Ladies and gentlemen, we have our Wonder Woman.  It’s been clear that Warner Bros. is ramping up its DC presence in the upcoming Man of Steel follow-up Batman vs. Superman, and rumors have swirled that Wonder Woman would be introduced in the film along with Ben Affleck’s Batman and a few other comics characters.  A report surfaced last month that Olga Kurylenko (Oblivion), Elodie Yung (G.I. Joe: Retaliation), and Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious 6) were auditioning for the female lead in director Zack Snyder’s upcoming film, but the nature of the role was being kept under wraps.  Well now not only do we know which actress won the role, but also that the identity of the character is indeed Wonder Woman.  Hit the jump for more.

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Warner Bros. announced today that Gal Gadot will be playing Wonder Woman in Batman vs. Superman.  It’s unclear whether we’ll just see shades of the superhero character in the pic or if we’ll get to see plenty of Wonder Woman in action, but Zack Snyder had this to say about the casting:

“Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most powerful female characters of all time and a fan favorite in the DC Universe. Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role. We look forward to audiences discovering Gal in the first feature film incarnation of this beloved character.”

Gadot is an Israeli-born actress best known for her role as Gisele in the last three Fast & Furious films.  This will be her first starring role in a feature film and is also no doubt the beginning of a series of appearances by Wonder Woman, likely in Justice League and a Wonder Woman franchise.  WB has been trying to get the character off the ground for years, with plenty of feature film scripts developed and a failed TV pilot from David E. Kelley, but it's nice to see that Wonder Woman will finally get her due in a feature film.  Following the massive success of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen, hopefully studios have learned that female-driven franchise films can be a very, very good thing.

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