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Except they're right. Steve took up the entirety of Diana's arc. Her relationship with Barbara was the freshest part of the movie. It previewed a more human side of Diana. Focusing on their dynamic would've pushed her arc beyond the 1-dimensional "missing her dead bf" story https://twitter.com/TheQuartering/status/1342956517247627264
What was Diana's plot? Letting go of a guy she knew for 2 weeks some 65 years ago. They had her willing to ruin not just one dudes life, but legit the entire world and lose her powers to see him again? They went for some superman/lois lane level without an ounce of their setup
And even in that plot, she didn't have the lead. Steve was the one giving himself up. With Barbara we saw her connect with someone on a human level outside of some world threatening situation. She was soft and protective and they made a great duo research wise.
WW84 couldve been about Barbara feeling vulnerable as a woman and searching for power/having to deal with the morality of attaining it while Diana realizes what it means to be without power and to be more human and that there are other ways to win besides punching things
And Barbara's storyline started off that way. Then they just completely dropped it and she became some dude's bodyguard. Her conflict became just about her being power hungry, rather than the reasons she clung to that power. Her arc became as 1 dimensional as Diana's
It's Diana being completely closed off to everyone after the entire climax of the first movie was about her realizing the power of love that really just sets the whole movie up to inevitably fall short.
Having the conflict be btwn Diana/Barbara's alternative misunderstandings of power and the way those misunderstandings strain their friendship while Maxwell rips the world apart for his straight, male idea of power would've been soooo much better than the dead boyfriend nonsense
