Gal Gadot and Joss Whedon had arguments on the set of Justice League. (Photo: AP) Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot denied director Joss Whedon‘s claim that a blow-up occurred between them on the set of Justice League because English isn’t her first language. Gadot said that she ‘understood perfectly’ when Whedon used language that he described as ‘flowery’ to command her to follow instructions.
In a profile in New York Magazine — his first real interaction with the media after a series of controversies that erupted in 2020–Whedon addressed the accusations that have been made against him, ranging from the affairs he had during his marriage to the toxic environment he fostered on the sets of the numerous projects he’s worked on. Gadot had said previously that she’d had an argument with Whedon while filming reshoots for Justice League, during which he threatened her career. She said she took care of the matter immediately.
Whedon, in the profile, said, “I don’t threaten people. Who does that? English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.” When she told him she wanted a scene cut from the film, Whedon said he told her she’d have to tie him to a railroad track and do it over his dead body. “Then I was told that I had said something about her dead body and tying her to the railroad track,” he said. Gadot responded, “I understood perfectly. I will never work with him, and would never suggest any of my peers to work with him in the future.”
Whedon also claimed that Gadot accused him of not understanding superhero filmmaking, which he, as the director of two Avengers films, took as an affront. At one point, according to a crew member, things got so heated on set that he halted filming and said that he had never worked with ‘a ruder group of people’.
Whedon took over Justice League, which he described as the worst decision he’s ever made, after original director Zack Snyder had to drop out due to a family tragedy. Whedon claimed in the profile that Snyder was dismissed because the studio lost faith in him, which Warner Bros. denied.
The controversy began when Cyborg actor Ray Fisher accused Whedon of abusive behaviour on set, for which the filmmaker was subsequently investigated and had ‘remedial action’ taken against him. Whedon didn’t directly blame Snyder for the fan backlash he faced after the release of the film, but pointed out that the finger-pointing was all being done in the name of one person.
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