After rumors had been spreading for a while that she would be making an appearence in the DC Movie Universe soon, Warner Bros. confirmed that Amazonian princess and lover of justice Wonder Woman would indeed be appearing in the upcoming movie Batman vs. Superman. Not only did they confirm this, but they also announced that Israeli Actress and former model Gal Gadot will be slipping into the legendary bulletproof bracelets.
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman via ethanclane on Deviantart
Gadot has several good things going for her in terms of playing the iconic warrior. At 5’9″, she’s taller than the average woman (although Wonder Woman is usually depicted as being six feet tall). She also spent two years in the Israeli military, so playing a warrior woman shouldn’t be too far of a stretch for her. Additionally, her time spent as 2004’s Miss Israel could give her a little bit of a background into what it’s like to be an ambassador to the world for your people. Perhaps most importantly, she’s been building a very successful career as an action star in the few Hollywood movies she’s been in. In 2007, she was cast in the movie Fast and Furious as Gisele Yashar, a former Mossad agent and weapon’s expert. While Michelle Rodriguez might be known as being that franchise’s main badass lady, Gadot really holds her own in several action sequences as well. Her character was so well liked that the franchise brought her back for Fast Five and Fast and Furious 6 in 2011 and 2013.
Batman vs. Superman is the upcoming sequel to this summer’s Man of Steel and is slated to come out in 2015. Henry Cavill is returning to star as Superman, while Ben Affleck has been brought in to play an older Batman. Zach Snyder, who is directing, has, to say the least, a very mixed past when it comes to directing “strong female characters.” His movies 300, Sucker Punch and Watchmen have all faced both praise and criticism for the way he portrays “strong” women, often fetishizing them instead of celebrating them.
While it is great news that Wonder Woman will be appearing in the next DC comics film, it’s a shame that she still isn’t getting her own solo movie. Many reasons have been given as to why Warner Bros. is afraid to make a Wonder Woman movie. Everything from she is “too much of an icon” (what?) to “female led action movies aren’t successful” (simply not true) to “things with Wonder Woman in the title don’t sell” (the Wonder Woman animated movie is the fourth highest selling DC Animated movie and Wonder Woman is one of the three most iconic characters in the DC Universe.)
being a badass in Fast Five via Gone With the Twins
So, this news is both good and bad. I can’t wait to finally see Wonder Woman on the big screen. She’s not only a great character because she can fight Superman to a standstill and beat Batman in combat, but she’s also one of the best strategic and diplomatic minds in the DC universe. She is extremely loyal to her friends and is all about sisterhood. Both in the comics and out she is a feminist icon. In short, she’s a completely well-rounded character that is “strong” not only in the traditional way, but in many other ways. Unfortunately, her fate in future movies is entirely dependent on a movie where she isn’t going to be any higher than third billed. While she could become a breakout character, eventually “earning” her own solo film, she could also easily get lost in the shuffle of a movie that already has two all-star superheroes in it’s name and several other already popular characters (Lois Lane and whoever the villain will be). Additionally, if the movie doesn’t do well, the chances that Wonder Woman will get her own movie will almost definitely drop. So, fingers crossed, not only will the movie do well, but also Gadot will step up into the role and be the Wonder Woman that we’ve all come to know and love. So, what do you think of Gadot as Wonder Woman?
Once again, I agree with you. Good if not great casting, but Snyder is someone whose work is targeted squarely at a male audience. Let’s hope she’s awesome enough to get a spinoff directed by someone else. Maybe, and I know this is crazy, by a woman?
I suppose it’s a decent casting choice. But it’s also wrong because it’s not Gina Torres.
GINA TORRES
Gina Torres should be in everything. I know I would see a lot more movies.
Seconded. Gina Torres being gorgeous and in charge is 90% of why I watch Suits.
I still don’t trust the director of “Sucker Punch” to handle a movie featuring Wonder Woman.
Agreed!
I definitely agree with that, but I did really like the way he portrayed Lois Lane in Man of Steel, so maybe there’s some hope?
This seems like good casting, and it’s great they’re including Wonder Woman in a film. However, I slightly worry that if Wonder Woman’s inclusion in this film doesn’t work out well (which is possible, because Zach Snyder) or is just negatively received, it could prevent them from ever giving her a solo film because certain people would insist on interpreting it as ‘see, we told you female action characters don’t work’. I hope that’s not what happens.
I really want there to be a great solo wonder woman movie. Why can’t this just happen already?
Considering DC has really fumbled with almost all their movies I hope this one works. I just won’t hold my breath. I don’t even think I buy any DC comics anymore o_O
I had my fingers crossed for Aisha Tyler or Gina Torres, but I have high hopes for Gal. The fact that we haven’t had a Wonder Woman movie yet is a travesty to the DC World, and hope this film doesn’t ruin those hopes.
BTW, have we noticed that even when films with male superheroes are panned and/or don’t perform well, they just take a few years off and try again with someone new? But if Wonder Woman as third billing does poorly, than female superheroes don’t sell? Ugh, the patriarchy.
