marriage, whereas Diana isn't so sure about such a thing (different cultures). Or, the issue of wanting kids, etc.

And I think Steve is well past the whole being physically weaker and what not than Diana. Maybe if it was early on in their relationship, that would be something. But at this point, it would be out of character for him.

[WonderScott]

One of things I've found interesting about them, in a couple of their "hey, we need to catch up" interludes in the book, is their busyness.

It seems like such a modern thing that couples go through now too - so consumed by work and other activities that they barely have time to spend together. Take this x 1,000 for the commitments and lifestyle Steve and Diana have and lead. Let alone the craziness that can descend on either of them at any moment.

There's something there "there" that I can see psychologically challenging them, depending on what each wants at a given time and what each feels they need to do at a given time. It's a different kind of take on dual career households, that can be addressed and explored differently than say, Lois and Clark or Aquaman and Mera.

[Miles To Go]

One of things I've found interesting about them, in a couple of their "hey, we need to catch up" interludes in the book, is their busyness.

It seems like such a modern thing that couples go through now too - so consumed by work and other activities that they barely have time to spend together. Take this x 1,000 for the commitments and lifestyle Steve and Diana have and lead. Let alone the craziness that can descend on either of them at any moment.

There's something there "there" that I can see psychologically challenging them, depending on what each wants at a given time and what each feels they need to do at a given time. It's a different kind of take on dual career households, that can be addressed and explored differently than say, Lois and Clark or Aquaman and Mera.

Diana and Steve to me would work better with Bendis "modern marriage" technique than Lois and Clark presently.