Anthony Stokes is still not sold on Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman…
Gal Gadot has been working out hard in an effort to appease critics of her casting as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, releasing several pictures of herself having ” bulked up” for the role. Personally, I literally cannot tell the difference before and after. Some will argue that it makes me misogynistic for criticizing an actress for not resembling the comic book character they’re portraying. However, I don’t think Gal Gadot is a good fit for Wonder Woman, and it has got nothing to do with sexism when I say that.
I have a question that the Gal apologists seem unable to answer. Why is it that it’s okay to say males need to have a certain physique to play a comic book role, but not females? Why is it that Chris Hemsworth has to be a gigantic monster of a human being to play Thor, but it’s not okay to expect the something similar for Wonder Woman, relative to the character of course? If we can criticize Michael B. Jordan for being cast as Johnny Storm due to his race, something he cannot change, then surely Gal cannot not be free of scrutiny.
There are decades of Wonder Woman comics with possibly hundreds of different artists over the years, so it’s impossible to nail down what the ideal Wonder Woman looks like. I’ve seen skinny Wonder Woman sure, but typically my idea of Wonder Woman is of a traditionally thicker build. Now, again this is not everyone’s vision of Wonder Woman, so I can understand people not minding her being a bit slimmer. Personally, I’d like a Wonder Woman with a physique where it’s believable when she’s kicking ass. And I’ve heard “her strength doesn’t come from her muscles”. Great. So then why does Chris Hemsworth need to have a body fat percentage that might be in the negatives to play Thor? I’ll wait…
Regardless of her physique, let’s get down to my real problem with her casting. She’s set to play one of the most iconic female characters in fiction, her biggest acting role to date is Fast & Furious 6, and she was bad in that. You cast Angelina Jolie as Wonder Woman with the build she has now, and I’d have no problem with it, because she’s a good actress. But if you’re not going to get an established actress, then you could at least have them look like the character they’re portraying. I just don’t understand the casting on any real level other than two things: price, and also race. Warner Bros. has made note of how it’s trying to diversify the Justice League and it was rumored at one point the studio wanted a United Nations-style Justice League with each member representing a different race or country, something I do find admirable, it should be said.
Only time will tell if this is good casting or not. I didn’t see the audition tapes so maybe there is something Gal is bringing to the table other than diversity. However – and I hope I’m wrong here – but I’ve not seen anything to suggest she’ll have more to offer than looking regal and pretty, which is exactly what she did in Fast & Furious 6.
Do you agree, or are you looking forward to seeing Gal Gadot’s take on Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman? Let us know your thoughts…
Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=ONsp_bmDYXc
Originally published March 29, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
