Gal Gadot's Very Good Reason for Not Speaking Out on James Cameron's 'Wonder Woman' Criticism

In a lengthy interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actress said she simply didn't want to give the "Avatar" director any more print.

"I didn't want to give him the stage," she explained when asked why she didn't speak out sooner. "First of all, I'm a big fan of his work. His movies are great. He was very innovative in many things that he did, and I've got nothing but great things to say about the creative and professional side of his work. When it happened, the timing of when it happened, he was promoting another movie of his. It was like he was looking for publicity and I just didn't want to give him the stage."

When asked what he thought about about all the excitement over Jekins' blockbuster in 2017, Cameron said "All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood's been doing over 'Wonder Woman' has been so misguided. She's an objectified icon, and it's just male Hollywood doing the same old thing. I'm not saying I didn't like the movie but, to me, it's a step backwards."

"Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit," he continued, comparing the movie to "Terminator" and dissing ex-wife Linda Hamilton in the process. "And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female!"

Patty clapped back, writing, "James Cameron's inability to understand what Wonder Woman is, or stands for, to women all over the world is unsurprising as, though he is a great filmmaker, he is not a woman. If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren't free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven't come very far have we."

Speaking with EW, Gadot also sidestepped criticism of "Justice League."

"When I started to shoot Justice League it was literally the day after I wrapped on Wonder Woman. So it was the same, but different, and it was really nice to share the stage with an ensemble cast, and work with some of the guys again," she told the publication. "It was a lot of fun. Obviously it wasn't about Wonder Woman; she was supporting the bigger story. I'm very excited to start working on Wonder Woman 2."

Of the sequel, she added: "There's so much to explore with this character who has 75 years of legacy, there's so much material and so many ways and I'm psyched about it."