I understand that looking the part is important, especially when you play such an iconic role as Wonder Woman but shouldn’t the most important thing be that the actress can, you know, act? Looking at her CV, Gal Gadot clearly doesn’t have much acting/dramatic experience, she’s not trained and the roles she played consisted of being the eye candy for the male audience (the Fast and Furious franchise). Sorry but not impressed.
I was on a drunken train journey home last month and my friend and I discussed who should be Wonder Woman for about an hour. To spare you the jumping up and down, slapping each other and confusing toilet breaks an Israeli ex soldier is more than we could dream of!
But I’m also worried that if batman/superman is not well received it will mess up chances of a ww solo spinoff. It sucks that women aren’t trusted with a franchise still, tits aren’t the reason a movie fails, bad writing/marketing/timing is the reason a movie fails!
Bloody bollocky hell.
It feels like DC is trying to play catch up to the Marvel universe which could make for some very hurriedly thrown together product. I’m happy to FINALLY see Wonder Woman on the big screen, now if only there was a way to relegate Snyder to the role of executive producer and at least partially distance the project from his puerile male gaze … one can hope.
Re: a solo WW film, Hollywood has only to look at Catching Fire and Frozen to see two strong female character films which are currently racking up impressive ticket sells at the domestic box office. Hopefully this can help to sway some opinions when it comes to paving the way for Diana of Themyscira to be front and center in her own future films.
Considering the only superhero I’m less interested in than spiderman is superman and I’m not fond of Zach Snyder, I already have very little to no interest in this movie, but a good portrayal of Wonder Woman would definitely raise my interest. At this point, I’m skeptical about this casting, but I’m willing to see what they’re going to do with her (are they going to bulk her up at all muscle-wise or keep her twig thin, what’s the outfit going to look like, how terrible overall does the movie look)
Gina Carano has always been my ideal Wonder Woman casting. Smoking hot, actually can fight, doesn’t look like a master in waif-fu, and she’s a pretty good actress too. Gal Gaddot seems pretty awesome, but Wonder Woman is supposed to be an Amazon, so I always pictured her as being bigger. I don’t know, I guess we’ll see. I just hope she doesn’t get awkwardly shoe-horned in as Batman’s romantic lead.
Waiting for a Batwoman movie like woah
I am curious to see what the outfit is gonna look like
Someone on another site I go to said that this casting basically indicates they have no interest in Wonder Woman ever standing on her own. A third string character like Black Widow gets Scarlett Johansson, but one of DC’s all-time iconic characters gets a former beauty queen whose biggest acting credit is the eighth cast member of a Fast and the Furious movie.
That’s my feeling about it entirely. I have a guilty love for the Fast and the Furious movies and she wasn’t distractingly bad or anything, and if Batman and Superman were being played by bland pretty boy actors of the same caliber, that’d be different. But both of those roles are being played by well known, award winning, respected actors. Wonder Woman isn’t. But this guy is responsible for Sucker Punch. Couple this with DC’s recent history of fuckery all over the place, and I really shouldn’t be surprised. Still disappointed, though.
I sort of agree and would have liked to see someone with more acting chops get the part. But on the other hand, before Henry Cavill was cast in Man of Steel his biggest role was in The Tudors, so he wasn’t exactly a huge star. I’m trying to be as hopeful as I can about this.
I can get behind wanting to be hopeful. And I really hope my initial reaction is wrong, because I want a female superhero solo movie, dangit! But while he wasn’t super well known before, at least Cavill demonstrated some acting chops in the roles he did have. In the F&F movies, Gadot was just…there.
I dunno, maybe the problem is just that the F&F movies aren’t a great showcase for acting and I’m mostly just butthurt that Morena Baccarin didn’t get the part!
Oh man! Morena Baccarin was totally my “she’s probably too short but other than that perfect” dream casting for Wonder Woman! (either her or Naomie Harris)
Ah, Naomie Harris would have been great! The internet would probably have snapped in two under the combined weight of the Ben Affleck outrage and the racist wank that would have ensued had Naomie been cast (or Gina Torres, as was awesomely suggested upthread). That would have been good for some recreational troll smashing!
Exactly, they are setting this character up for failure. I don’t think the person playing Wonder Woman has to be well known, I don’t know if their are a ton of huge names that fit the description, but it’s pretty clear from this casting that they didn’t search very hard. They went for a pretty face to fill in the character and I don’t expect the character to do much beyond fill in the space on the team.
I was really hoping they wouldn’t go for a skinny model. Wonder Woman is an Amazon! Someone like Gina Carano is much better suited for the role. You can’t expect a lead female superhero, with strength as her power, to be successful when the person portraying that character looks like they can be blown over by a strong gust of wind. I want to see a Xena like woman, with less focus on the beauty match and more focus on the body type.
WONDER WOMAN IS JEWISH AND I’M COMING IN MY PANTS!!!