In 2013, DC Comics decided to craft themselves their very own Cinematic Universe to compete with Marvel, so DC decided it was time to finally pull Wonder Woman out of development hell. For decades, the character has had big screen projects in development that fell on and off in the early stages of planning and every time, before anyone would even start filming the darn thing, the project would fall apart and get scrapped. This time was different as DC was both deadly serious and hellbent on finally bringing Wonder Woman out of development hell and onto the big screen. A nationwide audition process was done to find DC's next Wonder Woman.
Eventually, Gal Gadot was chosen to play the heavily sought after role and in 2017, Wonder Woman was finally given a major film to her name. Much like Gal Gadot's performance, the film itself opened to rave reviews. While it seems like everybody's happy with Gal Gadot's pitch perfect performance, it's hard not to look at other rumored names and wonder "What if?" What if there was a better choice out there? Then again, on the other hand, looking at some of these rumored names, we could have gotten a lot worse than Gadot.
15 BETTER: EVA GREEN
10 years ago, when Wonder Woman remained in development hell in Hollywood, Eva Green was in talks to play what was reportedly a vital female role in the movie. This led many to speculate that she was being primed to play Wonder Woman herself. Then, in 2015, the same rumor came out, only this time she was rumored to play a villain alongside Sean Bean.
In any case, we would have loved to see Eva Green play Wonder Woman. As we all know from her well documented line of esteemed performances, Eva Green is an excellent actress and most certainly has the chops to play Wonder Woman at any stage in her life. She has a tendency to play strong female characters in movies and could have used that experience for Wonder Woman.
14 WORSE: CHRISTINA HENDRICKS
Christina Hendricks is a name that frequently pops up in the realms of the comic book community as someone who should play Wonder Woman. Adding fuel to the fire in 2011, director Nicolas Winding Refn expressed an interest in wanting to see his Drive star play the Princess of Themyscira.
Then, in 2016, he even admitted that he talked to Warner Bros. about directing such a film with Hendricks in the lead. Much of the hopes regarding Hendricks as Wonder Woman seem to boil down to her voluptuous shape fitting in line with Wonder Woman's usual appearance. Even though she may look the part, we doubt she can act the part. Hendricks is a good actress in her own right, but we find it hard to see her as Wonder Woman.
13 BETTER: COBIE SMULDERS
Cobie Smulders is remembered best for playing fan favorite Robin from the always fondly remembered show How I Met Your Mother, but many of us seem to forget when she was a superhero in her own right for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While she has only appeared in a small handful of Marvel movies, she has done so under the guise of special S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill.
This was enough to fuel rumors in 2013 that Smulders was attached to play Wonder Woman for the new DCEU. Years later, we found out these might have been more than rumors as Joss Whedon admitted that if he was directing Wonder Woman, he'd had Smulders play her. We understand why as the conviction and versatile toughness she brought to Agent Hill is indicitive of what we usually expect from the Wonder Woman character.
12 WORSE: CHARISMA CARPENTER
Once upon a time not too long ago, Joss Whedon was attached to direct a big screen adaptation of Wonder Woman in the mid-2000's. A big rumor migrating around comic book land at this time was that the lead role was pitting Buffy co-stars and Wonder Woman hopefuls Sarah Michelle Gellar and Charisma Carpenter against each other.
While we have no problem imagining Gellar in the role, we struggle trying to imagining Carpenter donning the golden tiara. Carpenter always did an exquisite job with playing Cordelia Chase for the Buffyverse, but when it comes to other roles she's given for other tv show guest spots and movies, Carpenter usually comes off as lackluster. Our Wonder Woman cannot be lackluster and therefore, Carpenter cannot be Wonder Woman.
11 BETTER: ELODIE YUNG
Elodie Yung is best recognized for playing Elektra for Marvel's Netflix series extension of their Cinematic Universe. Long before she took on that role, she was actually auditioned for Wonder Woman. In fact, she was one of the three finalists in the running for the part beside Olga Kurylenko -- the Bond Girl from Quantum of Solace -- and of course the winner of the part, Gal Gadot. Had things turned out slightly differently, we have no problem buying Yung as a potential Wonder Woman.
While the character of Elektra is vastly different from that of Wonder Woman, Elektra is quite the challenging part that demands a lot from the actress playing her. If Yung can pull off Elektra with flying colors, she would nail Wonder Woman.
10 WORSE: BEYONCE
Beyonce is one of those faces that often pop up in fan castings for Wonder Woman. Oddly enough, her history with Wonder Woman is even more deep rooted than that. Not only was she reportedly in talks to play the part back in the day, she inadvertently helped Gal Gadot nail her audition for Wonder Woman since Gadot listened to Beyonce to psyche herself up for the part. Some wonder how Beyonce would have fared had the tables turned.
We would guess not very well. To Beyonce's credit, she is a tremendous singer/dancer and a remarkable entertainer. However, she is a lousy actor, turning in some crappy performances in films like Dreamgirls and Obsessed. We suggest that from now on, Beyonce just stick to music because she isn't cut out for acting.
9 BETTER: JESSICA BIEL
Back when George Miller, director of Mad Max: Fury Road, still had a Justice League movie in development back in 2007, rumors circulated that Jessica Biel was in line to play Wonder Woman. As it turns out, there were actually truth to those rumors, but Biel wound up turning the project down. Believe it or not, we would have loved to have seen Biel give Wonder Woman a shot, and a part of us think that she would have been better than Gadot herself.
We know, it sounds crazy to put Jessica Biel of all put on such a high pedestal, but while she has a bad rep for playing lame atypical roles in giving forgettable performances, she was absolutely breathtaking when she starred on the USA Network's The Sinner, which earned her a Golden Globe nod. We think she could do similar stellar work for Wonder Woman.
