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Casting Couch: The Women of the Avengers

By | March 19th, 2014
Posted in Columns | 2 Comments

Last week, the internet saw some fans in a fervor when frequent rumor mongerer Latino Review claimed Carol Danvers would be in The Avengers: Age of Ultron (clearly missing when Matthew said she’d be in the film back in January — but it’s OK to ignore him, we all do too). The rumors were unconfirmed, with “Captain Marvel” writer Kelly Sue DeConnick addressing them as potential, because why not? It’d be very cool to see, and it would certainly line-up with other Marvel initiatives like Carol joining the Guardians of the Galaxy, the current iteration of which being the template for the upcoming film.

But Carol potentially being in Avengers 2 did bring up a frequent and interesting debate: why aren’t there more women in the Avengers films in general? Sure, we have Black Widow and Elizabeth Olsen will debut as Scarlet Witch, but this is a very bare bones selection at best. We won’t even see the Wasp until after Ultron with Ant-Man in 2015 (rumored to be portrayed by Evangeline Lilly), and she’s a founding member of the Avengers. Seems strange to me.

While I’d rather not shoe-horn female roles into Marvel’s Cinematic Universe just for the sake of filling a quota, there are a few prominent female roles in Marvel’s Avengers line-up that I think would make good additions to the films. So with today’s Casting Couch, we’re going to be looking at the women of the Avengers that deserve roles onscreen and who should play them, starting with…

Captain Marvel – Alice Eve

Captain Marvel is easily the fan favorite contender for Character Most Likely To Appear On Screen. Many fans even seem to have already been set on who should play Carol, with Kate Sackhoff being the fan favorite in the same way that Jeremy Renner was the fan favorite to play Hawkeye before he actually got cast in the role. Sackhoff is certainly a strong fit for Carol, with her portrayal as Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica being pretty great reasoning as to why she’d make a good superhero, but I’d like to offer a different route.

In terms of underrated actresses, Alice Eve is second to none. Having been unable to appear in X-Men First Class as Emma Frost (which she would’ve done leaps and bounds better than what January Jones did) Alice Eve has gone from som rather unflattering roles (Entourage, Sex and the City) to roles of actual depth and dimension. Her performance in Star Trek Into Darkness was arguably one of my favorite things about the movie, taking a character that was being pushed into trope-laden places and elevating her beyond that. If there is any actress that I think could bring the inspired and inspirational character of Carol Danvers to life, I think Alice Eve could certainly be the one to do it.

Spider-Woman – Imogen Poots

If you’re going to have Captain Marvel in your Avengers, I think it’s only fair that you cast her gal pal Jessica Drew in there as well. Carol and Jessica have been BFFs for sometime now, with their relationship particularly evolving in Kelly Sue’s “Captain Marvel” run Bendis’ “Avengers,” and I think that dynamic could work really well onscreen in the same way that we have a lot of strong male bonds in the Avengers team.

So for the role of Spider-Woman, I would propose Imogen Poots. Poots is an actress whose work I’ve enjoyed for quite some time now, particularly in last year’s Filth, though she has certainly played the warrior before in Centurion. She’s a young but talented actress, and I think from what we’ve seen of her in past films that she’d make a strong partner to Eve’s Carol, with Poots definitely being able to embody a more sassy and strong but still unsure heroine like Spider-Woman.

She-Hulk – Rosario Dawson

She-Hulk is a character I wouldn’t exactly expect in the Avengers, even if there is enough to justify her appearance within (that justification being: Hulk is there). That said, a fan favorite character like She-Hulk could potentially do well on screen, especially if she remains in her She-Hulk form throughout the film as she often does in the comics.

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At some point, I got it into my head that Rosario Dawson would make a great She-Hulk, and since that thought appeared I’ve found I can’t shake it. But I think, looking at Dawson’s filmography, that that’s not a hard leap to make, or even one that needs a lot of justification. Looking at Dawson in something like Trance would explain why she’d be great at the more human aspects of She-Hulk, and looking at Grindhouse or Sin City would show how well she can kick ass. I think if anyone could inhabit the larger than life aspects of She-Hulk well, it’d certainly be Rosario Dawson.

Mockingbird – Rosamund Pike

With Hawkeye in the Avengers as well as Black Widow and our pitch for Spider-Woman, I suppose it only makes sense that we also get his ex-wife in there, right? Never mind the  fact that Bobbi Morse, since returning from the dead, has been perhaps one of the best and most underused ladies in Marvel’s arsenal, a kick-ass spy on par with Natasha Romanoff’s talents with perhaps a bit more remorse. (For what its worth, she’s had some great moments in “Secret Avengers” recently.)

