Gal Gadot Says Wonder Woman 3 and Henry Cavill’s Superman Exit Were ‘Not Handled Elegantly

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gadot was asked whether Gunn or Safran had ever told her in a definitive meeting that her time as Wonder Woman was over.

Apparently not.

According to Gadot, she was initially told the opposite.

The actress says DC's new leadership told her they would develop a third Wonder Woman movie with her.

But Gadot was also watching what was happening elsewhere at the studio.

Those other departures apparently made her question whether her own future was as secure as she had been told.

The proposed Wonder Woman 3 ultimately disappeared as DC Studios began building a completely new cinematic universe.

Gadot specifically pointed towards what happened with Henry Cavill.

Cavill had played Superman since Man of Steel in 2013 and unexpectedly returned as the character during the post-credits scene of Black Adam in 2022.

The appearance was supposed to signal something much bigger.

Shortly afterwards, Cavill publicly announced that he was officially back as Superman.

Then everything changed.

After Gunn and Safran arrived at DC Studios, Cavill announced he would no longer return because the new DC Universe would move forward with a different version of Superman.

Looking back, Gadot doesn't seem impressed with how they handled the transition.

"The Henry situation was not handled elegantly, to say the least," she said.

And Cavill wasn't the only person she mentioned.

Gadot made essentially the same criticism regarding Patty Jenkins.

Jenkins directed 2017's Wonder Woman and returned for Wonder Woman 1984.

She had also been developing the proposed third movie.

But that project became another casualty of the enormous changes happening at DC.

Gadot said Jenkins' situation was also "not handled elegantly."

That's particularly notable given how closely the two worked together in establishing this version of Diana Prince.

The first Wonder Woman wasn't simply another superhero movie for Gadot.

It turned her portrayal of Diana into one of the DCEU's defining characters and gave DC one of its biggest successes of that era.

A third movie once seemed almost inevitable.

Instead, the story ended without one.

Despite those criticisms, Gadot isn't declaring war on DC Studios.

Far from it.

She acknowledged that Gunn and Safran were put in charge of the studio to pursue their own vision and said she accepts that reality.

For Gadot, everybody involved is an adult and Hollywood careers inevitably move on.

There doesn't appear to be any desire to turn the experience into a personal feud.

Her criticism is much more specific.

DC had every right to change direction.

She simply believes some of the people affected by that change could have been treated better while it happened.

That's an important distinction.

Perhaps the clearest sign this chapter is finished is Gadot's attitude toward returning today.

Even if another opportunity to play Wonder Woman somehow appeared, she isn't sure she would take it.

Her life has changed.

Gadot now has four children, and she explained that disappearing for the lengthy production required by another enormous superhero movie simply doesn't fit her life anymore.

After a decade as Diana Prince, she seems comfortable letting someone else inherit the character.

And Gadot speaks about that eventual successor with genuine affection rather than resentment.

She described herself as merely a "vessel" for Wonder Woman during one particular period of the character's much longer history.

Eventually, somebody else will put on the boots.

It's easy to forget just how bizarre this period of DC history actually was.

Henry Cavill returned in Black Adam.

He announced he was officially Superman again.

Then, only weeks later, he wasn't.

Gadot was apparently told another Wonder Woman movie would be developed with her.

That didn't happen either.

Jenkins had been developing Wonder Woman 3.

That version disappeared.

Ben Affleck's Batman era ended.

And an almost completely new DC Universe began taking shape.

David Corenswet became Superman, while Gunn and Safran began constructing a new continuity rather than attempting to repair the old one.

Whether that reset was creatively necessary is one debate.

How everybody caught in the middle was treated is another.

And that's clearly the part Gadot hasn't completely forgotten.

Gal Gadot may be finished with Diana Prince, but Wonder Woman certainly isn't disappearing from DC.

A new Wonder Woman movie is already in development as part of the new DC Universe, with Supergirl writer Ana Nogueira attached to write the screenplay.

Exactly who will become the next Diana Prince remains one of the biggest unanswered casting questions in the DCU.

Whoever gets the job will inevitably face comparisons with Gadot.

That's what happens when somebody spends a decade associated with one of the most recognisable superheroes on the planet.

But Gadot herself seems ready for that moment.

Rather than treating Wonder Woman as something that belongs to her, she appears genuinely grateful she got to carry the character for as long as she did.

There's a difference between disagreeing with DC's reboot and admitting that parts of the transition were badly handled.

James Gunn and Peter Safran inherited a cinematic universe that desperately needed a clear direction.

Starting again was completely defensible.

But the Henry Cavill situation?

That was a mess.

You can't blame fans for believing Superman was properly back when Cavill appeared in Black Adam and then publicly announced his return.

Only for it to disappear almost immediately afterwards.

And Gadot's revelation makes the period look even stranger.

If she really was being told that Wonder Woman 3 would be developed with her while the studio was simultaneously dismantling most of the universe surrounding her, you can understand why she started reading the room.

None of that means Gunn and Safran were wrong to build a new DCU.

David Corenswet has now been given the opportunity to make Superman his own, and eventually another actress will do exactly the same with Wonder Woman.

But endings matter too.

Cavill, Gadot and Jenkins were enormously important to DC's previous era.

A cleaner goodbye wouldn't have hurt anybody.