Wonder Woman was arguably the biggest comic book movie story of 2017. The film enjoyed incredible financial success and was almost universally loved by critics. Even now, months later, we are still discussing the film as a part of year-end best lists and many are hoping it will receive the awards recognition it deserves. However, there was one notable naysayer to all the hoopla: storied director James Cameron. The Titanic director's comments prompted responses from Patty Jenkins and Lynda Carter. But one woman who didn't speak out was Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot. That has since changed, and the actress has now addressed James Cameron's comments and why she didn't respond earlier, saying:
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.
James Cameron's initial comments that caused such a stir were made in an interview while he was promoting the 3D release of Terminator 2: Judgement Day. So while he may or may not have been trolling for publicity, that's the way Gal Gadot saw it. Instead of reacting as so many others did, she instead chose not to give more oxygen to the fire. Gal Gadot is complimentary of James Cameron's work and isn't combative, so hopefully this will not devolve into more back and forth, and instead be chalked up to a difference of opinion. The Wonder Woman actress did not really elaborate in her interview with Entertainment Weekly and address James Cameron's specific issues with the film in the way that her director, Patty Jenkins has done.
James Cameron's comments, which he later clarified and doubled down on, were not a critique of the Wonder Woman movie itself. He praised the film and director Patty Jenkins, but he took issue with the way in which the film was being exalted as groundbreaking. A big part of his problem was that Gal Gadot herself is so gorgeous and Wonder Woman's outfit was so formfitting that the film was just another example of Hollywood presenting an unrealistic beauty standard and appealing to the male gaze. For him, it seems that presenting a strong female character in such a perfect shell is not really breaking any sort of ground on equality and representation, though that is up for debate.
James Cameron himself is known for crafting strong female characters, and perhaps that is why he has such strong feelings on this issue. Regardless, Wonder Woman was a huge success and Gal Gadot's character is the brightest star in the troubled DC film universe. Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins will both be returning for Wonder Woman 2, which is scheduled to arrive on November 1, 2019. For all the films we'll be arguing about this year, check out our release guide.
