Summary
- Gal Gadot has made surprise cameo appearances in three major blockbusters in 2023, including "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" and "Fast X."
- Fans are excited for the inevitable Gisele/Han reunion in the "Fast & Furious" franchise, as Gadot's character finally makes a return.
- Gadot's uncredited cameo as Wonder Woman in "The Flash" is a brief but significant scene where she saves Batman with her Lasso of Truth.
Gal Gadot has been busy making surprise cameos in several 2023 blockbusters, and she may not be finished yet. While Gadot made her big screen breakthrough thanks to the Fast & Furious saga, her title turn as Wonder Woman in the 2017 blockbuster made her a movie star. Since then, Gadot has largely focused on franchises, reprising the role of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman in several DCU outings like Justice League and Wonder Woman 1984 or appearing in Kenneth Branagh's Death on the Nile.
The only original project Gadot has appeared in since 2016 is Netflix hit Red Notice, which itself was always intended to launch a franchise. 2023 is set to change that with the action thriller Heart of Stone, where Gadot plays a spy trying to stop a dangerous object dubbed "The Heart" from falling into the wrong hands. 2023 has already been a busy year for the star, however, as Gal Gadot made surprise cameo appearances in three major blockbusters.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods - Wonder Woman
One of the most famous gags from the original Shazam! saw Henry Cavill's Superman make a surprise appearance - played by a body double whose face is never shown. Shazam! Fury of the Gods looked set to repeat that joke, with a Wonder Woman body double appearing in one of Shazam!/Billy Batson's (Zachary Levi) dreams. This turned out to be a double bluff, as the finale sees Gadot's Diana actually make an appearance following the death of Shazam!, who died in a battle to save Philadelphia.
In Shazam! Fury of the Gods' ending, Diana arrives at Mount Olympus where Billy's family is mourning his ing, and she uses her godly powers to restore the Staff of the Gods. Wonder Woman then uses the staff to resurrect Billy, and shortly after coming back to life, he proceeds to awkwardly flirt with her. Instead, she thanks Shazam! for his bravery and wants him to continue using his powers for the greater good.
Director David F. Sandberg later revealed he had to helm Gal Gadot's Woman Woman cameo remotely, as her coverage was shot in England, but he couldn't get a visa in time to work with her. He was also unhappy that Gadot's cameo was spoiled in a TV spot before Shazam! Fury of the Gods' release, as it was always intended to be a surprise.
Fast X - Gisele Yashar
Gal Gadot's second 2023 cameo came with Fast X, where she reprised her role as the presumed deceased Gisele. The Fast & Furious movies have made a habit of resurrecting dead fan favorites, with F9 revealing how - via a fairly convoluted series of flashbacks - Han (Sung Kang) survived his apparent demise in Tokyo Drift. Gisele perished during the finale of Fast & Furious 6, sacrificing herself to save Han during a car chase.
Following Han's return, it was long anticipated Gadot would return to the series sooner or later. Fast X's ending made Gisele's return sooner, with this scene finding Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and Cipher (Charlize Theron) making their escape from the Agency's Antarctica base to a submarine. When they arrive, Letty is seen at the top, waiting on them. How Gisele is alive, where she's been all these years or why she's working for Cipher remains unanswered in Fast X though.
In fact, even Gadot itted after the sequel's release that she also has no idea how Gisele is suddenly not dead, and is "curious" to learn in Fast & Furious 11. Since Fast X was always planned as a two-parter - complete with a cliffhanger ending - this suggests the filmmakers themselves still haven't figured out the logic behind Gadot's return as Gisele. The next outing will have a lot of questions to answer, though Gal Gadot's cameo has franchise devotees excited for the inevitable Gisele/Han reunion.
The Flash - Wonder Woman
The final Gal Gadot cameo of 2023 - thus far - came with a second appearance as Wonder Woman in The Flash. Gadot's uncredited cameo happens in the movie's first act, where The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Batman (Ben Affleck) are trying to stop a robbery by Al Falcone (Luke Brandon Field) in Gotham. Diana is unavailable to help for most of this setpiece, though she appears just in time to save Batman from falling off a bridge with her Lasso of Truth. As with Gadot's cameo in Shazam!: Fury of the Gods, this is a brief scene overall, with the character quickly exiting the story.
Potential Gal Gadot Cameos
While it was thought her Flash cameo might be her final appearance in the DCU period, Gadot confirmed in an August 2023 interview with ComicBook.com that she and James Gunn are still planning to develop Wonder Woman 3. Fans of Diana Prince may not have to wait that long, as there are two remaining DCU movies set for release before the end of 2023; Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Blue Beetle star Xolo Maridueña has already teased his superhero movie will feature appearances by other DC characters. The production has done a good job of keeping what those appearances will be under wraps, but it might very well include a Wonder Woman cameo. That said, if Gadot had another surprise appearance up her sleeve for 2023, then it will probably happen in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The latter project appears to have had something of a messy production,primarilyy due to shifting properties at Warner Bros.
Michael Keaton originally filmed a scene where he reprised Bruce Wayne/Batman when the studio wanted to set him up as something of a Nick Fury for the DCU universe. When that plan was nixed, Affleck came on during reshoots to replace the scene Keaton had filmed. Reportedly, the sequel has since cut both cameos and neither version of Batman will appear. This behind-the-scenes chaos means other planned cameos may have been removed too, though in March 2023, Shazam! Fury of the Gods co-star Jack Dylan Grazer appeared to accidentally reveal that Gadot shot scenes for Aquaman 2 on the same day she worked on the former project.
Even if there are no further Gal Gadot cameos coming in 2023, fans of the star still have Heart of Stone to look forward to when it arrives on Netflix on August 11th. She's also set to play the Evil Queen in 2024's Snow White movie, alongside Shazam! Fury of the Gods co-star Rachel Zegler in the title role.
Source: ComicBook.com
