Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice director, Zack Snyder, pulls back the curtains on how Wonder Woman – played by Gal Gadot – fits into the highly anticipated superhero blockbuster.

How exciting is it to have Wonder Woman in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice?

It’s an amazing opportunity to have Wonder Woman in the film. We haven’t had a female superhero of that magnitude, and it’s an amazing opportunity for the world to get behind an amazing, powerful female character. I’m happy that we have the opportunity to do that. Half of my movies have female leads…maybe that’s because I have so many strong women in my life. I’m not in the least surprised by a strong female superhero. I’m shocked that it hasn’t happened sooner. By the way, I highly recommend Jill Lepore’s book, The Secret History Of Wonder Woman, if you haven’t read it; it’s amazing, and truly epic.

How hard was it to find your Wonder Woman, and what characteristics were important for her?

We tested a bunch of actresses, as you can imagine. But the thing with Gal is that she’s strong, she’s beautiful, and she’s a kind person, which is interesting, but fierce at the same time. It’s that combination of being fierce but kind at the same time that we were looking for. She can get serious, but she’s amazingly fun to be around. And by the way, she really held her own with Ben in the screen test. Ben was like, ‘Whoa, that girl is something else!’ That was a good sign, because Ben is very tough in the scene, and he’s big and commanding. Anytime that you’re doing a test like that and you’re looking at the other person, you’re thinking, ‘Okay, that’s good stuff.’ That was part of the process, and over time as we got to know Gal, we found out how amazing she is.

Did you see a lot of actresses?

We did…I can’t even remember how many in terms of interviews, but for the final test, I think that we tested six actresses. But we interviewed and saw hundreds, so it was a pretty exhausting process.

Does she have as much screen time as Ben and Henry in this movie?

No, she has a cameo in this movie. No, actually… it’s bigger than a cameo. She comes in and does something.

In the trailer, Superman and Batman make a joke and then Wonder Woman appears. How did that joke come about?

The ‘Is she with you?’ joke at the end of the trailer? You have to see the movie, because it gears into the drama of what’s happening, and if you see it in the context of the film, it completely makes sense that the two of them were trying to figure out who she is…

What kind of dynamic do the three of them have?

Well, they’re forced together, which you get a sense of from the trailer. They’re forced to work together.

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice is released in cinemas on March 25.

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