The D.C. Comics world is dark. To be fair, the entire scope of superhero films is dark right now. Every new Avengers or Batman is full of existential crisis about the state of the world, and where or how its heroes fit into that. If they're even still heroes at all.
But the universe that surrounds the highly-anticipated Justice League is a particularly bleak one. When Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice left off, Superman was freaking dead after all. (Sorry, that was technically a spoiler alert, but also it's been long enough at this point). The fate of the citizens of Metropolis and Gotham City is so dire that its protectors have called in all sorts of reinforcement, from The Flash to Aquaman and everyone in between.
And there amongst all the darkness is one bright shining beacon of light: Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot. By now her virtues have been extolled by fans and critics alike, the box office success and tales of her filming her origin film while pregnant have become the stuff of legends. So the expectations for her contributions to Justice League are very high.
In fact, the world was so captivated by her turn in this spring's big movie that sources are saying the ensemble flick is going to capitalize on that as much as possible. That means audiences are going to see plenty of Gadot—or, more specifically, plenty of Gadot kicking ass.
Luckily for her, she filmed all of her superhero obligations practically back-to-back: First her Batman v Superman appearance, then Wonder Woman, and then Justice shortly after that. As she told E! News' Will Marfuggi at this spring's junket, prepping for this role was no easy task. It involved five to six months of training and working out six hours a day; several hours of traditional gym training and then fight choreography and even horseback riding.
She also had to bulk up considerably for her Wonder Woman stints, a chore that she said became exactly that.
"It was fun at the beginning," she said to E! News. "You know, they cook for you and everything is super delicious. But after a few weeks you're so over the food and it becomes a task. Chicken again? Eggs? Ugh."
The hard work (and all that poultry) definitely pays off because it seems as though Gadot is poised to be a favorite among the League. The movie's inevitable plot twists are going to be kept under tight wraps up until the November 17 release but the world's obsession with Wonder Woman needs no spoiler alert. Well, unless you're talking about Gadot's oldest daughter—she might be the one person who doesn't get excited about the role.
"She doesn't care about it anymore," joked Gadot. "It's more like coming to visit Mommy at work. She cares more about Craft Services and what the snacks are."