Why hasn't she been cast as a superheroine yet?
Katheryn Winnick is a very good actress, is very charismatic, has martial arts training that can come in handy in action scenes, and looks about as much like a comic book superheroine come to life as is humanly possible. Yet, despite superhero movies being so successful as to be virtually an industry of their own right now, she has yet to be cast in any of them, even though she's a better candidate for at least two roles thus far than the actresses that actually were cast.
At one time, she expressed interest in playing Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios' upcoming Captain Marvel movie. She's the right age for the role (Danvers was an army colonel in her late 30s or early 40s when she took up the Captain Marvel identity in the comics), has the skill to pull off the action scenes, and has the charisma and humor to pull off Danvers' swashbuckling personality. And as for appearance, she bears a striking resemblance to the best, most iconic comic book visualization of Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel.
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In all fairness, Katheryn Winnick wasn't the only perfect casting choice for Captain Marvel. Charlize Theron would have been excellent as well. However, Marvel Studios not only didn't cast either of them, but apparently never even considered them for the role (probably considering them "too old"). Instead, they decided to go with Brie Larson, who is at least a decade and a half younger than the comic book version of Danvers, doesn't bear a strong physical resemblance to her, and whose skill thus far appears to lie more in playing vulnerable dramatic characters rather than action heroines. Based on what information has come to light, it appears that they intended from the start to turn Danvers into a younger, less experienced, more vulnerable character (even though they had the full opportunity to portray a comics-accurate older, more fully-formed version of the character as played by an older actress like Winnick or Theron).
But even after choosing Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Marvel Studios had another, even more perfect chance to cast Katheryn Winnick. The comic book character Valkyrie (based on a Valkyrie named Brunhilde from Norse mythology) was in the script for "Thor: Ragnarok". Now, who currently has more bona-fides for playing a Norse warrior-maiden than any other actress on the planet? Katheryn Winnick, that's who. She has played the character Lagertha on the History Channel series "Vikings", to much acclaim. Scandinavians have even praised her for speaking the Old Norse language (in those scenes that require it) better than her castmates. And she's the spitting image of both a Valkyrie (at least the Wagnerian image of a Valkyrie, anyhow), and the Valkyrie in question from the Marvel comics.
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So it seems that she would be a shoo-in for the role of Valkyrie, right? Wrong. Tessa Thompson was cast instead. Director Taika Waititi stated the following as part of his reason for casting Thompson:
What I wanted was someone who was going to play the opposite and be even more of the ‘guy’ character than the guys.
Of course, this is not representative of the comic book version of Valkyrie, who, while a fierce warrior and strong leader, was not meant to be perceived as masculine. Marvel Studios had once again passed up the opportunity to even so much as attempt to hire Katheryn Winnick for a role that fits her like a glove, in order to hire yet another actress who was intentionally cast for the purpose of portraying a loose, rather than faithful, adaptation of the comic book character.
So the question is, will anyone ever cast Katheryn Winnick in a superhero movie? And why has everyone seemingly been so reluctant to do so thus far?
Currently, Warner Brothers is planning on putting Black Canary in the DCEU movies, and Katheryn Winnick has expressed an interest in the role. One can only hope that she actually lands the part this time. share