A big part of Wonder Woman: 1984 was at the center of an infamous story in one of DC’s most acclaimed comic book series.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984, streaming on HBO Max and playing in select theaters.
The Dreamstone is a big part of Wonder Woman 1984, with the wish-granting capabilities of the Stone being used to affect the entire world at one point in the film. and almost cause the end of it in the process. But by featuring the stone, Wonder Woman 1984 tangentially connects itself to one of DC’s scariest and most perverse storylines.
While the Dreamstone is used to terrible effect in Wonder Woman 1984, it’s nowhere as twisted as how it was used in the infamous The Sandman #6, by Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Daniel Vozzo & Todd Klein.
In Wonder Woman 1984, the Dreamstone is introduced as one of many artifacts brought to the Smithsonian by the FBI. Despite the presence of Wonder Woman, Maxwell Lord — aware of the full-power that the Dreamstone contains — is able to use it to imbue himself with powerful wish-granting abilities. Taking the power of the Dreamstone, Lord begins doling out wishes for the citizens of the world. But in the process, each wish is revealed to come with a secondary twist that costs the wisher in some form. The Dreamstone serves as the primary focuses of the film, and Wonder Woman spends most of the movie working to undo the damage the Stone had wrought, even if means sacrificing her own wish to be reunited with her lost love, Steve Trevor.
The Dreamstone operates differently in the core DC Universe, particularly in the Post-Crisis incarnation of reality. Although it is still an artifact capable of changing reality, it doesn’t operate on wishes. Instead, it reaches into the Dreaming and be used to shape reality to the user’s will. The Dreamstone was created by Dream of the Endless, the chief character of Sandman. When he was captured at the beginning of the 20th century, the Dreamstone was taken from him and stolen by Ethel Cripps. Cripps in turn gave the tool to her son, John Dee, who became the Justice League villain known as Doctor Destiny.