Gal Gadot explains why she never addressed James Cameron's criticisms of her solo Wonder Woman movie. Gadot first appeared as the iconic superhero Wonder Woman in Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 - a follow-up to the filmmaker's 2013 Superman film, Man of Steel - and she reprised her role in the Patty Jenkins-helmed origin movie in 2017, in which audiences got to see how Diana, the Princess of Themyscira, became a superhero in the first place.
A lot was riding on Wonder Woman's success, following a string of critical failures from Warner Bros. with regards to their newly-formed DC Extended Universe. When the film finally hit theaters, it didn't just garner critical acclaim, it became Rotten Tomatoes' highest-rated superhero movie of all-time. Wonder Woman also broke numerous box office records to become the highest-grossing superhero origin film ever to release, passing Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. But in spite of all its success, Wonder Woman still had its fair share of detractors, namely Avatar director James Cameron. The legendary filmmaker felt that the movie was a "step backwards" for the industry, and he pointed to Terminator's Sarah Connor as an ideal female icon for young women, who wasn't, in his opinion, just an objectified icon.
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Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins quickly responded to James Cameron's criticisms, saying that his inability to understand the film's importance was unsurprising given that he's not a woman. But what's interesting is that Gal Gadot remained silent on the matter. She never addressed Cameron's opinion, and she's now explained why that is in an interview with EW:
"Because I didn’t want to give him the stage. First of all, I’m a big fan of his work. His movies are great. He was very innovative in many things that he did, and I’ve got nothing but great things to say about the creative and professional side of his work. When it happened, the timing of when it happened, he was promoting another movie of his. It was like he was looking for publicity and I just didn’t want to give him the stage."
It's true that, when James Cameron offered his criticisms of Wonder Woman this past summer, he was promoting the 3D re-release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Gadot not wanting to give the filmmaker any additional attention during that period is certainly understandable. Plus, she was preoccupied with the Joss Whedon-helmed reshoots for Zack Snyder's Justice League at the same time Cameron's criticisms were made public. While Cameron was himself harshly criticized for his opinion on the film, which he is entitled to have, he stood by his analysis and even doubled down on calling Wonder Woman (and Gal Gadot herself) an objectified icon.
Gal Gadot is scheduled to reprise her role as Diana Prince in Jenkins' Wonder Woman 2, which the director recently described as being "totally different" than the first installment. The highly-anticipated sequel is due out in November 2019 and is currently slated to begin filming this summer.
More: Why James Cameron is Wrong About Wonder Woman
Source: EW
