Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad's Michelle MacLaren to direct Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot stars as the lead in the DC Comics movie due out in 2017

Michelle MacLaren accepts the Norman Felton Award for producing Breaking Bad (Getty Images)

Michelle MacLaren has signed on to direct the upcoming DC Comics movie, Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot.

Best known for her Emmy-winning TV work on Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, McLaren has been confirmed after weeks of rumours.

She will be the first female director of a mainstream comic book movie in a long time – Patty Jenkins came close to directing 2013’s Thor: The Dark World but left to be replaced by Alan Taylor.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman (Warner Brothers)

Lesli Linka Glatter and Jennifer Kent were also reportedly considered for the film, although bosses insisted that they were not “married to the idea of a female director”.

However, industry insider The Hollywood Reporter reported “pressure from within to hire a woman for the job as the character has such a strong association with the notion of female empowerment”.

Director Lexi Alexander said earlier this month that she would not go near the Wonder Womean film for fear of carrying the "f**king weight of gender equality for both characters and women directors".

Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Charles Roven will be among the film’s producers.

A Wonder Woman movie has been in the works on and off for nearly two decades, with the last attached director, The Avengers’ Joss Whedon, departing in 2007.

Gadot will debut her high profile role as the heroine in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before Wonder Woman hits cinemas on 23 June 2017.