The MCU is always expanding and with each new story told on screen, executives at Disney are on the hunt for talented actors to fill the seemingly endless assortment of roles.
Now, one of 2024’s most sought-after stars, Cynthia Erivo, has tossed her name into the discussion around the next chapter of the MCU. Erivo is an actress who has made plenty of appearances in film and television over the years, however, her star power has grown brightest in recent months after her leading role in the film adaption of the hit Broadway musical, Wicked.
Speaking to the National Board of Review, Ervio shared her ultimate dream role which, if it ever came to fruition, would see her welcome more X-Men characters into the MCU. The actress says that if there’s one role she could have next, it would be as Storm.
“I really want to play Storm. I know it sounds frivolous but I think we really haven’t uncovered how grand she is and all of that inner-turmoil that she has so, I think there’s a world where we can do something like that.”
Given that the MCU is inevitably going to introduce more X-Men characters into its ranks, Storm seems like a character that absolutely will show up at some point. With Erivo’s talents, she could very well be a great choice to bring this iconic comic book character to screens for the MCU era.
If she were to be given the opportunity, Erivo would be the third actress to bring Storm to the screen in live-action form. The first Storm was Halle Berry in the early 2000s X-Men movies, but the character was played by Alexandra Shipp in the more recent movies X-Men: Apocalypse and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
Of course, there’s no way of knowing what Disney’s plans for the character would be if she was added to the MCU, or whether they’d go for a younger or older version of the iconic superhero.
With the success of Wicked, casting Erivo as someone in the MCU would seem like a slam dunk, even if that character isn’t Storm. Wicked has done incredible numbers at the box office, to the point that it is officially the most successful Broadway film adaptation ever — and as of right now, it has made more than $680 million globally. The film’s sequel is set to be released later this year, so expect to see the franchise everywhere once again towards the tail-end of 2025.
It’s always great to see talented actors sharing their desire to join the MCU, and in an era where there are plenty of new characters being added to the mix, vocalizing their dream role could very well be what’s needed to make it happen. The actress already mastered the power of flight for her role as Elphaba, so why shouldn’t she take to the skies once more as Storm?
Ultimately, there’s no indication of if or when Storm would be added to the MCU should that be something that Disney is looking to do, but hopefully when it does, the role is given to a star as talented as Erivo. If you haven’t yet seen Wicked you can still catch the movie in theaters, but now it’s also available to rent and buy digitally.