John Joseph defends Wonder Woman 1984’s use of Cro-Mags ‘Age of Quarrel’ t-shirt

Sean Furtado

Wonder Woman 1984 premiered Christmas Day on HBO Max, and arrived to decidedly mixed reviews. Some of the more nitpicky criticism -- via Twitter -- is for some supposed anachronisms in the film, specifically related to some punk rock imagery. The film is set in Washington DC, and at one point Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), in her secret identity Diana Prince guise, and Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), are walking through a Metro station and pass a group of punks, one of whom is wearing a Cro-Mags The Age Of Quarrel t-shirt. (Another punk is wearing a Bad Brains shirt.) Many punk fans took to Twitter to say that The Age of Quarrel album didn't come out until 1986.

But it turns out the t-shirt came straight from Cro-Mags singer John Joseph who defended writer/director Patty Jenkins. "Had about twenty people tell me about this," Joseph wrote on Instagram. "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) came out in 1984. Me and Parris (guitarist) paid for the recording. His father owned a pressing plant in Nashville and pressed up the tapes." Joseph also commented on Jon Wurster's instagram post about the scene, saying, "The artwork may be different but the songs are the same I suggest people talk about things they know as opposed to what they think they know."

Joseph also noted, "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!"

That was not the only punk reference in Wonder Woman 1984 either. Kristen Wiig at one point walks by a poster for a club featuring a show with Minor Threat who broke up in 1983. Theoretically the poster could have been there for a year but someone on Twitter figured out the poster is for Gainesville, FL club Roach Motel, which is an odd thing to have plastered on a wall in DC.

Finally, an early scene in the film is set at iconic DC store Commander Salamander which closed in 2010, but was located on Wisconsin Ave in Georgetown and specialized in punk and new wave fashion and gear, from t-shirts to Doc Martens to Manic Panic hair dye.