And as the dust settles on another Ronda Rousey victory, I relished the opportunity to milk her success further and link two of my favourite things in the world; comics and MMA. I think you know where this is going…
Ronda Rousey is to many, a super human, disposing of supposed equals in seconds. She is in the top eight highest paid female athletes in the world. Who as an MMA world champion and an Olympic medal winner has girls dropping their Barbies and pick up their Gi’s. The limits to her talents seems endless.
I have friends who work in my office who don’t follow MMA but who were talking about her latest victory and analysing the win like MMA veterans. She enjoys the celebrity status of Tony Stark only Ronda is for real. A real life superhero.
Ms. Marvel is a fictional super hero. She enjoys the power of flight, superhuman strength, endurance and stamina. She is a blonde bombshell, an all round tough cookie and wears a costume that would have fans of Watchmen’s Silk Spectre foaming at the mouth. If you take away that elusive power of flight and does that remind you of anyone?
So Ronda confirms she would like to play Ms. Marvel in the up and coming Marvel movie scheduled for release in 2018. Marvel, I hope you were listening. This would be like a gift from the nerd Gods.
Ronda has the looks, she has the hustle and from what I’ve seen of her on-screen, she could easily do what Scarlett Johansson has managed to pull off across several movies. The action scenes would undoubtedly benefit from her abilities and Ronda’s army of female fans would turn dork and bring a potential fresh audience to Marvel’s already substantial reach. Us simple menfolk will be there already, trust me.
I think as long as the movie steers away from the dross cliches that bombs like Catwoman embellished then this could well be another Marvel hit. Marvel is proving to be the masters of this kind of thing. The Black Widow character was well received enough to cross into several of the movies and newcomer Scarlet Witch looks to have made a positive impact on cinema going audiences. But have Marvel done enough to pave the way for a successful female lead to command their own film? Sex sells and they have been a little guilty of using it when they need to, I think Ronda could well fit the mould of both sex symbol and a believable badass.
I understand there are several potential pitfalls to this partnership. The one that stands out and remains an untested theory is: would Rousey’s majesty still be all-encompassing if she was beaten? Now I don’t see Rousey losing anytime soon. As there is already a lack of challenges, a rerun through the division seems likely and what has changed there to suggest Rousey wouldn’t remain unbeaten throughout 2016?
There is the potential super fight with Cyborg Justino but it doesn’t appear that Dana White and the UFC brass are willing to let their 135lbs champion move up a weight class to fight a threat at a weight class they have no division for. As much as I want to see the fight, I can understand that decision.
Now maybe Cyborg will drop down to 135lbs for the match. I would fancy Ronda to win that as I figure Cyborg would lose a lot of that explosive power she possesses. But what about the unseen? The future that is not yet written.
I understand that in MMA anyone has a puncher’s chance but by 2017 and beyond, we have an age of time to allow for new challengers to emerge and plenty of other changes to the game – the possibility Rousey loses that desire to keep fighting and her increasing age could become a factor. Would this really matter? Am I overthinking this pitfall?
Now Rousey dropping a super fight to Cyborg or falling victim to a ‘lucky’ blow doesn’t necessarily mean she cannot continue her ascent, it might just delay it. Gina Carano was able to recover from her loss to Cyborg and still snag high-profile roles in Fast and Furious 6 and the forthcoming Deadpool film which also stars Ryan Reynolds as the infamous merc with a mouth. And whilst Cyborg does loom as a potential career terminator, I think as long as Rousey continues to shine in all other areas of role modelling and generally being one of sports ‘Good Guys’ then she should survive. And if Rousey was to win? Oh, boy…
So what are Rousey’s realistic chances of landing the iconic role? I’d heard rumours of Jennifer Lawrence going for talks with Marvel. Lawrence is already a bone-a-fide superstar thanks to The Hunger Games franchise and her inability to not fall down at a star-studded awards ceremony. Her oscar winning credentials, loveable personality and natural beauty are going to be hard to fend off – even for someone with Rousey’s formidable fighting credentials. I would say however that Lawrence’s star is burning brightest right now, the final installment of The Hunger Games is out in November, whereas Rousey, assuming she can keep scorching fools, has only begun to unlock the doors to her uncharted realms of possible success. And if it comes down to it couldn’t they just fight for it?
So this is all speculation at this point, I have wasted fifteen minutes of your precious time. Rousey simply mentioned she would like the role and I got myself a little excited. I have seen all the fan art people have been creating and it seems you all have too. I could see a real sense in her casting and could see her giving a legitimate feel to the fight scenes. But three years is a long time in MMA terms and almost a lifetime in Hollywood. Who knows what the future holds but isn’t it fun to debate? Now who fancies Miesha Tate as Battleaxe…
Main Photo:
