Could Beyonce Play Storm in 'Black Panther 2'?

Okay Avengers, now let's get in formation...   

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth in the movie industry. Characters like Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow have become house-hold names and, according to a recent poll by Fandango, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War are the top two anticipated films of 2018.

On top of this, though, is the Disney-Fox acquisition that shook the industry trades earlier this month. While this has dire creative consequences for the film industry going forward, one silver lining to Disney's monopolization of Hollywood is the re-grouped Marvel assets now available to Marvel Studios. With Fox come the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, and with the X-Men comes Storm.

See, many people have been focused on whether Wolverine is set to join the Avengers since the news of the acquisition broke, and it's easy to see why. Logan came out earlier this year to intense critical acclaim and Hugh Jackman's portrayal of the animalistic hero over the past 20 years has become iconic unto itself. If we look at the already established Marvel Universe, though, it seems like Storm should be the first X-Men team member to be introduced into the MCU.

In the comic books, Storm (played in the X-Men trilogy by Halle Berry) is married to Black Panther, living with him in Wakanda. Even though Black Panther has not yet been released  it has garnered tremendous support from the general public and, more specifically, the black community. It would be absolutely foolish of Marvel Studios to not give Storm her own film within the Avengers universe, given the massive support the black community is showing their black properties. Not only would Marvel further the diversity of their primarily white, male universe by focusing on Storm, but they have an already established, eager fan-base who will have by then proven their allegiance to the Black Panther brand through its inevitably successful box-office. To put it simply, it seems like the natural conclusion to introduce Storm as T'Challa's love interest in Black Panther 2.

This is where Beyoncé comes in. The worldwide super-star has allegedly been in talks with Marvel Studios for quite some time, with Disney studio heads rumoured to be interested in offering her a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These headlines initially broke in 2015, and at the time many speculated that the role Knowles-Carter may have been up for was that of 'Medusa' in the now cancelled Inhumans movie, due to Queen Bey's iconic hair. 

The Inhumans film was since downgraded to a television series on the American television network ABC, and rumours of a Beyoncé-Disney partnership steadily grew fainter and fainter. Interestingly enough, in the same year that these rumours broke Beyoncé attended a costume party dressed as Storm. While the Disney-Fox acquisition was merely a dream at that stage, it could have been a public wink at the headline's regarding the star's alleged conversations with Marvel Studios. 

At the time, many were unsure on the idea of Beyoncé acting in their favourite franchise, given her sub-par reception in Austin Powers and Obsessed early in her career. Since then, though, she released her film and visual album Lemonade in which her performance won a coveted Peabody Award, Emmy nominations and over 100 other accolades. While early days, the singer's performance within the film seemingly redeemed Beyoncé's acting ability not only to members of the public, but studio heads too.

After the release of Lemonade, speculation began to swirl around the star's possible involvement in another Disney project - The Lion King. According to rumour, Disney wished to remake their Oscar winning animation in the vein of 2016's The Jungle Book with Beyoncé being director Jon Favreau's top pick for Nala. While the star never publicly acknowledged the rumours, she attended the premiere for 2016's Beauty and the Beast with her daughter Blue Ivy earlier this year, seemingly confirming a relationship between her and the House of Mouse.

Beyoncé publicly announced her involvement with The Lion King soon after. She had been cast as Nala and had been given the task of curating the remake's soundtrack, solidifying the singer's relationship with Disney. Now, though, Disney has the rights to the X-Men, and, with them, Storm herself. To understand why I think Beyoncé's involvement in The Lion King could lead to her presence within the Marvel Universe, though, let us take a moment to observe the career of Lupita Nyong'o under Disney.

Walt Disney Pictures is, like many studios, notoriously 'in-house', meaning it works closely with specific creators and actors in order to build a working relationship. It's the reason Lin Manuel Miranda has gone from song-writing in Moana to starring in next year's Mary Poppins Returns, and it's why Lupita Nyong'o has appeared in Star Wars, Queen of Katwe, The Jungle Book, and Black Panther. Nyong'o's involvement in The Jungle Book, where she voiced and provided motion capture for a wild animal, led to her involvement in Black Panther where she plays King T'Challa's love interest in February next year.

If her performance in The Lion King is up to scratch, I strongly believe that Beyoncé would at least be shortlisted for the role of Storm in a similar way to Nyong'o's hollywood trajectory. The character is too valuable not to be used, and such a high profile cast member could bring much needed star power to a franchise whose biggest stars will soon be Sebastian Stan and Tom Holland after Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. inevitably leave the franchise (their contracts expire after Avengers Infinity War next year).

While I myself am not sure how a Beyoncé portrayed Storm could work in the established Marvel Universe, it isn't exactly hard to imagine her as a superhero given some of her recent live televised performances, and for those who remember the hysterical Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) scene in Doctor Strange last year, its obvious that the star already has some sort of bond with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Besides, after all the headlines broke in 2015 regarding Marvel's interest in casting Beyoncé, it's obvious people there want her! Mark my words, this entire theory could ring 100% true in the years to come...

@ravieb

What do you think though? Do you think Storm should become an Avenger in the Disney Marvel universe? Or are there other X-Men you'd like to see introduced first? If you don't think Beyoncé is a good fit for the role, who would you like to see don the white wig? Let me know in the comments below, and stay tuned to JG Review for more film-focused content!

Written by James Green