Wonder Woman is part of the DC Trinity, alongside Superman and Batman. So at some point, she’ll become a part of Jame Gunn’s DCU. However, it’s pretty clear at this point that Gal Gadot won’t be playing her. Gadot was first introduced in 2016’s Batman v Superman. She reprised her role in 2017’s Wonder Woman, Justice League, and Wonder Woman 1984. But in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Deadline), Gadot confirmed her Diana Prince era is over. And part of the reason is her feelings on how DC handled letting go of Henry Cavill and Patty Jenkins. Here’s what she told Josh Horowitz:
I saw the way everybody else was handled. The Henry [Cavill] situation was not handled elegantly to say the least. Patty [Jenkins] was not handled elegantly. We’re all adults and we’re all good.
The “Henry Cavill Situation” Gadot mentions refers to how the Superman actor returned to the character in Black Adam. He then announced his return to the role in a new solo film on social media. But a few months later, James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios. They informed Cavill that they were going in an all-new direction with Superman. Cavill then had to make another social media post, explaining how he wouldn’t play Kal-El again after all. The whole thing was clumsy, and indicative of a studio in flux. Warner Bros. had announced Patty Jenkins for a third Wonder Woman movie, which James Gunn then canceled publicly.
Gadot seems to be ok with letting go of the role. She said, “For me to go to do another Wonder Woman, I am not sure I would at this point in my life with four children and different schools and all of that. To check out from all of them for such a long period of time, it doesn’t work for my life anymore at this point.” This does have the vibes of “You can’t fire me, I quit!” But at least Gadot realizes it’s ok to turn over the tiara to the next generation. She added, “I am so grateful I got the opportunity to wear these boots and have the character be so celebrated. I can only wish whoever is next comes pure to this journey. This character means so much to so many of us. It was never mine. I was always just a vessel.”
So who will be the next Wonder Woman? Rumors abound that Andor star Adria Arjona isn’t actually playing Maxima in Man of Tomorrow, and is secretly our DCU Wonder Woman. We know that a script is being written for a Wonder Woman movie, so before too long, we’ll know who our new Princess Diana of Themyscira is. And odds are, we’ll know who the new Wonder Woman is before we have an idea about who the new Batman is in the DCU. They really seem to be dragging their feet on that one.