Gal Gadot is History’s First Movie Wonder Woman

There are a lot of things we don’t know about Wonder Woman in Batman “Not the Actual Title” vs. Superman. But what we know right now is: She will be in it. And she will be played by Israeli actress Gal Gadot of the Fast and Furious movies.

Variety has the official announcement, with a quote from Zack Snyder himself:

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.

Here’s what we don’t know: to what extent Wonder Woman will appear in the film. The project is still operating under the title Batman vs. Superman for the moment, and a list of recent domain registrations by Warner Bros. do not stray from that theme. According to Variety:

Insiders believe the plan is to have not just Batman and Superman in the film but several members of the Justice League as well. It’s unclear which members, but Wonder Woman (Diana Prince) and the Flash are said to be locks to make an appearance in some fashion, whether that’s a significant role or a cameo.

So there’s no indication yet that we’re going to be seeing a so-called Trinity movie. And, of course, we’re still looking at a sequel from the team behind Man of Steel, a lukewarm success among fans and critics; as well as a movie from Zack Snyder, whose track record on female characters can be hit or miss (as much as I loved Lois and Faora in MoS, there’s still Watchmen and Sucker Punch). And we’re still looking at the most well-known superheroine in the world making her big screen debut in at most third billing in a sequel to someone else’s franchise that appears to focus primarily on two male characters. So many people have made the excuse that Wonder Woman is a difficult hero to adapt because of her less well known origin story. Introducing her as a secondary character in a movie that probably won’t even have time to go into her background in depth does not seem like a solution to that assumed hurdle.

Does the idea that Wonder Woman will appear in Batman vs. Superman make me more interested in seeing the movie? Yes, barely. But when Wikipedia’s Batman in Film and Superman in Film articles run five to seven thousand words each, and Wonder Woman doesn’t even have one, this seems, at the moment, to look a lot like a tiny bandage offered for a much larger problem. This is a step in the right direction, but not a giant leap for Amazon-kind.

(via Variety.)