Zazie Beetz Auditioned For X-Men’s Storm

Zazie Beetz made her superhero debut as Domino in Deadpool 2, but she was nearly a different Marvel mutant, Storm in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Speaking at ACE Comic-Con in Chicago this weekend, Beetz was asked which Marvel character she’d play if she had her pick. In her answer, she revealed that she auditioned to play young Storm in Apocalypse.

“I mean, when I was a kid I remember in terms of characters people would always be like, ‘You should be Storm.’ I auditioned for young Storm, actually, and I didn’t get it,” she said.

The role eventually went to Alexandra Shipp and Beetz noted that after seeing Shipp had to shave her head for the role maybe it wasn’t the right timing after all. But Beetz also noted that playing Ororo Munroe would have been the fulfillment of a childhood dream.

“I feel like growing up I always had an association with her,” Beetz said. “I mean, obviously, because being a young black woman that was the one I associated with. But I think that would have been a little fantasy of mine to do that, and sort of a nostalgic thing for me to try. So yeah, I’d say Storm.”

Instead, Beetz made a splash as Domino. Her version of Domino is different from the one in the Marvel Comics universe, and she also addressed the fan response to those changes.

“I also understood that. I think about my own kind of associations I have with my own characters that I loved in my childhood, and you definitely…particularly visually have an image that you’re attached to,” Beetz said. “So I understood that part. So I get if you feel, or if people have felt detached from my version. I more balk at if people become rude online or something like that, but I have to say it hasn’t been too much of an issue. I’ve been blessed in that department.

“I’ll lead with overwhelmingly positive, which has been wonderful. I’ve felt really so welcomed into this community and in the beginning, I was nervous because I know I don’t look like the traditional character and I wanted to also respect that people…I didn’t need to be their Domino, but I think particularly after the movie came out people were so excited and so supportive and I’m thinking even this turnout here and people showing up, so it’s really been so positive, so I’m really really grateful about that.”

Do you think Beetz would have made a good Storm? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Deadpool 2 returns to theaters as a PG-13 cut on December 21st.

Other upcoming X-Men movies include Dark Phoenix on June 7, 2019., The New Mutants on August 2, 2019, and Gambit in March 2020.