It feels good, doesn’t it, to finally have a big win for the DCEU? After several years of failed efforts and rocky starts, Warner Bros.’ burgeoning cinematic universe is finally finding its feet thanks to Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman. Not only is the film a hit with critics and audiences alike, but it’s also making big bucks at the box office, surpassing any and all expectations that we had beforehand and bringing in a very healthy profit for the studio.
As such, you’d imagine that star Gal Gadot is probably collecting a pretty nice payday as well, right? Wrong. Or at least, she hasn’t just yet. While it’s true that talent can receive bonuses for having their films hit certain milestones in terms of how much they earn during their theatrical run, what we’re looking at here is Gadot’s salary for her work on Wonder Woman itself. And in news that came as a bit of a surprise last night, we learned that the actress only made $300,000 for the movie. Not only that, but she took home the same amount for Batman V Superman as well and will also net that much for Justice League.
Now, on the surface, that doesn’t sound too bad. $300,000 per film? Sign us up! But late last night, a bit of a storm was whipped up when it was revealed that Henry Cavill, also a relative unknown before joining the DCEU, earned $14 million for Man of Steel. Cries of gender pay gap broke out and everyone got all hot and bothered. Why did Gadot earn so little when compared to her fellow DC Extended Universe star? How is this fair? What justified giving Cavill such a bloated salary? These were the questions flying around and now, Vanity Fair has stepped in to calm the fury.
According to them, Cavill’s $14 million accounts for all of his bonuses, including what he saw from Batman V Superman as well. When you look at just his base pay for Man of Steel, it’s actually similar to the $300,000 that Gadot earned – though Vanity Fair couldn’t give an exact figure. Of course, with Wonder Woman still playing in theatres and racking up more and more money by the day, it’s unclear yet how much Gadot will take home in bonuses when all is said and done. It’s going to be a lot though, and while it may not put her in the $14 million range, she’ll definitely end up with a figure a lot higher than $300,000.
Plus, it’s also important to remember that the actress has yet to sign a contract for Wonder Woman 2, and given how successful the first film was, she’s now in a very good position to negotiate for more money, which she’ll undoubtedly get. So, all things considered, Gal’s pay was perfectly normal and with the future looking extremely bright for the actress, her salary is only going to go up from here.