8 WORSE: EVE TORRES
Eve Torres is a former professional wrestler who appeared during a season one episode of Supergirl as the villain Maxima. Prior to her appearance, it was rumored that she would pop up on the show as that universe's version of Wonder Woman. Even when that rumor got shut down upon her actual appearance, this did leave people wondering what the new Wonder Woman film would look like if it would was Eve Torres in the lead instead of Gal Gadot.
If one thing is for sure, it's that Torres would have been a much less suitable actress in the role. While professional wrestling and acting do go hand in hand in many ways, there was nothing about Torres's acting ability to impress us enough to say she deserved a chance to even audition for Wonder Woman, yet alone play the part.
7 BETTER: ALEXANDRA DADDARIO
In 2013, when DC was still looking for their Wonder Woman, Alexandra Daddario said in an interview that she "would love to" play Wonder Woman in a movie. This was enough to ignite internet rumors that Daddario was in the running to play the character for the DCEU. If we had to keep it strictly a buck, Daddario would be a superb Wonder Woman.
We know that may sound superfluous to say in light of the recent Hollywood fluff she's appeared in -- stuff like Baywatch and The Layover -- but it's all too easy to forget that Daddario has some legitimately impressive acting chops of her own. She was able to hold her own beside acting greats like Woody Harrelson on True Detective and we're positive she can do the same in an important lead role such as playing Wonder Woman.
6 WORSE: GINA CARANO
Although Gina Carano has been rumored to play the character for quite some time, she admitted in a 2014 interview that she was never in the running to play Wonder Woman, never asked to play the part, and has no idea if she was even considered. On sheer look alone, we understand why so many people want Carano in the role.
Some people still argue that Carano would have been a better fit to play Wonder Woman than Gal Gadot is. However, we need to question Carano's acting ability. Let's not forget that Carano's first and last chance at the Hollywood brass ring as a leading lady came with Steven Soderbergh's Haywire needed to have her performance improved in post-production due to a voice that didn't fit the character.
5 BETTER: MORENA BACCARIN
There was once a time during the mid-2000's that Joss Whedon was attached to direct the latest attempt to bring Wonder Woman to the big screen. Whedon's involvement in the project was enough to stir up rumors that Whedon would be looking for his former Firefly star, Morena Baccarin, to fill the ruby red shoes of the character.
When asked for a comment on the speculation, Baccarin replied that the decision was not up to her, but if she was asked, she wouldn't say no. Honestly, the Emmy nominated former star of Homeland would not be a bad fit to play Wonder Woman. She certainly has the acting ability to pull it off, hence the Emmy; something Gal Gadot has yet to be nominated for.
4 WORSE: MEGAN FOX
There was once a time where fans considered Megan Fox the perfect fit for Wonder Woman, if only for appearance alone. She was frequently the subject of fan made stills photoshopping the iconic costume onto Fox, and if we're being perfectly honest, she doesn't look half bad in it. Except that's all there would be to a potential Megan Fox Wonder Woman.
First off, Fox isn't very tall and Wonder Woman has always been noted for being freakishly tall, much like Gal Gadot herself. Second, let's be honest, Megan Fox is farthest from the best actress Hollywood could ever find to swing the Lasso of Truth. Still any rumors regarding Megan Fox as Wonder Woman died in 2009 when she called the heroine "lame" in an interview.
3 BETTER: JAIMIE ALEXANDER
Despite playing Lady Sif for Marvel's Cinematic Universe franchise ever since 2011's Thor, Jaimie Alexander confirmed in 2013 that she was approached by and had been in talks with DC about possibly appearing in "a role" for the Batman V Superman film. She neglected to admit what role she was in talks with the studio for, but this news did break at a time when DC were still looking for someone to play Wonder Woman for their DC Extended Universe.
Years later, Alexander did admit she was considered to play Wonder Woman after she lost the role to Gal Gadot. Alexander knew that she wasn't likely to get the part since she was contracted to Marvel, but looking back at her role as Lady Sif in retrospect, she essentially already is Marvel's Wonder Woman in that respect. The experience gives her an edge over Gal Gadot.
2 WORSE: KATIE HOLMES
Katie Holmes has never been very well received by the comic book fandom. When they saw her play Rachel in Batman Begins, it was unanimously agreed that she was atrocious and many found it to be a blessing to see her replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal later on. The fandom surely would have rioted had she be given the keys to the kingdom that is the Wonder Woman franchise.
Believe it or not, this was a very real possibility not too long ago. At least according to 2007 rumors which suggested that Holmes was in talks to sign on to play Wonder Woman back when Hollywood was anxious to get the character back on the big screen. Seven years later, Holmes expressed that she'd love to play Wonder Woman, claiming she needed a tramp stamp to play her. Thankfully, Gal Gadot was tramp-stamp-less when she portrayed the character.
1 BETTER: KATIE MCGRATH
Katie McGrath first found global acclaim upon playing Morgana throughout the entirety of Merlin's series run. That acclaim quickly grew to her skyrocketing to fame, using it to star in the major Hollywood production Jurassic World and most recently, being on the show Supergirl playing Lena Luthor. Every step of the way, McGrath has been praised for her tremendous acting ability and her knack for playing strong female characters.
We have no doubt that McGrath would knock a role like Wonder Woman out of the park. And quite frankly, we think audiences would be more interested in Wonder Woman with McGrath at the helm. For those skeptical, 2017 Year-End statistics showed that McGrath's portrayal as Lena Luthor beat out Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman as the most talked about woman on Tumblr, where most of Wonder Woman's key audience rests.