10 Comic Book Roles ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Star Kim Dickens Could Crush

With Madison Clark no longer a part of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, we couldn’t help but find ourselves doing what all fans do: wondering where longtime series lead Kim Dickens might end up.

Dickens, who appeared in Lost, Deadwood, and The Blind Side before joining the zombie drama at the start of its first season, has become a sought-after actor. Besides Fear The Walking Dead, she also appeared in Gone Girl in 2014 and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children in 2016, meaning that a lot of attention has been paid to the actress who spent much of her youth starring in relatively unknown films like Zero Effect and Things Behind the Sun.

We put together a list, trying to keep in mind that Dickens is not in her early ’20s, so it is likely not in the cards for her to play a TV superheroine. Still, an excellent actor with a lot of genre fans means there is always potential, and between Marvel, DC, TV, movies, and more, we came up with a handful of ideas that we thought could be a ton of fun to see her tackle.

So read on, and let us know — either in the comments or by hitting me up @russburlingame on Twitter — whether we got any wrong or missed any obvious choices.

Animation

This is a broad one, but it is worth mentioning up top.

Dickens, who has a distinctive and strong voice, could easily play any number of roles in animation. Whether that could take the shape of Robert Kirkman’s just-announced Invincible series, or something like playing Wonder Woman in one of the forthcoming DC Universe animated films, it seems like Dickens’s voice turning up in a comic book universe is almost more of a shoo-in than her face doing so again.

Barbara Gordon*

There would be something really great about seeing Dickens taking on the role of the middle-aged, responsibility-laden Barbara Gordon in Batman Beyond.

Beyond seems to be a property that is perpetually rumored, but never really comes to pass — so what better way to begin a story that is all about things that will likely never happen?

Barbara in the animated Beyond is a bit old for Dickens, but she seems a bit younger and more vital in the more recent comic books (post-Rebirth, anyway), and certainly given her age difference with Bruce Wayne it would be difficult to argue that in a version of the story where he is still alive and well she would be much more than 50.

Cat Grant

As Stephen Amell recently (and controversially? Whatever.) said, other-media adaptations are almost inevitably going to have a long-term impact on how the property is viewed, both back in the comics and going forward into other non-comics adaptaitons.

For that reason, we were thinking about how much fun it could be to bring a version of Supergirl‘s slightly older, confident, business-minded Cat Grant to life in an upcoming DCEU movie — and that Dickens could play the part with relish.

Sara Pezzini

Sara Pezzini, a sexy but grizzled, tomboyish cop who ends up wielding the powerful Witchblade, would be a terrific role for Dickens.

The character has been brought to live-action once before — by actress Yancy Butler in a TNT series that ran for two seasons.

Witchblade is arguably more famous, aside from the comics, for her manga and anime adaptations, which number in the dozens.

Lady Blackhawk

When Steven Spielberg makes his Blackhawk movie, it is unlikely that Zinda will be the main character, but it seems likely she will appear, especially since she has become the most popular member of the team in the comics since Beau Smith saved her from oblivion and Gail Simone made her a Bird of Prey.

A character actor with charm and the ability to do action scenes could pump some interesting life into a secondary character like that, and would allow Dickens — who is in her early 50s but still looks younger, a la Robert Downey, Jr. — to appear in one movie without having to commit to the possibility of ten movies and 15 years in the DC Universe.

Part of the Black Widow Program

With a Black Widow movie coming up in the next few years, Marvel is likely going to explore the backstory and origins of the character.

As we saw with Julie Delpy, Marvel’s track record of excellent films can give them access to the kind of actors who do not ordinarily think of themselves as blockbuster fodder. Putting Dickens in a medium-sized role in Black Widow could be a great fit for her, with room to expand either in sequels, in Avengers movies or in streaming TV…but without requiring it.

Slide 7

Sasha Bordeaux, a martial artist who worked for Bruce Wayne and ultimately rose up through the ranks to become the Black Queen of Checkmate, could be a cool addition to Arrow in the coming season, since Oliver’s prison has already drawn Checkmate comparisons.

She does not need to be as physically imposing or young as Sasha was when she was introduced in the comics, since her role in this imagined story would be to operate as head of a spy organization.

It seems clear he will not be in jail for very long (he is, after all, featured on the crossover poster, and those things happen before the end of the calendar year), but a nice mini-arc as a cool character with the possibility to recur could be just what the doctor ordered.

Also, as the head of Checkmate, she could find time to butt heads with ARGUS chief Lyla Michaels, played by fellow Walking Dead casualty Audrey Marie Anderson.

Rainbow the Spaceknight

Okay, so this one is basically just animation, but in the MCU.

We’d love to see the Spaceknights become part of Marvel’s cosmic mythology. It feels tonally like they belong.

Rainbow was the rare female Spaceknight — one of the first generation Spaceknights that had returned to Galador prior to Rom’s return and had been captured by Mentus and placed in stasis as a captive.

Rom was able to free her upon his return to Galador along with a number of other fellow Spaceknights and with their help defeat Mentus.

Bloodaxe

Come on, you know we’re right.

We want more Taika Waitti Thor, and we want more of the wild cosmic energy that he and James Gunn have brought to that corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

…So why not Bloodaxe?

With Skurge sacrificing himself in Thor: Ragnarok, somebody has to step up, and why not have it be this wacky character from the Thunderstrike solo series, where the whole payoff was essentially that it’s a woman under this massively-muscled, somewhat grotesque exterior?

Cameron Chase

Yes, Chase was reported to have been cast on Supergirl — and there may even have been some insignificant character who was Chase in the first season, though it’s hard to tell.

Still, Cameron Chase — who debuted in Detective Comics as a foil to Batman before starring in her own, short-lived series — is one of the most complex and interesting women DC has introduced in years.

Chase is also a character who would require minimal “prep” for Dickens, since she does not have to be in superhero shape, and Chase could easily be written as someone Dickens’s age while still being a gun-toting, ass-kicking agent for the DEO (or, y’know…some other organization if they chose not to go with Supergirl for this).

Imagine how exciting it could be — and this is a total fantasy, but what else are we really doing here — to see Kim Dickens as Chase in a Commissioner Gordon-style role to Batwoman when she joins the CWverse in November.