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Credit: 20th Century Studios/DisneyOver the years, the Star Wars franchise has featured many faces. With the original trilogy casting relative unknowns in leading roles in 1977, the Lucasfilm blockbusters went on to bring in well-known actors, as well as introducing new stars into the Star Wars universe.
A new report suggests another modern movie star is headed for the galaxy, far, far, away.
Wonder Woman (2017) lead actress Gal Gadot is reportedly making her Star Wars debut as a Sith Princess in an upcoming Disney+ movie trilogy. Gadot rose to fame starring in the popular Fast & Furious (2009–) franchise as Gisele Yashar before gaining worldwide recognition in her turn as comic book superhero, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman in the DC Universe crossover event, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) featuring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill.
The former soldier and Miss Israel reprised the female warrior character (made famous on screen by Lynda Carter in the seventies) in her own solo film, Wonder Woman and its sequel Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) — both of which were directed by Patty Jenkins — and in the hero team-up, Justice League (2017), directed by Joss Whedon, and the alternate version, Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021).
It’s safe to say that Gadot has a fair amount of star power behind her, with Jenkins’s Wonder Woman films alone grossing over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. And now the Justice League actress is rumored to be joining the dark side.
In a new report, the Wonder Woman star is slated to be appearing in a new Star Wars spin-off as a “Sith Princess that will be a part of [a] Dark Side oriented family.” It goes on to say that Gadot’s Sith character will be part of a dark side equivalent of the Skywalkers, “and will be introduced in a film trilogy that will be released on Disney+”.
Keep in mind, though, that neither Disney nor Lucasfilm have confirmed the rumor, and Gadot’s involvement — and the streaming trilogy itself — is all just speculation at this point.
The rumor comes after Keanu Reeves was also thought to be joining The Walt Disney Company’s Star Wars universe.
The John Wick star has long been rumored to bring fan-favorite Darth Revan to the live-action world, but the latest report suggested that Reeves would be originating a new character called Sith King Valar.
“The Knights of the Old Republic” character, Darth Revan, is a former Jedi of the Old Republic Era and renounced his Jedi ways to become a Sith Lord.
Another report even suggested that Darth Revan would be appearing in the upcoming Star Wars Disney+ series, The Acolyte. The television show is set to be helmed by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland and will focus on the final days of the High Republic as the dark side of the Force gains power — a debut date for this series has not been announced and Reeves’s involvement has not been confirmed.
With Star Wars unveiling the Sith hideaway, Exegol, in the conclusion to the Skywalker Saga — Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019) — there could be a chance that the dark side and the Sith will play a bigger role in the Star Wars universe moving forward.
Star Wars fans have never really gotten a detailed, in-depth look into the dark side of the Force in any Star Wars projects. However, with Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) returning for the highly anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries, and Reeves and Gadot rumored for starring roles as Sith characters, it will be interesting to see how dark Star Wars will go.
Star Wars has seemingly been on the back foot ever since the release of its highly anticipated sequel trilogy. The new entries into the Skywalker Saga Star Wars canon began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, which brought new characters like Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) into the action.
After a turbulent five years — which also saw Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017) divide the entire Star Wars fandom — Lucasfilm seemed to get back on track with the Disney+ smash hit, The Mandalorian, which stars Pedro Pascal (Din Djarin) and unleashed the pop culture icon Grogu (Baby Yoda) into the world.
Whoever is next up for their Star Wars debut will have to find their footing quickly in this ever-growing franchise.
And, if Gal Gadot does appear as a Sith Princess alongside The Matrix actor, Keanu Reeves, it could give Star Wars another jolt into uniting its oft-divided fan base. Gadot — who is married to property mogul, Yaron Varsano — will next star in Red Notice (2021) alongside Dwayne Johnson and Deadpool‘s Ryan Reynolds. In 2022, she is set to appear in Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie film, Death on the Nile, which will be distributed by 20th Century Studios.
Would you like to see Gal Gadot appear in Star Wars?