It’s a cloudy day, and we’ve been working a lot lately. I hope you’re all staying cool during these warm summer months. Also, I finally saw ‘Wonder Woman’ so we’ll talk about that on Thursday.

Gal Gadot Wasn’t Paid Much For ‘Wonder Woman’ Roles – According to Variety, who’s citing an Israeli entertainment show, “Good Evening with Gai Pines”, claims that Gadot was paid $300,000 for her three roles. It’s not specified if that was for all three, or per film. The narrative most will spin is “gender pay inequality”, but that’s not the case. DC didn’t know if “Wonder Woman” – the franchise – would work. This is not at all different than Marvel’s approach with “Captain America”. Chris Evans, who had a much bigger star than Gadot did for his first film, was also paid $300,000 for his work as Captain America. Obviously he’s getting paid more now, as Gadot will be getting on her next contract.

It’s also speculated that unlike others, Gadot had a lucrative incentive ritch contract, which means she’ll make a lot more money depending on the performance of the “Wonder Woman” film. Most incentive contracts also have a base pay increase if the individual can show that they’re worth the money. So the idea that Gadot is getting underpaid is really a misnomer fueled by fans to push a narrative.

Numerous reports are also bringing up Henry Cavil’s $14 million for “Man of Steel”. However there’s a difference here; “Superman” as a franchise is a proven success, ergo the actor who gets that role could demand more. A film like “Wonder Woman” is unproven, as no property has existed in any form since the 70’s. It needed to establish itself. In 15-20 years when Gadot get recast, the next actress will see a significant pay raise thanks to Gadot.

If you want me on the “Gadot didn’t get paid what she deserved” band wagon, tell me she earned less than 8 figures for “Wonder Woman 2”, then we’ll talk.

Secret Empire vs. Batman – Marvel had a good launch with “Secret Empire #1”, but “Batman #22” still kicked it’s ass. How? Covers my friend. “Secret Empire” only had one cover, while “Batman #22”, aka ‘the Button’ had two major ones. Both in the top eleven. The combined sales pushed it over the 157,517 units that Marvel sold by about 30,000 issues.

Keaton Cut Batman Dialogue – According to Daniel Waters, the screenwriter for “Batman Returns”, Michael Keaton was big on The Batman not talking as much. Waters went on to say;

My version of the script had more a lot more Batman and Bruce Wayne speeches. Michael Keaton would go through the script and say, ‘Hey, that’s a great line, but you gotta cut it. This is a good speech, but you gotta take it out.’ He wanted to have very minimal dialogue, especially in the Batsuit. When I saw the final film, I realized he was exactly right.

What Will ‘Bumblebee’ Be About? – No one really wants a “Bumblebee” film. We don’t, who does? Money makers. Well apparently Lorenzo di Bonaventura talked to Collider and revealed how they want to handle the film, saying;

It reminds me a little bit of Iron Giant years ago when I did that movie at Warner Bros. It just reminds me a little bit of that where it was very contained and yet it didn’t feel small.

Awesome Trash-Formers Statues – Father and son combo, Yu Zhinlin and Yu Lingyun have built a series of Transformer statues out of trash in the Hunan province of China. It’s very impressive, even if the film franchise is ‘meh’.

Quick Hits – Tyler James is claiming Jon Watts said that “Spider-Man: Homecoming will have a post-credit scene. Star Trek: Discovery will debut September 24th, at 8:30 p.m. EST. ‘Man of Steel 2’ will not introduce Supergirl despite rumors to the contrary.