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Despite the hurricane of negative consensus, what if I told you I dug Gal Gadot’s remote performance as the Evil Queen in the 2025 live-action Snow White? Hear me out.

In Walt Disney’s original landmark 1937 animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Evil Queen exudes presence, evil, and a fabulous cape as a Classic Disney Villain (thank you, lead animator Art Babbit), obsessed with eliminating her stepdaughter Snow White for the 'fairest one of all' title. 

For better or worse, the 2025 Snow White (directed by Marc Webb of The Amazing Spider-Man) live-action remake spins old elements a new sheen: Snow White’s Prince Charming is now a rebel leader with a merry band, Doc the leader of the uncanny valley Seven Dwarves has a wee bit of a political education, and Rachel Zegler’s Snow White balances wholesome vintage apple-pie sweetness with a defined inner fortitude. Plus, Zegler’s princess gets the glory of confronting the queenly stepmother who usurped her kingdom of kindness.

And then enter the live-action Evil Queen with the placid visage of Wonder Woman’s Gadot. Prior to viewing, I landed among the consensus of the casting backlash, which also can’t be divorced from Gadot’s vocalness over her support of Israel's occupation of Palestine. So I found myself proven wrong and impressed that a Snow White live-action remake, of all things, harnesses the perception by some of a cold vacancy to Gadot's acting to its advantage. 

Gal Gadot's Evil Queen is so good because Disney stopped trying to make its villains good with Disney's Snow White

Perhaps I’ve gotten so fatigued by Disney’s animation-to-live-action trend that even a 'good' live-action Evil Queen feels like a splash of cool water. Because in the trend of animation being refashioned in live-action for better or worse, its directors and storytellers thought its audience would have an easier time believing a human antagonist rather than a sorcerer twisting a dastardly mustache or a stepmother petting her grinning sinister cat named Lucifer. You see this in the expanded humanization of the villains’ background in previous Disney live-action remakes. Ursula bemoans the injustice of being a family pariah in The Little Mermaid; Scar in the Mufasa prequel was revealed to be reared into the toxic masculinity that stoked his jealousy; Lady Tremaine carries the pain of widowhood and makes her stepdaughter Cinderella a punching bag; and even Gaston in Beauty and the Beast is given PTSD from serving in the army. Depending on the different craftsmen of those remakes, these antagonistic additions function in varying degrees on a case-by-case basis. At their worst, they can overcomplicate and bog down these fairy tale tellings. As a trend, these campaigns for evolving classic villains can be seen as overcorrection, rather than enhancement, in favor of a cynical checklist of “complexity.” 

So when Gadot’s enchantress strutted into Snow White’s kingdom to beguile and seduce Snow White’s kingdom, I could not help but to moan and wince, “What’s her backstory? What sympathy points are they going to give her?” Being raised in rags? Nope. Being persecuted for magic? Nope. A guy stole off her wing in a metaphor for assault? Oh wait, that’s Maleficient’s story already. A touch of deep-seated, primal insecurity? Maybe. 

The film answers that with 'nothing!' and it’s great. The Evil Queen in Gadot’s shape isn’t bestowed any deeper motive than self-absorbed beauty and power. Screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson wrote one rock-solid metaphor for the live-action Evil Queen’s ethos: She mocks Snow White by comparing a diamond to a fragile flower. Say what you will about Snow White aesthetically as a picture, but the metaphor does more than enough to anchor the Queen’s greed in her obsession to the impenetrable point of icy ideology. 

How Gal Gadot's Evil Queen performance sets up Rachel Zegler's Snow White 

If anything, leaving the Evil Queen’s history as a blank slate gives breathing space to flesh out Zegler’s reimagined Snow White as she springs from passive to 'yas, girl' rebellion. While Snow White appeals to her wicked stepmother’s humanity, there’s no sympathetic clutter to stumble over, nor a need to mourn the wicked. It doesn’t burden the film with a moral quandary to save and redeem the conqueror. 

As a beneficial byproduct, Gadot’s vacancy is what gives the film room to absorb the campy fun of the Evil Queen flaunting her style in her villain song 'All Is Fair,' arguably the film’s best new original song exclusively for this film amid the sweet-sounding nostalgia-button classics. Yes, it doesn’t require a professional ear to know that Gadot’s vocals aren't at the level of the professional singer's voice of Zegler. And yet, knowing the strings in Gadot’s voice enhances the futility of the Queen’s appetite for power. It makes Snow White’s case even stronger that the flower is more sculpted than the diamond.

Disney's new Snow White says the 1937 Prince Charming "literally stalks" the titular character.