The 2000s began with the first of the X-Men movies starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry and so forth. It would help usher in a continued popular trend of upcoming superhero movies that feels like it only grows every year. As Berry’s time as Storm continues to be one of the most pivotal roles of her career, the actress spoke to what playing this character meant to her on a deeper level.
The Important Reason Why Halle Berry Wanted To Play Storm
When Halle Berry spoke to Wired ahead of starring in two upcoming movies, she reflected on why Ororo Munroe was a big deal to her. In her words:
I really loved playing Storm. You know, being in the world of the X-Men and mutants was always really important to me, because being a woman of color, I have often felt on the outside of things. I've often felt marginalized and overlooked and unseen, and that's what the X-Men were all about. These mutants finding their voice and finding a way to be seen and appreciated for who they really were. And as a Black woman, I really related to that. So it was fun to put on the skin of Storm, to fly, and to be part of that kind of storytelling. I thought it was really important.
While we’ve become more accustomed to Black women getting the spotlight in superhero movies, such as in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, when Halle Berry starred in 2000’s X-Men, she had the chance to play one of the most famous Black superheroes on the big screen. These days, there has still been only a few Black women who have played superheroes on the big screen, with Teyonah Parris’s The Marvels character being the latest example.
Storm was created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum in 1975 as a descendant of an African witch-priestesses and one of the most powerful mutants yet. It was surely a competitive role to nab, especially considering Vivica A. Fox was also in the running for Storm, but now she’ll forever be the first actress associated with the mutant.
Could Halle Berry Reprise Her X-Men Role?
But in this day and age of so many actors returning to their former superhero roles, is Halle Berry really done with playing Storm? The actress was not among the Deadpool and Wolverine cameos in the summer blockbuster, but this week, she shared that Ryan Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, asked her if she would return for the Deadpool movie. Berry apparently expressed her interest to Lively (as she has in a prior interview), but said she never received a call from Reynolds.
Hey, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s too late. If Hugh Jackman is going to play Logan “until he’s 90,” who’s to say Storm cannot return? The role clearly means a lot to Halle Berry and the many Black women who watched her play a powerful mutant hero in four of the movies.
Berry stars in Netflix’s The Union out this Friday, followed by Never Let Go, which hits theaters on September 20.
