Snow White should have been a fairy tale. Disney butchered it instead.

Honestly, it's just such a pity.

Snow White's reboot of the 1937 animated classic had all the ingredients for a triumphant fairy tale—stunning visuals, a hefty budget, and a chance to reimagine a beloved story for a new era. Instead, it’s a colossal misfire, and the blame lands squarely on the baffling decision to cast .

Snow White is supposed to be the fairest of them all, right? But no. Disney, in all of its (non) genius, decided to cast Rachel Zegler as Snow White. And it just boggles the imagination.

I'm not even getting into the whole Israel-Gaza politics yet.

Let’s start with Gal Gadot.

At 39, Gadot is a towering 5’10” vision—statuesque, poised, and dripping with the kind of timeless beauty that could’ve redefined Snow White as a regal, awe-inspiring figure. Her work as Wonder Woman proved she can carry a blockbuster with grace and grit, blending vulnerability with unyielding strength.

Imagine her as Snow White: raven hair flowing like a dark river, her commanding presence silencing the forest critters, her piercing gaze turning the Evil Queen’s jealousy into something palpable. Gadot could’ve made Snow White a princess for the ages—delicate yet fierce, a heroine who doesn’t just survive but conquers.

Critics have already noted her standout performance as the Evil Queen, with early reviews praising her “dangerous and fun” energy, a perfect mix of menace and charisma that kids reportedly adore. She’s the one stealing the show, and yet Disney stuck her in a supporting role while handing the crown to an utterly unworthy successor.

Enter Rachel Zegler, the 23-year-old miscasting disaster who sinks this film faster than a poisoned apple. At a diminutive 5’2”, Zegler doesn’t just lack the physical stature to match Gadot—she lacks the gravitas, the charm, and the star power to carry a Disney tentpole. Her breakout in West Side Story showed she can sing, sure, but her Snow White is a flat, uninspired mess.

Where Gadot radiates natural allure, Zegler comes off like a community theater understudy thrust into the spotlight, stumbling through lines with a forced “girlboss” edge that feels painfully out of place in a fairy tale. Critics have been kinder than she deserves—some, like Variety’s Katcy Stephan, call her a “shining supernova” with an “enchanting voice”—but the praise rings hollow when you see her on screen. She’s no Snow White. She’s not the fairest of them all. She’s just… there, a bland placeholder in a role that demands transcendence.

The film’s production history only amplifies this travesty. Announced in 2016, Snow White was delayed by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes, pushing its release from 2024 to 2025. Directed by Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man), it promised a lush, musical reimagining with new songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The trailer, racking up 11.8 million YouTube views, teased a vibrant palette and a magical forest, but even that couldn’t mask the elephant in the room: Zegler’s casting.

From the moment she was announced in 2021, controversy erupted. Her Latina heritage sparked racist backlash from toxic fans who fixated on Snow White’s “skin as white as snow” descriptor, ignoring that the remake ties her name to surviving a snowstorm as a baby. Zegler fanned the flames by trashing the 1937 original, calling the prince a “stalker” and the story “weird,” alienating purists. Her attempts to modernize Snow White—ditching the damsel-in-distress trope for a leadership arc—feel like a clumsy pandering to “woke” sensibilities, stripping the character of her timeless grace. Gadot, by contrast, could’ve balanced tradition and evolution effortlessly, keeping the fairy tale’s soul intact.

Then there’s the political mess. Zegler’s outspoken pro-Palestine stance clashed with Gadot’s vocal pro-Israel advocacy—Gadot, an ex-IDF soldier, gave a fiery speech at an ADL summit on March 4, condemning Hamas. The rumored feud between the two stars (despite their joint Oscars appearance on March 2) turned the film into a culture war lightning rod.

Disney, terrified of the backlash, scaled back the L.A. premiere on March 15 to a press-free photo-op at the El Capitan Theatre, while Zegler’s solo European event in Spain on March 12 conveniently sidestepped Gadot. The studio’s marketing has been a whisper compared to its usual roar—advance ticket sales didn’t even start until March 10—suggesting they’re praying this poisoned apple just fades away.

The film itself? A hollow shell. The CGI dwarfs—retooled after Peter Dinklage’s 2022 critique of the original’s “backward” depiction—look cheap and soulless, a far cry from the charm of 1937. The new songs are catchy (Zegler’s “Waiting on a Wish” gets some love), but her voice, stuck in a lower register instead of the iconic soprano, feels like a betrayal of Snow White’s legacy.

Gadot’s Evil Queen is the lone highlight—her “evil bop” musical number is a showstopper, her gowns a visual feast—but it’s a cruel tease of what could’ve been. She outshines Zegler in every shared scene, her charisma exposing the lead’s inadequacy. Critics like Screen Rant’s Ash Crossan call the film “charming” despite its flaws, but the consensus is clear: it’s a disjointed mess, undone by a lead who can’t carry the weight.

Disney had a chance to make Snow White a triumph, and they blew it. Gal Gadot was the obvious choice—beautiful, towering, magnetic—yet they sidelined her for Rachel Zegler, a decision so absurd it’s insulting. This isn’t a fairy tale; it’s a cautionary tale of corporate cowardice and casting lunacy. Gadot’s Evil Queen deserves a throne, not a supporting role, and Zegler’s Snow White deserves obscurity.

Give this one a skip.