A new report broke over the weekend that WWE Superstar and reigning Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch could appear in an upcoming installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Lynch has already showed off her acting chops with roles in The Marine 6: Close Quarters and Billions, and has reportedly been getting advice from John Cena (and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Pro wrestling has already made its way into the MCU with WWE Hall of Famer Dave Bautista as Drax, and between Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Captain Marvel 2, and Black Panther 2 there are a lot of potential casting options for “The Man.” We’ve managed to narrow down that potential list to eight noticeable characters that have yet to be seen on film.
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Lynch would just be the latest WWE superstar to make the jump to movies, as The Rock, The Miz, Batista, Cena, and most recently Roman Reigns have all appeared in movies. As we’ve seen with Batista, it can mean a full-blown franchise like Guardians of the Galaxy, but we aren’t sure if this role is a leading one or just a quick appearance.
Either way, we’re excited to see what Lynch does in the Marvel Universe, and whether it’s an Asgardian, a Hero For Hire, a mercenary, or a magic-user, there are quite a few options to choose from.
Hit the next slide to see what we think would be a good fit for her. You can also see her on the season premiere of Billions, and more details can be found below.
“Emmyยฎ and Golden Globeยฎ winners Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis star in a complex drama about power politics in the world of New York high finance. Shrewd, savvy U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti) and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Lewis) are on an explosive collision course, with each using all of his considerable smarts, power and influence to outmaneuver the other. The stakes are in the billions in this timely, provocative series.”
You can catch the premiere of Billions on Showtime on Sunday, May 3rd at 9/8 CT. As for Becky Lynch, you can catch her every Monday night on Raw on USA Network.
Let us know in the comments who you want to see her as or hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things WWE and Marvel!
Tarantula
One of the most interesting pools to draw from is the Heroes For Hire pool, which has included a host of different characters over the years. For Lynch, we think Tarantula might make an interesting role, as the character is a specialist in hand to hand combat but also with two wrist blades. The mantle has been used several times over the years, and the most recent version was Maria Vasquez, so you could take bits and pieces from all of the past iterations and come up with a cool version for the MCU. In most of those cases though, Tarantula doesn’t mind doing the dirty work and getting brutal when she needs to, so she would make an interesting addition to any task force, tournament, or group that pops up in a future film.
Tarantula was part of Heroes for Hire while Shang-Chi was also part of the group, and they even dated for a while. Even if the MCU didn’t go that route, this would be a fun way to give a lower list Marvel character some nice star power.
Paladin
Another mercenary-type character perfect for Lynch (and a gender-bend) is Paladin. Paladin became a fan favorite during his time with the Thunderbolts and Heroes for Hire, and is a character that is more of an anti-hero who sometimes helps out and does good things. That would be a nice fit for Lynch’s current anti-hero persona, and she can also showcase her sense of humor and wit in this role, as Paladin tends to be pretty snarky and sarcastic.
Paladin is also more about non-lethal combat and doesn’t seek to kill if he can help it, opting for his stun-gun. That said, that doesn’t mean he won’t get his hands dirty if the need arises, and he is highly skilled in the art of sabotage and combat. His suit should still have the purple theme, but it does need an upgrade if we’re going to see it in the MCU.
While he’s appeared quite a bit in the comics, you also don’t need to spend much time setting him up for an MCU debut, making it perfect for a one and done type appearance.
Elsa Bloodstone
Now, this is someone I think would be an absolutely perfect fit for Becky Lynch. That is none other than Elsa Bloodstone, a charming and sarcastic monster hunter. While she started out as a more bubbly blonde back in the day, she’s since been reinvented into the red and orange-haired trenchcoat-wearingย badass we love today…sound like anyone you know?
The bloodstone piece she wears around her neck gives her enhanced strength, endurance, speed, and a healing factor, and she’s skilled in just about any weapon as well, though also mixes in magical items she’s picked up along the way. She typically favors guns, though regardless of which weapon she wields she is always armed with her razor-sharp wit, and would make a great addition to just about any Marvel franchise.
I mean, this is a character that can go one on one with Deadpool and come out ahead, and Lynch would be up for the action-heavy stunts. Now that I’ve said this out loud, I really want this to happen, so if it doesn’t I’ve also somehow bummed my own self out.
Black Jack Tarr/Lionmane/Killraven
This one features 3 characters that are all relatively small in the grand scheme of things, but because of that they are ripe for reinvention and can either be used as just a name or something more in-depth if Marvel wants to give them some shine. First up is Black Jack Tarr, a member of MI-6 who ends up working with Shang-Chi after initially not really trusting him. You could tweak the MI-6 thing if you wanted for any agency, and just bring in someone to be Shang-Chi’s liaison, though the name is really cool, so maybe keep that.
Next up is Lionmane, a Heroes for Hire character that attempts to become a Warlord and adopts the Lionmane name. He’s essentially a pirate who steals from the wealthy in Madripoor to keep them from becoming too powerful and to make him more powerful in the process. This is again a relatively small role, but you could easily tweak this premise and have Lynch as the leader of the crew, because who doesn’t see Lynch as leading a group of badasses against the Marvel heroes, right?
Last but not least is Killraven, which is a very 90s but also incredibly cool name. Killraven is actually from a different earth, one that was attacked and taken over by Martians, and the heroes just let it happen. The Maritan overlords instituted an arena system where people fought for their amusement, much like Ragnarok in that sense, and you could easily adapt this backstory for Lynch in several possible films, and either as a villain or a hero. Again, hand to hand and weapon-based combat is his specialty, though he also uses swords quite a bit.
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Bridget Malone
It’s hard to think of Becky Lynch and not think of a warrior, and that’s exactly what she would be if she played a version of Bridget Malone. Malone is a smaller character in the comics that has appeared in various Thor and Avengers books over the years and is a character that with a few tweaks can fit into several of Marvel’s upcoming movies.
The character was transformed into Conquest after finding a mystical artifact, and the premise of the character is that she”s the embodiment of battle. She’s taken on Thor, Nova, and Quicksilver in the books and lived to tell the tale, and she could be inserted into just about any rogue or enemy squadron, which is perfect for an appearance by Lynch.
She has superhuman strength and reflexes and is skilled with just about every sort of weapon. That’s a great fit for that Shang-Chi tournament if we ever heard one, though we imagine the armor and even her name would get some changes.
Morrigan
Another choice is Morrigan, who has appeared in books like Avengers, Doctor Strange, X-Factor, and more. Morrigan is an ancient Goddess who finds a new host every so often to continue her near-immortal existence. This would also fit the brief cameo role if that’s what Becky is going to be doing in the film. This is one of the few roles on this list that would easily fit into The Eternals, as Morrigan was one of several goddesses chosen to try and find humans who were worthy representatives of mankind’s ideals, and thus would be offered to the Celestials as a sacrifice to continue existing.
If part of that history is at least acknowledged in Eternals, Lynch could end up being one of the goddesses attempting to find worthy humans. It’s not a big role, but it is interesting to say the least.
