Hayley Atwell has certainly found her way into some high-profile roles over the years. Most fans probably know her best for her role as Agent Margaret “Peggy” Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And right now, she’s primed to make her Mission: Impossible debut in the upcoming seventh installment. Now, the actress has landed another major role in the form of Lara Croft, who she’ll voice in an upcoming Tomb Raider anime series for Netflix.
The Captain America: The First Avenger alum is the first cast member to be formally announced for Netflix’s Tomb Raider adaptation. While few details are actually known about the project, the streamer has confirmed that the show will be written and executive-produced by Tasha Huo. Some anime fans will likely recognize Huo for her prior work on The Witcher: Blood Origin, and she’s also been tapped to pen the script for the upcoming Red Sonja film.
Tomb Raider is arguably one of the most iconic franchises of all time, and it all began with the original video game that was released on Playstation back in 1996. Since then the franchise has grown to include numerous games, a few feature films and even an animated series. So it goes without saying that this new series has quite a legacy to live up to.
Despite this, Hayley Atwell is a strong choice for the role of Lara Croft. We’ve clearly seen that the actress has a knack for playing strong and interesting characters. Nevertheless, she can also bring a vulnerability to any role she plays, which is what ultimately endears her characters to so many people.
Hayley Atwell is the latest in a line of notable actresses who have played the role of Lara Croft over the years. While not the original actress to ever play the character, Angelina Jolie set the live-action standard for the role when she led 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and returned for the 2003 sequel, The Cradle of Life. The Academy Award winner was eventually succeeded by fellow Oscar recipient Alicia Vikander, who made her debut as Croft in 2018 and is currently setting her sights on a sequel. And in the realm of animation, the character was previously voiced by Minnie Driver in the 10-part series Revisioned: Tomb Raider.
At this point in her career, Hayley Atwell is starting to carve out a place for herself in the world of voice acting. She’s mostly voiced Peggy Carter on a number of occasions, so it’ll be somewhat refreshing to see her take on a different role in an animated project.
Hopefully, it won’t be too long before Netflix provides further updates on Hayley Atwell’s Tomb Raider series. I, for one, can’t wait to get that first glimpse of the animated action adventure show.
