Having made a name for himself in the 1990s as one of the strongest talents of his generation with films like But I’m a Cheerleader or her role in American pie with the role of Jessica, Natasha Lyonne seemed to fall into obscurity around the early 2000s. However, she would later regain her place in Hollywood in style with her Emmy-nominated role in Netflix’s Orange is the new black starring as Nicky Nichols and as the star and co-creator of another acclaimed Netflix series, Russian doll. It’s a comeback that I would consider to be on par with someone like Robert Downey Jr., which raises the question: when will she get a role in any new Marvel movie?
To be completely honest, the New York native is actually no stranger to the comic book genre and especially Marvel Comics adaptations (more on that later). However, I think Kevin Feige and co. would be proud if a unique and very famous actress like herself was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon, especially considering the fact that Chris Evans was already a veteran of both Marvel and DC movies before he was cast as Steve Rogers. That said, if Natasha Lyonne’s next big Marvel moment is upon us, I have a few Marvel characters in mind that she’s going to play, starting with one that her most famous characters would probably be jealous of.
Quickfire
On Russian doll, who debuted her second season on Netflix in April 2022, plays Natasha Lyonne Nadia Vulvokuv – a woman who on the night of her 36th birthday finds herself trapped in a time loop that she becomes more and more desperate to escape. It sounds like what she needs is the power of a chronokinetics – a person who has the ability to slow down the flow of time, set things in motion or bring everything to a complete stop – just like Barbara McDevitt.
Better known as Quickfire, this one-time secret agent (who was later turned into a strange, contagious monster by his employers at Beyond Corporation) is also an inhuman, which is also a property that could use a second chance at MCU after that. indecent response to Marvel Studios’ 2017 series adaptation.
Dead girl
What does Russian doll such an intriguing and humorous dark treat is how Nadia Vulvokuv’s time loop is reset every time she experiences a gruesome death, almost as if it were a superpower of hers that was unlocked at the end of her life. One who can certainly relate to this is Moonbeam, who discovered her previously dormant mutant abilities – such as communicating with spirits, regrowing lost body parts and phasing out solid objects – after she was murdered, hence the name Dead Girl.
In addition to the rather small similarities with the character on her Netflix series, one more crucial reason I would love to see Natasha Lyonne in the role is because she is also a member of the X-Force, which would lead to a wonderful opportunity for her to reunite with Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool to share the screen and participate in what I imagine would be an epic and funny wordplay.
Shocked Raccoon
On that note is another Marvel character whose distinctive punk and diabolical sense of humor is on par with Natasha Lyonnes and the roles she usually plays, Rocket Raccoon, who was first brought to life in MCU with Sean Gunns motion capture performance . and Bradley Cooper’s hilarious, mocking Brooklynite accent in 2014 ‘ Guardians of the Galaxy.
Because of her comic sensitivity and being a native New Yorker, I think Lyonne would be a perfect choice to give the voice to the Shocket Raccoon – originally depicted in the comics as a female clone of Rocket created by The Collector, as Benicio del Toro played in Guardians. I think I, instead of a clone, would throw her as a love interest for the furry, gun-wielding outlaw in their own spin-off after the release of the newly wrapped Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2023.
John DeWolff
Natasha Lyonne’s New York origins may even make her a better candidate to be the first actress to give a live-action, cinematic portrayal of Jean DeWolff. Essentially James Gordon to Peter Parker’s Bruce Wayne, she was a tough, devoted Manhattan detective who became a close, confidant of Spider-Man until her tragic death at the hands of the evil Sin Eater. Considering what happens at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Homeit looks like Tom Holland’s webslinger could use someone to call an ally in any future Spider Man movies, and I think he and DeWolff would be MCU’s next big duo.
Salia Petrie
Another relatively lesser-known character from the Marvel Comics Universe, who I think could be an interesting addition to MCU, is Salia Petrie – a skilled NASA pilot and astronaut who trained under Carol Danvers, with whom she became friends. The woman, who eventually became known as Captain Marvel (but was still referred to as Ms. Marvel at the time), was later to fight her friend after she was brainwashed by a cosmic creature called The Faceless.
It may require a few creative freedoms, but I would like to see Natasha Lyonne be the one to bring Petrie to the big (or small) screen opposite Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, primarily to compensate for her very short screen time in the 2019 space travel epos, Ad Astra.
Sommerfield
But out of all the amazing characters she would be perfect to play, I think it could be the most interesting and especially fun to see Natasha Lyonne repeat her role from 2003’s Blade: Trinity. In the third part of the action-horror series led by Wesley Snipes, she played Sommerfield – a cell scientist on Hannibal King’s (Ryan Reynolds) vampire hunting team, Nightsalkers, who develops a virus capable of killing bloodsuckers. Although the character did not end up surviving the film, that does not mean she can not come back when Marvel restarts the half man, half vampire for their own interpretation, as played by Mahershala Ali.
This would not be the first time an actor revives their Marvel movie character in MCU, such as Evan Peters on WandaVision as Quicksilver (a kind) or Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness recently. I’m curious to see what other film roles before MCU we could bring back, and I think Natasha Lyonne’s Sommerfield is one that would be cool to try. If not, the possibilities for her are still pretty endless.