Wicked Star Cynthia Erivo Says She'd Like To Play X-Men’s Storm in the MCU

Cynthia Erivo is riding a big wave of success as one of the leads of the hit film Wicked, based on the popular stage show. The movie’s success will likely lead to many more exciting casting opportunities for Erivo, and she has the door wide open for a possible role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Per the National Board of Review, Erivo was recently asked if there was any particular “dream role” she wanted to manifest. Erivo, who has drawn high praise for her role as Elphaba in Wicked, revealed that the X-Men character Storm is the character she wants to play the most. She went on to explain why she’s so eager to play Storm, noting that there’s a lot of untapped storyline potential for the character that hasn’t been explored on-screen before.

“I really want to play Storm,” Erivo said. “I know it sounds frivolous, but I think we haven’t uncovered how grand she is, and all of that inner turmoil that she has, so I think there’s a world in which we could, you know, do something like that.”

I really want to play Storm.

Erivo was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in Wicked, and it seems likely she’ll be up for an Academy Award as well. She was previously nominated for an Oscar for her role in Harriet, while she won an Emmy Awards with her roles in The Color Purple. Erivo does have some Marvel experience, as she voiced Dr. Arkonam Ojo in an episode of the animated series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. She also appeared in other films including Bad Times at the El Royale, Chaos Walking, and Luther: The Fallen Sun.

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Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked, with flying Monkeys with Emerald City in the background

The Storm character was famously played by Halle Berry in the original live-action X-Men movies. Alexandra Shipp later played a younger version of Storm in the franchise. She has been featured in a variety of animated movies and TV shows, which recently included Alison Sealy-Smith voicing Storm for X-Men ’97, reprising her role from the original X-Men: The Animated Series. In December, Sealy-Smith voiced the role again for an appearance by Storm in the final season of the What If…? animated series.

When Will the Live-Action Storm Appear in the MCU?

It’s expected that the X-Men will be popping up in the MCU, but it remains unclear how and when that will happen. There have been cameo appearances by actors from the X-Men movies in recent MCU films, but it’s also expected that a rebooted version of the group will be introduced. This would give Erivo the opportunity that she’s looking for to potentially land her dream role.

Wicked is now available on digital.