How Zack Snyder Knew Gal Gadot Was Perfect For Wonder Woman
The DCEU got off to a rough start with the lukewarm reception of Man of Steel, the first live-action Superman film in nearly a decade at the time. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad didn't exactly inspire confidence, either, leaving many fans wondering whether their favorite DC characters would ever be done on-screen justice. Thankfully, the tides began to turn with 2017's Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot as the titular Amazonian superhero. The first Wonder Woman film is definitely a fun and touching story, but Gadot's performance is undoubtedly a huge factor in the film's success.
Her first canonical appearance isn't in Wonder Woman, however, but in Batman v Superman, when she meets Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne at a party as Diana Prince. It wasn't a huge role, but it was more than enough for director Zack Snyder to believe Gadot was perfectly cast. Why? In an interview with YouTuber TheFilmJunkee, Snyder revealed the main reason for his confidence stems from a single moment from Gadot's audition (via Screen Rant).
Gadot left no room for doubt
Speaking with the YouTuber, Snyder shed light on a scene that never appears in Batman v Superman — it was written for the express purpose of gauging Diana's chemistry with Bruce. The scene involves an intense discussion about one or another of Bruce's bad habits, though Snyder is hazy about the exact details over four years down the line.
What he's not hazy about is how wholly impressed he and Affleck both were with Gadot. "She says ... kind of a riff on 'you've never known a woman like me,'" Snyder remarked. "And then in casting, [Affleck's] doing the scene like this [serious face], and then she says it and he goes [looks at the camera and raises eyebrows] 'whoa.'" Wonder Woman is one of the few characters Batman truly respects in DC Comics, so when Affleck broke character to acknowledge Gadot, Snyder knew he'd struck gold. As he put it, "[W]e were just like, 'I guess this is Wonder Woman. You kind of got checkmated there, so, I guess we're done with the casting.'"
That Gadot pulled off the audition so effortlessly is definitely no small feat on her part, either. Wonder Woman is a beloved character that's been around for over 80 years, starring in thousands upon thousands of comics and famously portrayed by Lynda Carter in the 1970s. Taking on the role is an immense responsibility — a responsibility that was no doubt weighing on Gadot as she walked into that audition.
If early Wonder Woman 1984 reviews are anything to go by, then Diana Prince remains the DCEU's ace in the hole thanks in large part to Gadot. She'll also be appearing in a few additional scenes in Zack Snyder's Justice League, an extended and revised edition of Justice League set to hit HBO Max in 2021.