Cast Party: Who Should Star in an ‘Angela’ Movie?
Welcome to Cast Party, the feature that imagines a world with even more live action comic book adaptations than we currently have, and comes up with arguably the best casting suggestions you’re ever going to find for the movies and shows we wish could exist. This week we’re looking at a comic that just wrapped up yesterday: Angela: Queen of Hel, written by Marguerite Bennett, with art by Stephanie Hans and Kim Jacinto.
The Angela movie, like the comic, will be high fantasy. It's the story of a lost daughter of Odin who travels to the Underworld in search of her lover. When it becomes clear that the only way to free the woman she loves is to lead a rebellion in Hel and overthrow its queen, she does exactly that. Along the way she faces dead gods and old rivals, and finds unlikely help from the young Handmaiden of Hel.
This will be a very action-heavy movie, although we don't want the characters to get lost along the way. I think TV veteran Michelle MacLaren, of Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, is the perfect choice to strike that balance. She also lost her job directing Wonder Woman over "creative differences," and this would be a great vindication.
Rose Leslie as Angela
Leslie's wildly likable, and totally ready for a lead role of this caliber. Plus she has the perfect look for Angela (although we might use camera tricks to make her seem a little taller) and she's proven herself adept at onscreen combat.
Harmony Santana as Sera
Santana received critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit nomination for her debut role in Gun Hill Road, but has barely had anything to do since then (because she's a trans woman of color and Hollywood is the worst). In a just world, this could be the role that rockets her into the big time.
Isabelle Fuhrman as Leah
Fuhrman made her name being creepy in Orphan and the first Hunger Games, which is perfect for the Handmaiden of Hel, but the role will give her a lot more to do than just that.
Diane Guerrero as Meresyn
Guerrero's already pretty badass. Now imagine her with a mohawk and "battle-scarred" makeup job.
Wentworth Miller as Balder
Traditionally, Balder is supposed to be Odin's best-looking son. We already know what Thor and Loki look like in live action, so Miller is one of the few actor that might believably surpass them.
Oded Fehr as Tyr
Fehr will look great with a mustache (pigtails are optional), and is definitely grizzled enough to play the dead God of War.
Vin Diesel as Skurge the Executioner
I'm so confident that Diesel will be a great Skurge that I'm just sad that he'll already be dead when we meet him, so we won't get to see him stand alone at Gjallerbru.
Kane as Bor
Glenn "Kane" Jacobs is actually a surprisingly good actor, but all the role of Bor really requires is being huge, old, and scary. He can do that too.
Lizzy Caplan as Hela
There are rumors that Cait Blanchett is playing this role in Thor: Ragnarok, but I didn't want to assume that since it's not confirmed. And while Blanchett would obviously be great at it, for this movie I like the idea of a Hela who's a little more wry and a little less regal. Also, she should look a little bit like Leah.