Hollywood Road

Gal Gadot was moved by Murphy's passionate discourse. Working alongside him and genuinely assisting him seemed like an appealing prospect. However, she was aware that she had a long way to go to reach the level of someone like Kara Faith.

Becoming a competent producer required not only support from someone like Murphy but also matching abilities, and Gal Gadot knew she was not there yet. As expected, the conversation ended with her nodding in agreement to Murphy's proposals. Since this was a Warner Bros. funded project, although Murphy had the authority to decide on the cast, it wasn't possible for Gal Gadot to become Wonder Woman without a formal audition process.

Additionally, Gal Gadot would join the crew in dual roles as an assistant director and as a personal assistant to the legal advisor, Robert, to accumulate practical work experience.

Murphy was no fool; he wouldn't rashly place Gal Gadot in a significant position without due process, as that would be irresponsible both to the crew and to her personally.

Gal Gadot was indeed very smart, with both high IQ and EQ, but she still had a long way to go to match a career woman like Kara Faith.

Essentially, Murphy had mapped out a joint career path for them both. Hollywood had many examples of director-producer partnerships between spouses, such as the couples of Catherine Kennedy, Peter Jackson, Christopher Nolan, and Zack Snyder, which had matured into a successful model.

Murphy saw a bright future ahead on this path.

A great film needs brilliant characters, which depend not just on the script and director but also on having the right actors who can perform excellently.

If a director wants their film to aspire to greater heights, it's not as some suggest that any actor can play any main role. Even seemingly decorative roles like Wonder Woman require more than just a pretty face to achieve the desired effect.

Directors are crucial to a film, and so are actors.

Given the early preparation required for roles like Superman, after tentatively deciding on Gal Gadot for Wonder Woman, Murphy's next critical task, aside from storyboard and shooting planning, was to finalize the casting for other major characters as soon as possible.

With Paul Wilson busy with the second season of "Game of Thrones", Murphy took charge of casting the main characters, delegating the selection of minor roles to an assistant director who had been with him throughout.

As Paul Wilson and Seth Rogen advanced to directorial roles, a Germanic-descended assistant named Gent was promoted to associate director.

Murphy planned to personally select and audition actors for four key roles, apart from Wonder Woman: Superman/Clark Kent, the famous DC character Lois Lane, and the major antagonist Lex Luthor.

Auditions for Clark Kent and Lois Lane would be extensive. Murphy instructed Bill Rossis to notify CAA, preferring their actors if all other factors were equal.

"My view is that we don't need big-name stars for Superman and Lois Lane," Murphy told Bill Rossis in the Warner Bros. production office. "Young actors with good personal images and some experience in the industry would be very suitable."

Bill Rossis took careful note of Murphy's requirements, promising to quickly send profiles of appropriate actors.

"The sooner, the better," Murphy said. "I want to hold the first auditions for these roles before next weekend."

"What about Lex Luthor?" Bill asked.

"The character is set to be in his youth," Murphy explained, emphasizing the importance of the antagonist's charisma. "I need a young actor with exceptional acting skills, so..."

He pondered briefly, "On my behalf, send audition invitations to Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey..."

As he spoke, Murphy suddenly remembered a favorite actor of his, "And Nicolas Cage."

If Uncle Cage accepted the audition invitation and ultimately succeeded, Murphy could slightly adjust the script regarding Lex Luthor's character.

Since his storyline and many settings were largely detached from the comics, he didn't need to worry too much. Furthermore, with DC Comics' upcoming "New 52" Justice League universe poised for dramatic changes similar to Superman and Wonder Woman's new looks, many elements would draw from and utilize Murphy's screenplay settings.

Murphy delegated other character roles to Gent, who would oversee their auditions and review them afterward.

Originally, Warner Bros. wanted to assemble a five-star cast for Murphy, suggesting Oscar-level actors for Superman's biological and adoptive parents, but he declined.

Instead of investing high salaries in minor supporting roles, he preferred to hire talented veteran actors and redirect savings to filming and special effects.

The special effects and action scenes of the film would not be confined like those in "Deadpool".

After dismissing Bill Rossis, Murphy gathered his action direction and special effects teams. They had discussed the action and special effects extensively, a dialogue that would continue through the stages of preparation, filming, and post-production.

Special effects were a focal point for "Man of Steel". Initially, Murphy wanted to assign them to Digital

 Domain, a studio in Venice busy with Michael Bay's "Transformers" and lacking available staff.

Thus, Murphy turned to Industrial Light & Magic, which assembled a large special effects team to work closely with the crew throughout.

As for action choreography, all action scenes in the film would abandon the martial arts-based choreography recently popular in Hollywood. Both Superman and Wonder Woman's battles would return to raw displays of speed and strength, supported by immense destructive power.

This approach wasn't randomly chosen but based on extensive surveys. According to feedback, over eighty percent of general audiences watched fight scenes on screen for a mix of catharsis and aesthetics.

While real fights might be crude and aimed solely at knocking down an opponent, cinematic fights needed to be stylish and visually pleasing, fulfilling aesthetic needs alongside the cathartic release of on-screen violence.

Thus, the fights had to be both violent and graceful—a twisted combination.

To satisfy the cathartic aspect, the punches needed to be hard; too much force could compromise the grace of the movements, while too little would diminish the thrill of violence. Watching a graceful yet feeble fight was less appealing than watching a dance.

A well-choreographed fight should balance strength and elegance, achieving a harmony of force and finesse.

In the past era of hard-hitting Hollywood action films, on-screen fights were dominated by muscular men—plenty of power but no elegance, stimulating hormones but failing to meet aesthetic needs.

That changed when Hong Kong action choreographers like Yuen Woo-ping arrived in Hollywood. Before heading to Hollywood, they had perfectly balanced strength and grace in action: from the 1980s to the mid-1990s, there were numerous beautifully violent martial arts and wuxia films. However, once in Hollywood, without trained martial arts stars, the potency of their choreography diminished.

Films like "The Matrix" managed somewhat better after intensive training of the actors, while others like "Charlie's Angels" seemed more like dance routines containing combat moves.

Punching a sandbag was necessary to vent aggression—how could lightly touching it be satisfying?

In "Man of Steel", Superman's superpowers, aside from heat vision, were primarily physical attacks, needing only to showcase raw strength and speed.

To depict Superman's speed and power, Murphy opted for a direct approach—increasing the pace to emphasize strength.

As for elegance, Superman could skip it, while Wonder Woman might incorporate a touch.

Just a touch, as Wonder Woman's actions would also primarily focus on speed and power. With the level of speed and power defined for both characters, intricate tricks were superfluous. The most straightforward attacks were the most appropriate.

Who could imagine, with Superman and Wonder Woman's level of power, that their fights would require fancy moves to deceive and strike opponents?

That would be an even more disastrous spectacle than a monumental battle by Superman.

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