The current Golden Age of superhero films in Hollywood had been lacking a feminine heroine, but now actress Gal Gadot has remedied that in the role of the new Wonder Woman in “Batman v. Superman.”
Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man and Superman are some of the characters who had headlined the recent spate of films about comic book heroes, but a common factor in all those works was that women had been relegated to second-tier status.
Now, however, the situation could change with the launching of the film “Wonder Woman” in June 2017, directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gadot, along with actors Chris Pine and Robin Wright.
Gadot told that, while boys have had a number of male superheroes to admire in films and girls have had a multitude of princesses, most of the latter had been very passive.
The 30-year-old Israeli comes from a Jewish family with roots in Poland, Austria, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia.
She began her artistic career as a model and in 2004 won the Miss Israel beauty pageant, earning herself a place in the Miss Universe contest.
Her first foray into Hollywood films came in “Fast & Furious” in 2009, the fourth installment of the popular automobile racing action series, and since then she has reprised her role as Gisele in the franchise’s subsequent films.
She also appeared in “Knight and Day” (2010) and “Triple 9” (2016), but what changed her life was being selected to play Wonder Woman in the DC Comics universe film being prepared by director Zack Snyder, as well as taking on two parts in “The Justice League” (2017 and 2019.
“I feel privileged to have gotten the chance to tell (Wonder Woman’s) story, which is very inspiring,” she said.
Although initial reviews of “Batman v. Superman” have not been positive, many critics emphasized the brief appearance of Wonder Woman as some of the film’s most dynamic moments.
Gadot said that Wonder Woman has “the strength of a goddess” and “the heart” of a human, adding that she is “very wise.”
