Wicked was one of the most successful movies of 2024, and Cynthia Erivo was at the center of it; as Elphaba the future wicked witch of the west, she was fierce, fragile and back-to-front compelling. With the sequel film Wicked: For Good on tap for this November, she's only likely to keep getting good press, which means the time is right for her to seek out her dream role.
And just what is that dream role? "I really want to play Storm," Erivo told the National Board of Review. "I know it sounds frivolous, but I think we haven’t uncovered how grand she is and all of the inner turmoil that she has. So I think there’s a world in which we could do something like that.”
Storm is the superhero name for Ororo Munroe, a member of the X-Men who has the power to control the weather. Erivo isn't kidding about her being grand. If you ever watched the X-Men cartoon in the '90s (or the recent Disney+ revival), you know she has a habit of using her powers in the most dramatic way possible:
Storm also has a great backstory, issues with claustrophobia, and a lot of other depths Erivo is surely eager to mine. With no shade to Halle Berry, who played Storm in four X-Men movies from 2000 to 2014, I don't think she ever fully captured what a powerful presence Storm could be. Alexandra Shipp played Storm in a couple more X-Men movies, but those failed to gain much traction. Beyond that, Storm has shown up in animated form here and there, but we haven't had a live-action version of the character for a while. I think Erivo would be a great pic.
And the timing could work out, since we know Disney is looking forward to casting the X-Men and introducing them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We just don't know who they'll cast or when they'll make their debuts. If Marvel is aiming to introduce the X-Men around the time of their next big Avengers movies, which are scheduled to come out in 2026 and 2027, it'll probably start casting the roles very soon, which is why Erivo is expressing her interest at exactly the right time.
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