Ronda Rousey made it known that she's interested in playing Captain Marvel during a Reddit AMA and her fans have poured in to support her by sending her fan art, her favorites of which were posted to her Instagram account.
She's not the first celebrity to petition themselves to be cast in a role and this kind of enthusiasm sits well with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. He said this happens occasionally and it's a testament to the strength of the character more than anything as they appeal to a range of talented individuals, adding he loves what Rousey is doing.
Reflecting on his early days with Marvel, Feige recounted the various ways people had campaigned to become Wolverine. This was before the days of the internet and there were no social networking sites to get anything to go viral. Instead, they had magazines at the time, Wizard Magazine specifically.
So, does Rousey have a fighting chance to be cast as Captain Marvel?
No one can doubt she has the physicality of a superhero so she can at least look and move the part but a lot of people are unsure of how she is as an actress. She's had small roles in in Furious 7 and The Expendables 3, but these mostly had Rousey fighting, not acting. Does she have what it takes to carry the weight of a full movie on her back?
Never say never.
Feige understands the apprehension but reminds people to take a look back at how Marvel has always cast its films, saying it's about "who's the best person to inhabit a character." A lot of people didn't think Dave Bautista's Drax would turn out so well but it did, for instance. Feige added that they start realizing who to cast once they sit down and start meeting people, shaping the script to build a character while looking for the right person to match it.
However, he has confirmed that there will be no news regarding Captain Marvel this year. Marvel is in the middle of scripting and structuring the movie to see how the character will fit in with the rest of the studio's Phase 3 films so casting will most likely be considered next year.
Captain Marvel is scheduled to hit theaters Nov. 2, 2018.
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