Actor Gal Gadot discussed her departure from the DC Universe and her upcoming role in Doug Liman’s AI-enhanced film Bitcoin during a podcast appearance, explaining that she spent six months on contract negotiations to protect her performance from artificial intelligence use.
Gal Gadot addressed her career trajectory during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast hosted by Josh Horowitz, touching on both her exit from the superhero franchise that made her a global star and her controversial upcoming project.
Stepping Away From Wonder Woman After DCU Leadership Changes
Gadot played Wonder Woman in Zack Snyder’s DC Universe, debuting in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before headlining 2017’s standalone “Wonder Woman” directed by Patty Jenkins. That standalone movie was a blockbuster hit with $824 million at the worldwide box office. She reprised the role in “Justice League” later that year and returned for 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984.
Jenkins was developing an idea for “Wonder Woman 3” when James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, effectively ending Snyder’s tenure. While Gadot had claimed in 2023 that a third “Wonder Woman” would be developed in the rebooted DC Universe, sources told Variety at the time Gunn and Safran would not be moving forward with another Gadot-led sequel.
“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,”
Gal Gadot, via “Happy Sad Confused” podcast
Looking ahead to her personal life, Gadot noted that playing the character again no longer fits her current circumstances. 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, Gadot said. 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.
Navigating Artificial Intelligence in Doug Liman’s Bitcoin
Gadot also spoke about her upcoming role in Doug Liman’s “Bitcoin,” a $70 million, AI-enhanced film starring Casey Affleck as the inventor of the cryptocurrency. The cast also features Pete Davidson and Isla Fisher.
Formerly titled Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi, Liman’s latest is produced by Acme AI & FX, founded by Ryan and Matt Kavanaugh, Garrett Grant and Lawrence Grey. The film was shot on a custom soundstage over the course of 20 days in a completely barebones space. Individuals involved with the biopic, written by Nick Schenk, claim that it would have cost $300 million, but using AI to replace traditional lighting and sets got that price tag down to $70 million. The film’s producer, Ryan Kavanaugh, has claimed the production saved more than $200 million by using AI to fill in the production design and lighting.
“This was the longest contract I have ever worked on,” Gadot said of the movie. “It was six months from my lawyers to go through every scenario we could think about as far as the AI component of it. I did not want AI to have anything to do with my performance. We had to protect that, to such an extent that SAG called my lawyers to ask for pointers to update the SAG contract to protect other actors. As far as the performances, it’s all me.”
Gal Gadot, via “Happy Sad Confused” podcast
Industry Adaptation and Working Without Traditional Wait Times
Addressing the broader industry shift toward automated tools, Gadot acknowledged her apprehension while emphasizing the necessity of engagement ahead of her new action movie “The Runner,” hitting Prime Video on Sept. 2.
“I am afraid of AI, but I am going to be afraid and look away? No. I am afraid but I am playing with it and learning it and trying to educate myself. The train has left the station. You’re going to work with it or be out of the game completely. I am trying to make the best of it and protect what I can protect. The AI component in this movie is for sets and the lighting. We had a broad crew and a lot of people were working on this movie.”
Because Liman shot all of the actors in what amounts to a barebones warehouse, Gadot compared the experience to working in theater because it was essentially only the actors on set.
“It felt like a pure art form of creating a movie,” she explained. “I haven’t seen a single shot. As an actress, I wait so much. There’s the legendary quote: ‘You are being paid to wait as an actor.’ Here we would film nonstop because we didn’t have to wait for lighting. We would film on and on and on for 10 hours. It was amazing… as actors you’re always hot. You don’t cool off. We’ll see. It’s crazy.”
