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Thursday, November 20, 2014

Captain Marvel or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Marvel Again

What a roller coaster ride this has been. Remember my love letter to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It wasn't even that long ago. But then the rumor mill started turning and instead of hearing about the highly anticipated (and already long overdue by that point) movies featuring Captain Marvel and Black Panther, we got rumors of more Captain America and more Thor and more Iron Man and a watered down version of what would have been a beautiful Ant Man film.

Then I went to Comic-Con expecting some kind of announcement, but instead got nothing new. I didn't know why Marvel refused to shut up and take my money.

Then, when everyone least expected it, DC announced its movie lineup for the next several years and on the list were none other than Wonder Woman (woman, obviously), Cyborg (black man), and Aquaman (pacific islander [which is awesome, by the way, because Aquaman is depicted as white and blonde, and they go for a minority!]). That, plus The Flash is going to be played by a man who identifies as queer. Granted, These juicy morsels are slim pickings compared to the plethora of white, straight males that abound, but it's still a pretty huge announcement.

Now, DC still one ups Marvel in the minority department even with the new announcement of Captain Marvel (aka Carol Danvers) and Black Panther (aka T'Challa), but I'm still super freaking excited because 1) Marvel has been cranking out far superior films than WB/DC and 2) apart from Wonder Woman and Batman, my superhero love belongs exclusively to Marvel (although the bulk of my original superhero loves belong to Fox, unfortunately).

T'Challa/Black Panther will be played by Chadwick Boseman, which means I have to go watch Get on Up, but no one will make me watch a sports movie. He'll show up IN COSTUME in Captain America: Civil War and I wouldn't be surprised if we're introduced to T'Challa in Avengers: Age of Ultron because of Ultron's history with vibranium (the metal Cap's shield is made out of, only found in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, where T'Challa is King). Hence the early casting.


Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, however, has not been cast. Which actually really bums me out because when she didn't show up in Guardians of the Galaxy, I was really hoping she'd make a cameo in Age of Ultron. Since there is no confirmed actor for Carol, I'm going to put in my two cents on who I want to see play my current favorite (seriously, start reading her current run right now).


Now, I know I said a while ago that Katee Sackhoff was a no brainer, but I've since cooled on that idea. She looks the part and can kick ass, but her acting ability hasn't super impressed me and Carol Danvers can be equal parts hilarious and terrifying. We need someone with range. So, gentle readers, I present to you (in no particular order because my preference changes often and I would be 100% happy with any of these choices), who I want to see play Captain Marvel.

Katheryn Winnick


Okay, so full disclosure, I haven't seen Katheryn Winnick in anything but Vikings on the History Channel. I guess I have seen her in a few other movies, but those movies were pretty forgettable. However, she is not in the least bit forgettable on Vikings. *Spoilers ahead. She plays a shieldmaiden and a total BAMF who is married to the man who eventually becomes Earl. She and their son eventually leave him because the d-bag wanted a second wife and she marries another Earl in another community. That Earl turns out to be a complete and total bastard and she ends up (rightfully) killing him and replacing him as Earl. She then comes back to her ex's village (as an Earl in her own right) with a bunch of other BAMF shieldmaidens to partner up with him and go on crazy raids in England and overthrow the king of whatever part of Norway/Sweden/Denmark they live in and all sorts of BAMF-y goodness. Her character is pretty much the coolest and she plays that character oh so well. I would love to see her be an actual superhero. And she would to the terrifying moments perfectly. Cause Lagertha can be terrifying.

Natalie Dormer


I have a massive crush on this woman. Huge. I loved her in The Tudors (her character was the only thing that kept me watching, hence me not watching it after she was beheaded), she has been perfection itself in Game of Thrones, and she's going to show us all what a physically kick-ass lady she can be in the upcoming Hunger Games movies. Because let's face it, Marjory Tyrrell is one kick-ass lady what with all the manipulation and ladder climbing and possible non-heterosexuality and charity and general thrive when everyone else is dying know-how. Dormer pulls all this off wonderfully, and the more I think about it, the more I want Natalie Dormer as my Captain Marvel.


Jessica Chastain


Jessica Chastain has been wanting to be a superhero for a while, and I am inclined to agree that she should be. I love Sarlett Johansson, but I kind of wish Chastain was Black Widow. But since she's not, we  can hope that she gets her very own movie as Captain Marvel. She's done action, she's done military, she's done sci-fi, she's done comedy(ish)... What other skills does one need to bring to life Princess Sparklefists?


Emily Blunt


First of all, I want her arms. Secondly, Come on. How is this not a fantastic idea? She actually was first choice for Black Widow but turned it down because at the time, movies did not make female superheros very awesome. And yeah, Black Widow in Iron Man 2 was not very awesome. Okay, she was, but she was very highly sexualized, which was not awesome, so I cannot even start to blame her for reading that script and turning it down. But because of that "I'm no one's eye candy" attitude, she would make the perfect Carol Danvers.

Honorable mentions go to Rosamund Pike and Nicole Beharie, I wouldn't mind them either, but they are second tier.

Of these four actresses, two are already big movie stars, one is a well-known TV actress, and the other is a not-so-well-known TV actress. Based on Marvel's track record, they like to pick people who haven't hit it big yet (except maybe with Dr. Strange, for some reason), so of this list, Kathryn Winnick is probably the most likely. Although I want her to be the most likely, so I really have no idea.

Honestly, any of them would be perfect. And someone not on this list would probably be perfect too. I'm just happy we're FINALLY getting a Captain Marvel movie. 

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