Blake Lively has survived tabloid scrutiny as Serena van der Woodsen in the Gossip Girl cast, outsmarted a hungry Great White in The Shallows, made herself into a vengeful assassin in The Rhythm Section and, of course, became a DC movies star with Green Lantern in 2011. However (unlike her co-star and now husband, Ryan Reynolds) she has yet to make a return to superhero movies and, after starring in one of the genre’s biggest critical and commercial flops, I can understand the hesitation. Perhaps Lively might be game if she was offered a good enough part in the Marvel movies, such as this truly fantastic hero.
Invisible Woman
Even before Disney merged with Fox (absorbing the rights to comic book characters Marvel Studios did not have before as a result), fans were demanding to see the Fantastic Four inducted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What has kept the powerful group appealing for so many decades is their relatability, with each of character reflecting certain archetypical characteristics of an average family member. Human Torch and The Thing have something of a rivalrous brotherhood, while the stretchy Mr. Fantastic leads the team like a dad, and his wife, Invisible Woman, keeps them all in check like a mother would.
I cannot help but imagine that Blake Lively’s relationship with Ryan Reynolds and their two children would be similar to Sue Storm’s relationship with her teammates. Thus (since the popular choice among fans, Emily Blunt, does not seem too interested in donning spandex anytime soon) I think she would be the perfect choice to play the transparent, force field projecting heroine in the MCU’s upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. And you thought I chose Invisible Woman for her blonde hair, didn’t you?
Emma Frost
To be perfectly candid, hair color actually was a determining factor when selecting Emma Frost as a possible character for Blake Lively to portray. However, I promise that is not the only reason why I considered her as a candidate if the mutant shows up in the Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot (also made possible by the Disney/Fox merger).
For one, I personally believe that Emma Frost deserves a more faithful and lively (no pun intended) portrayal than what we got in 2011’s X-Men: First Class with January Jones in the role (with all due respect to the former Mad Men cast member). Secondly, the few times that Blake Lively has broken out of her “good girl” persona (such as in A Simple Favor) has resulted in some of her best work, in my opinion. Therefore, casting her as a literal and figurative ice queen in the X-Men movies sounds like an amazing match to me.
Llyra
Another memorable Blake Lively performance can be found in The Shallows - one of the most surprisingly entertaining horror movies of 2016. The thriller - directed by Jaume Collet-Serra - stars Lively as a vacationing woman surfing by a secluded beach when she becomes trapped a little too far from shore by a Great White shark lurking too close for comfort. Perhaps surviving the aquatic beast would be have been easier to accomplish if she had the ability to control marine-based creatures...
A Marvel character who possesses such an ability (among others of an amphibious natures) is Llyra Morris - the schizophrenic daughter of human woman and an Atlantean man. She would become an accomplice to the murder of Leonard McKenzie, who is the father of Namor the Sub-Mariner (another chapter whom fans are eagerly awaiting to see in the MCU. Casting Blake Lively as Llyra would both give her the chance to play another villain when Namor finally gets his own movie and allow her to make-up for the hell that shark from The Shallows put her through.
Death
Blake Lively’s very first leading role in a film was in The Age of Adaline in 2015, as the title character who, after a freak accident in the early 20th Century, is mysteriously given the gift of eternal life. Well, because it is not very uncommon for Marvel characters to be immortal, I would rather find her a character that is the opposite or immortal, but not necessarily “mortal” either. So, it seems that the natural choice would be to cast her the opposite of life personified.
In the Marvel Comics universe, Death itself takes human form as a woman whom Thanos would fall in love with, inspiring him to concoct the cataclysmic scheme that later served as the basis for Avengers: Infinity War in hopes to appease her. Well, as we know, that storyline never made it into the finished film (to the satisfaction of most fans), but there is a chance that she can still be a part of MCU canon. How? While she would reject Thanos’ advances, she did, however, fall in love with and marry the Merc with a Mouth.
Lady Deadpool
Now, I do realize that choosing Ryan Reynolds’ wife to play Deadpool’s wife is just a little too on-the-nose, even if being on-the-nose is, indeed, a key factor to the character’s signature meta humor. That is why I have included an alternative suggestion that is less obvious, but still very fun, and would give Blake Lively the chance to share the screen with her husband when the fourth wall-breaking anti-hero finally makes his MCU debut: make her his female, inter-dimensional counterpart.
There are an insane amount of alternate versions of Deadpool who exist throughout the Marvel Multiverse - one of which is a woman named Wanda Wilson, who is otherwise referred to as “Lady Deadpool” to avoid confusion when she crosses paths with Wade Wilson in the comics. That bizarre team-up would actually lead to a bizarre and somewhat narcissistic romantic moment between the mouthy mercenaries that I think would be pretty funny to include in a future Deadpool movie, especially if Blake Lively was in the role. However, regardless of the comparisons to real-life, the actress has the right sort of energy and deadpan sense of humor that this character requires.
You know, these hypothetical comic book movie casting suggestions are really just something we do for fun, but never have I been more in love with an idea than seeing Blake Lively as Lady Deadpool. Hopefully, Ryan Reynolds has the same idea and convince his wife to do it because this is gold if you ask me.
