Technically, Lady Gaga made her comic book movie debut in 2012’s Men in Black 3 (based on a Marvel comic) with uncredited footage of her as an alien in disguise before the Grammy-winning pop star had even started acting in movies. In 2014, she reunited with her Machete Kills director Robert Rodriguez for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, in which she gives her first credited performance in a comic book adaptation in the small role of a sympathetic waitress named Bertha.
Now that the House of Gucci star has reinvented herself as an onscreen tour de force following her success in 2018’s A Star is Born, I would love see her in some real superhero movies and am curious what she could bring to a role in the Marvel movies, which also have their fair share of Oscar darlings. I have a few Marvel characters in mind for Lady Gaga to bring to the big (or even small) screen...
Emma Frost
Back in September 2020, there was a report online suggesting that Marvel Studios was considering to cast Lady Gaga in its highly anticipated X-Men movies reboot as Emma Frost - otherwise known as the White Queen. There's been no update or confirmation of the rumor since, but I would totally support that casting if it ever came to pass. Not only does the actress closely resemble the psychokinetic mutant (who can also convert her body into a diamond-like material), but she might be able to bring a certain chilling energy to the role that we did not quite see portrayed to full potential in 2011’s X-Men: First Class (with all due respect to January Jones). Not to mention, after her Golden Globe-winning turn as the Countess on American Horror Story: Hotel, how great would it be to see Lady Gaga play a Marvel villain?
Songbird
Of course, if she would rather not play another villain for her induction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, why not a recovering supervillain and, on top of that, one who also likes to sing? Initially introduced in 1979 as “Screaming Mimi” when she was part of an all-female group of criminals who double as professional wrestlers called the Grapplers, Melissa Gold would come to be known as Songbird after choosing to use her superhuman vocal cords for good and helping form the first incarnation of Marvel’s Thunderbolts superhero team. Plus, her history as an aspiring singer is something that Lady Gaga has some genuine experience in and, by definition, would nail effortlessly.
Dazzler
While on the subject of art imitating life, few Marvel characters relate to Lady Gaga better than Dazzler, who was actually created with Casablanca Records to be a fictional character with an otherwise real-life record deal that never ended up materializing in reality. However, disco music stardom would become her day job in the comics when she was not helping the X-Men save the day with her mutant ability to convert light into sonic energy. Dazzler is another popular character who got the short end of the stick on the big screen with a brief cameo in 2019’s Dark Phoenix and giving her a larger role as played by Lady Gaga would be the ultimate redemption.
Shocket Raccoon
I said earlier how the MCU has its fair share of Oscar darlings, such as eight-time nominee Bradley Cooper - Lady Gaga’s co-star and director in the 2018 remake of A Star is Born, which also made the singer an Academy Award winner for co-writing the hit original song “Shallow.” I think it is safe to say that the world would love to see these two reunite in some fashion and a fun way to do that in the Marvel movies is to cast her as a female clone of Cooper’s Guardians of the Galaxy character, Rocket Raccoon, named Shocket Raccoon. Clearly the Milano has sailed on this bizarre pairing happening in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (which has already begun shooting at this time), but I would say that Rocket is a compelling enough character to earn his own spin-off and teaming him with Gaga is brilliant selling point.
Outlaw
Speaking of A Star is Born, before a country music song propelled her to Oscar glory, Lady Gaga brought a dramatic change to her aesthetic and her sound when promoting her fifth studio release, Joanne, in 2016. Now, I do not know about you, but after seeing her wearing a pink cowboy hat on the cover of that album, I could not help but become immediately reminded of a Marvel character named Inez Temple - a ruthless mercenary who also goes by Outlaw and proudly puts her Texas roots on display with a costume that looks like something right out of a classic Sergio Leone epic. The expert combatant and marksman made her comic book debut in a 2002 issue of Deadpool and eventually became a partner and occasional lover of the Merc with a Mouth, giving us an excuse to see a team-up between Ryan Reynolds and Lady Gaga that I never really knew I wanted until now.
Invisible Woman
Honestly, what I really want Lady Gaga to achieve in the MCU is a performance that any audience could be moved and excited by. One widely beloved heroine who definitely deserves such a depiction after the last three Fantastic Four movies (with all due respect to Jessica Alba and Kate Mara) is Sue Richards (née Storm), who is better known as the force field-generating Invisible Woman. Fans had been praying to see Marvel Studios save one of superhero fiction’s most iconic female characters from mediocrity on the big screen even before the proposal of the Disney/Fox merger and now that it is a reality, Lady Gaga could hold the key to unlocking the strong, layered, self-assured persona she is defined by.
On the other hand, if Lady Gaga would rather join the DC movies for any reason, there are plenty of singers in that comic book universe, too.