But really, I think if anyone has a good chance of having a role in an Avengers film, Morse would make an excellent addition alongside the current cast of characters. So for our cast, I propose Rosamund Pike for the role of Bobbi Morse. She’s been a favorite of mine in quite a few films recently, particularly The World’s End as the entirely sensible Sam, but she’s also not a stranger to the world of action. In terms of the role of Bobbi Morse, I think Pike could bring a good amount of depth, intrigue, mystery and even sass to the role, with a quick wit and a well-placed punch. I also think Pike could act as a rather interesting foil to Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow, as the two seem like they would operate quite well together as both friends and opponents, or just frenemies.

Quake – Zoe Kazan

“Secret Warriors” was pretty much a critical darling and fan favorite series during its run, and it propelled Daisy Johnson aka Quake to the forefront in the Marvel Universe. She was eventually placed as the antithesis to Maria Hill, running SHIELD for a brief time before being ousted once again by Hill. With Hill in the films already (and hopefully receiving a bigger part in future installments), it would make sense to perhaps include her rival in an upcoming sequel, which would in turn pave way for a “Secret Warriors” film — and, lets be honest: we all want a “Secret Warriors” film.

To play Quake on the big screen, I’ve nominated the young and talented Zoe Kazan. She’s a young actress, but she’s already had a few particularly great standout performances, such as her character Mary in Happythankyoumoreplease or as the titular character in Ruby Sparks. Zoe has shown herself capable of performing a wide range, particularly in Ruby Sparks alone, and in terms of matching Cobie Smulder’s Hill, I think Zoe Kazan would make for a rather excellent foil as a young upstart who happens to have a leg-up on Hill in the powers department.

Abigail Brand – Jodie Whittaker

Outside of Kitty Pryde, Abigal Brand is the one character I’d expect most to see pop up in a Whedon film. Not only was Whedon  the one who created the character during his run in “Astonishing X-Men,” but she generally seems to fit into the mold of most of Whedon’s most popular female characters. The head of SWORD, the extraterrestrial answer to SHIELD, Abigail Brand is the HBIC of the operation, a character that has easily become a fan favorite for her incredibly witty portrayals in books like “Astonishing” and the short-lived “SWORD.”

So since Brand is a particularly accessible option for Whedon to employ, what with the Guardians and Thanos and all that, I think Jodie Whittaker could easily fill those rather impressive shoes. I was first smitten with her in Attack the Block and equally haunted in her episode of Black Mirror, but her multi-layered performance in Broadchurch is what really showed me her talent as an actress. I would love to see what you get when you give her a character that is a bit more open and in charge, someone who is a lot less reactionary. Whittaker is a very talented actress and, given the right direction, could fit very well into the world of the Avengers as the take-charge Abigail Brand.

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Monica Rambeau – Naomie Harris

Monica Rambeau is someone I would like to see appear in the Avengers, though the chances of her appearing in the films against anyone else in this column is perhaps least likely. Between her various roles in the Avengers, Nextwave and Mighty Avengers, as well as her multiple titles as Spectrum, Captain Marvel, Photon, Pulsar, Daysta– well, you get it. Out of all the proposed female Avengers here, I would highly doubt that we’d see Monica Rambeau on screen… but it would be really awesome if we did, right? I think you probably agree.

Now, remember Eve Moneypenny in Skyfall? And how she spent the majority of her time on screen kicking ass? If we take Naomie Harris out of Skyfall and place her in the Avengers as Monica Rambeau, particularly the “Nextwave” version of Monica, I think you’d get a really exciting and great character that would be able to hold her own on screen with the best of them.  Harris is someone who has shown an extremely wide range, delivering a particularly amazing performance in Accused for example, and I would love to see her have the opportunity to be seen and appreciated on a much bigger scale, like that of the Avengers. A gal can dream.


Jess Graham

Jessica is the secret weapon behind the Multiversity Casting Couches, utilizing her vast knowledge of film and Hollywood gossip to help concoct absurdly brilliant comic book movie scenarios. When she isn't thinking about movies however, she is playing with cats, watching Futurama and pleading with George RR Martin to stop killing everyone she loves in A Song Of Ice And Fire. Feel free to follow her on Tumblr and Twitter for random odds and ends.

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