Julia Roberts Wants to Be in a Superhero Movie: “Wouldn’t It Be Awesome?”

Julia Roberts wants to be in a superhero movie. The Oscar-winning actress was at the premiere of her new movie Ticket to Paradise, which she stars in alongside George Clooney. Clooney is still (in)famous for getting in on the superhero movie genre early, playing Batman in Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin in 1997; naturally, being with Clooney on the red carpet led one reporter to ask the inevitable question: wouldn’t Roberts also like to add superhero movies to her resume? 

Wouldn’t it be awesome?” Roberts said in response to Variety, with George Clooney jumping in to add that he and Roberts should do a superhero film together. 

The kind of proclamation from the likes of Julia Roberts is sure to get the attentions of the powers that be at both Marvel and DC, as both superhero movie studios have been scooping up A-list and/or award-winning actors for their respective mega-franchises. Marvel has seen Cate Blanchett ham it up as a villain (Thor: Ragnarok); Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfieffer take on iconic characters (Ant-Man franchise); with talent like Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, William Hurt, and Jeff Bridges going all the back to beginnings of the franchise. Not to be outdone, DC has had veteran talent like Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, Robin Wright, Conny Nielsen, Pierce Brosnan, Michael Shannon and others bolstering its films and new talent. Next up, we’ll see Bill Murray in a Marvel movie (Ant-Man 3), Michael Keaton back as Batman (The Flash) and Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu terrorizing the DC Universe (Shazam! 2). 

However, few names get mainstream attention like Julia Roberts, and whatever project she would be attached to would almost automatically have buzz built around it. It’s also certain that upon hearing that Roberts is game to join a comic book franchise, fans will have their own sets of ideas about where the actress could and should pop-up. 

Some out-of-the-box choices would be Sony nabbing Roberts for its Spider-Man spinoff universe, which has films like Madame Web on the way. Marvel also has some big franchises to launch in the years to come, such as a rebooted version of Fox’s X-Men franchise. DC has just given a tease of the next phase of its franchise plans, with room wide open for a name like Julia Roberts to bolster them. Warner Bros. also has the distinction of offering a wide array of comic book movie content that attracts serious talent – such as the Joker franchise, which got Joaquin Phoenix into the comic book movie genre, and is next poised to have Lady Gaga start alongside him. If Julia Roberts wanted a more dramatic or prestige project, WB/DC would be a great go-to. Finally, independent comic book movie franchises are always a possibility. 

Which superhero movie universe would you want to see Julia Roberts end up in?