In 2013, we learned of Zack Snyder's plans to follow Man of Steel with a Batman vs. Superman movie inspired by Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. Eventually, it received a rather clunky subtitle, Dawn of Justice, making it clear that the plan was to also set the stage for Justice League.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opened in theaters with a record-breaking debut in 2016, but negative reviews from critics and moviegoers led to a massive drop the following week.
With 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, the DCEU movie was far from a critical hit, and even after grossing $874.4 million worldwide, the DCEU's first attempt at telling a story in an MCU-like shared world was considered a box office disappointment. Still, along with the fun of seeing the Caped Crusader battle the Man of Tomorrow, Wonder Woman made her big screen debut, leading to The Trinity finally assembling on screen.
Today, Snyder has shared footage from the set of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, featuring Gal Gadot's "first ever Gauntlet Smash practice." The filmmaker described the scene as "pure joy, pure power."
The actress would go on to play Diana Prince in several DCEU movies, including Wonder Woman, Justice League, Wonder Woman 1984, Zack Snyder's Justice League, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and The Flash.
Gadot's acting abilities were frequently criticised during her stint as the hero, so her not reprising this role in James Gunn's DCU isn't hugely surprising. However, there may have been a time when she anticipated playing Diana again; promoting Netflix's Heart of Stone in 2023, she insisted her return was planned.
At the time, Gadot talked repeatedly about meeting with Gunn and Peter Safran, and strongly hinted that the duo had assured her she would return as the iconic DC Comics character in a new Wonder Woman movie. Despite that, the plug was pulled on Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 3 almost immediately after DC Studios was formed, and the trades shared strict denials from DC Studios about plans for Gadot's return.
Supergirl writer Ana Nogueira has been tasked with penning the new Wonder Woman movie, though there's still no word on who will play the Amazon Warrior for DC Studios. However, we know she isn't going to debut in Man of Tomorrow next summer.
You can check out Snyder's latest DCEU throwback in the Instagram post below.