Cro-Mags Fans Cranky About Wonder Woman 1984; John Joseph Puts Them in Their Place

The heavily-anticipated, much-delayed Wonder Woman 1984 was finally released on Christmas Day in theaters on on HBOMax, and critics aren’t the only ones with mixed feelings about the movie — hardcore fans take issue with it, too.

The reason? A scene in which the titular heroine (Gal Gadot) and her love interest, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), encounter a group of punk kids. One of those kids is wearing is wearing a shirt featuring the cover art from Bad Brains’ eponymous 1982 debut; another is wearing a shirt adorned with the cover art from The Age of Quarrel, Cro-Mags’ first album, which was released in 1986.

The problem? As stated in the title, WW84 takes place two years before the release of The Age of Quarrel.

Fans quickly took to social media to not-so-politely point out the apparent error:

Putting aside the fact that it’s a bid odd to complain about factual inaccuracies in a movie where an ageless half-god flies an invisible jet, fights a cheetah lady, and tries to save the world from a magic rock, it turns out that the gaffe may not actually be a gaffe: John Joseph, former frontman for Cro-Mags and current frontman for Cro-Mags JM, says he himself provided the shirt for the movie at the request of director/co-writer Patty Jenkins… and that it’s not a mistake.

Writing on Instagram, Joseph clarifies:

“Had about twenty people tell me about this. Patty Jenkins Director/Writer (Monster – Wonder Woman etc.) is a good friend since the 80’s – she asked me to send her a Cro-Mag shirt for the new “Wonder Woman 1984” released today. I sent her this “Age of Quarrel” tee-shirt. The original album (black cassette) was recorded in 1984. Me and Parris (guitarist) paid for the recording. His father owned a pressing plant in Nashville and pressed up the tapes. Here’s some trivia too. – I got Patty her first directing gig. It was for the band Leeway – Three Wishes video. She went to film school in NYC but grew up in DC – is a huge @badbrainsofficial fan too! #wonderwoman1984“

You can check out Joseph’s post below.

Despite the objections of the hardcore community, a third Wonder Woman movie, also helmed by Jenkins and starring Gadot, has been fast-tracked by Warner Bros.

[via]