And to think, it only took 72 years to bring Wonder Woman to the big screen. Zack Snyder has officially announced that Wonder Woman, arguably the greatest female hero in comic book history, will appear in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie, and that she’ll be played by Gal Gadot, the co-star of Fast and Furious, Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6. This makes Gal Gadot the first live-action Wonder Woman in movie history, after nearly over half a century of live-action Batman and Superman movies and serials.
But we’re snarky. We’re not going to spend all our time complaining when, if nothing else, it’s worth celebrating that Warner Bros. finally bothered to put Wonder Woman in theaters, albeit in another hero’s movie. Presumably a spin-off is in the cards, and presumably Gal Gadot is signing a contract as we speak (if she hasn’t already) for multiple films featuring her character.
EDITORIAL: Witney Seibold says we should all be worried about Snyder’s Wonder Woman.
The real question on our minds is whether Batman vs. Superman isn’t some kind of “stealth” Justice League movie, a frantic attempt to jumpstart the DC Universe in live-action cinema and compete with Marvel Studios, which had the luxury of building up audience interest, good will and critical acclaim over several years before bringing all their heroes together in a single movie. We’re only one film into the new Warner Bros. franchise and then bam! Now they’re tossing as many heroes as possible in the second one just to see if it works.
Here’s Zack Snyder’s official announcement, courtesy of CraveOnline‘s Coming Soon:
“Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most powerful female characters of all time and a fan favorite in the DC Universe. Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role. We look forward to audiences discovering Gal in the first feature film incarnation of this beloved character.”
Gal Gadot looks more like a supermodel than a hardened warrior, but she made the most of her relatively small roles in the Fast and Furious movies, impressing us all with her charismatic screen presence. If reports are to be believed, the Israeli actress won the part over French actresses Elodie Yung (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Olga Kurylenko (To the Wonder), who allegedly also auditioned for the role. We wish Gal Gadot the best, and pray to the entire Greek Pantheon that Zack Snyder doesn’t screw this up.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
