Should Ronda Rousey Play Captain Marvel in the Movie?

Marvel’s first female superhero movie, Captain Marvel, doesn’t hit theaters until 2018. But MMA fighter Ronda Rousey, who not only packs a mean punch but is making a foray into the acting world, has put herself forward for the role in a recent Reddit AMA. Would Rousey make a good Carol Danvers? Here are some pros and cons.

MORE: Meet Captain Marvel: Fighter Pilot, Feminist and Marvel’s Big Gamble

Pros

Captain Marvel is one of the strongest characters in the Marvel universe. Whoever plays her should be powerful too, and who better than the woman who just won Best Fighter at the ESPYs? Not only is she undefeated, she usually takes down her opponents in under a minute. She recently KO’d challenger Bethe Correia in just 34 seconds. It would be easy to buy that when Rousey’s Captain Marvel hit a bad guy, he would stay down.

Rousey seems to be excited by the prospect. After the Reddit AMA, people sent her fan art of what she might look like as the superhero. She shared them on Instagram writing, “There were so many cool ones I couldn’t pick just one to share.” The ones she did are pretty convincing:

Cons

The obvious problem with casting Rousey is that she hasn’t had much experience on the big screen. She played a supporting role in the Entourage movie, and is also set to star in an upcoming biopic about herself. But considering that studio executives are hesitant to greenlight female superhero films — the Sony hacks revealed an email from Marvel Studios CEO Ike Perlmutter warning Sony against creating a female superhero movie for financial reasons, calling past attempts “a disaster” — a lot is riding on the Captain Marvel film. Perhaps a proven action hero like Mad Max: Fury Road’s Charlize Theron, Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff or Edge of Tomorrow’s Emily Blunt would make more sense.

There’s also the more minor issue that Rousey said in a Reddit AMA that she would “like to vie for Miss Marvel.” This statement doesn’t inspire confidence because first, Ms. Marvel, as far as we know, doesn’t have her own movie in the works. And second, Ms. Marvel is currently a 16-year-old Muslim girl.

Here’s the backstory: Carol Danvers, the current Captain Marvel and the character getting the silver screen treatment, did used to be Ms. Marvel. Back then she looked like this. The Marvel editors (and Captain Marvel writer Kelly Sue DeConnick) decided to promote Carol from Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel. She now looks like this. Some fans were angry that Marvel covered her up and cut her hair, but many were delighted by her more powerful look. Captain Marvel even has a rabid fanbase called the Carol Corps.

Since the Ms. Marvel spot was open, Marvel created a new character named Kamala Khan who now occupies that role (and totally worships Carol Danvers). The new Ms. Marvel is extremely popular. The first issue even made the New York Times bestseller list.

In short, Rousey’s comic book knowledge is not spectacular, though presumably she would read up on the part before agreeing to the movie.

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