Casting Call Face-Off: Captain Marvel
Marvel Comics’ best female superhero? It’s not The X-Men’s Storm, The Avengers’ Black Widow or The Fantastic Four’s Invisible Woman and it’s certainly not Elektra. It’s the one non-comic fans probably think is a guy — Captain Marvel.
Carol Danvers has had a long history in the Marvel Universe dating back to the 1960s. As a security chief on a military base, she is caught in an explosion, which merges her DNA with that of the Kree hero Captain Marvel. The incident makes her a human/Kree hybrid and grants her the deluxe superpower package of flight, super strength, a level of invulnerability and energy projection. She went on to become a member of The Avengers and became a regular supporting character in The X-Men for awhile.
But like most things involving an Avengers-related character, Kurt Busiek wrote the definitive take on Ms. Marvel, who he named Warbird, during his stint on the title where he showed her struggle with alcoholism and ultimate recovery. Now calling herself Captain Marvel and again a key member of The Avengers, Danvers is currently one of the A-list heroes in Marvel Comics.
There’s been strong rumors of Marvel Studios deciding that after its massive success with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, it’s time to have a film featuring one of their female characters with Captain Marvel being the heavy favorite.
Female superheroes haven’t exactly had a lot of success at the box office. Despite a spectacular costume, Halle Berry couldn’t get audiences to the theaters to see “Catwoman” in 2004 as it only managed $40.2 million against a $100 million budget. Why a movie starring Catwoman needed a $100 million budget is another question.
At the peak of her “Alias” popularity, Jennifer Garner failed to make “Elektra,” a 2005 spin-off of the financially disappointing “Daredevil” a must see either. “Elektra” fared even worse than “Catwoman,” earning a pitiful $24 million of its more sensible $43 million budget. That was the last year we’ve seen a comic book-based film starring a female lead. Care to take a guess as to how many comic book movies there have been since “Elektra?” Try 50. That’s a pretty shocking number.
So if it does happen, a “Captain Marvel” movie has a lot riding on it, not just for Marvel Studios, but the future of other female superhero films as well.
That said, I figured it was time to get my Junior Casting Agent cap back on and see who would make the best Captain Marvel. Joining me on this little endeavor is Michelle Alexandra of eclipsemagazine.com and Julian Lytle.
Here’s what we came up with:
These are some fine choices you came up with, all of them. Sackhoff has been on the radar for this role for a minute and would be a great fit, and Anna Forv would be as well. If Marvel decided to go with the alternative black version I think Naomie Harris would be a great choice as well. A couple more names I would like to throw in the mix is Yvonne Strahovski as well as Christina Hendricks, they would seem like some solid choices to me as well. I like that Sachoff has been a strong fixture in the action/sci-fi genre as well, and definitely provides a kick ass demeanor that would be well suited to a big screen version of ‘Ms. Marvel’. I was just saying how it’s time for Marvel to break some new ground and introduce more female lead superheroes as well as black lead superheroes like Black Panther and Luke Cage. She-Hulk would be badass as well, I didn’t mention ‘Wasp’ because I’m assuming she’ll appear in “Ant-Man”. It’s going to be cool seeing ‘Scarlet Witch’ in ‘Age Of Ultron’, but Whedon and Marvel are going to have to more than that in the near future in my honest opinion. As much as I love the ‘Avengers’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘Thor’, ‘Cap’, ‘Hulk’ etc which I do we’re not geeting enough female superheroes and the black superheroes we’re seeing like ‘War Machine’ and ‘Falcon’ are ‘Robin’ sidekick heroes and nothing more. Don’t get me wrong now I love ‘War Machine’ and ‘Falcon’ but they are not lead superheroes and i’ll it if Marvel thinks throwing these guys in ‘Avengers’ sequels with token black superheroes will get the job done, they’re in for a big disappointment because it won’t. Sorry for the extra quotes, just getting a little frustrastion off my chest lol.
I see Strahovski mentioned as another big favorite, but I’ve never seen anything she’s done, so I’ll have to trust your judgment regarding her.
Falcon could be a solid lead hero if done right.
Don’t get me wrong Jeff I like Falcon, he’s just not an impactful leading black superhero like Black Panther or even Luke Cage is. I’m glad he as well as War Machine are featured in the movies, but that’s just enough for me until I see the likes of Black Panther and Luke Cage on the big screen. It seems like Marvel is trying to squeeze Falcon until a more prominent role by what they are doing with that “Avengers Assemble” show. Falcon is great for “CA: TWS” and I wouldn’t mind seeing him pop up in ‘Avengers’ sequels, but not at the expense of not seeing Black Panther in the upcoming sequels, no way. I love what Marvel has done, but it’s time for them to stop being too soft, commercial and candy coated and explore their rich history of deeper and more complex heroes and characters. Black Panther, Thanos, Dr. Strange, Ms. Marvel, Inhumans, She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Iron fist, Misty Knight, Ultron, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man, Quicksilver, Wasp, GOTG etc are all characters I’m really looking forward to seeing. It’s just time for Marvel to expand their universe, you can ride the tidal waves of ‘Iron Man’, ‘Thor’, ‘Hulk’ and ‘Captain America’ for just so long before audiences will get tired of seeing the same heroes over and over again. Throughout Phases 2 & 3 should be a time of transition and Marvel better do it if they know what’s good for them. RDJ, Hemsworth, Evans, Johanson, Jackson are all gone after “Avengers 3”. You can’t just try to throw in new faces when those main players leave because people will be saying who the hell are these guys, get the audiences invested in the newer characters so you can have a smooth transition instead of a rough and doomed one.
Can I ask about another character for your opinion? I hate to just barge in with a topic but I have kicked this one around. If misty knight ever popped up who do you think could fit the bill.. or should be just give pam grier a youth portion and be done with it. Oh I see fred mentioned her and I agree. I truly believe misty with wing could be a hit. It could be like charlies angel with no damn charlie and be good and with a grittier tone. If anything a series is more than capable as the vastly superior Arrow to agents of sky fatigue and boredom shows.
No barging in at all Keith. I really like that suggestion though so if you have others you’d like to see me “cast,” feel free to throw them out there!
I think I’ve already found the perfect Misty Knight. Check out this post: http://lylesmoviefiles.com/2013/11/04/make-this-movie-hollywood-power-man-and-iron-fist-comics-second-best-dynamic-duo/