Some Fans Really Want Daisy Ridley to Play Spider-Woman Next
Fans would like to see Daisy Ridley pull a Samuel L. Jackson and transition from Star Wars to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Only instead of wearing an eyepatch, Ridley would wear red and yellow tights as the relatively unknown Spider-Woman.
Whether Ridley would actually do this is anybody’s guess, but the educated guess is that she might not take to it. Outside of the Star Wars sequels, she has stuck to relatively small films, although most films are small compared to Star Wars and other franchise movies. That said, the general public might do well with a refresher or introduction to Spider-Woman.
Who is Spider-Woman?
Some people might see Spider-Woman and think “Oh, the Spider-Gwen character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse voiced by Hailee Steinfeld.” However, that’s not the Spider-Woman fans want Ridley to play. As is often true with Marvel characters, the history of Spider-Woman can be rather tangled.
The official Marvel site describes her this way: “Agent of Hydra. Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent of S.W.O.R.D. Bounty hunter. Private eye. Superpowered. De-powered. Jessica Drew has been all of these things, but it seems no matter where her life takes her, it is her destiny to be the high-flying Super Hero known to the world as Spider-Woman.”
Marvel mastermind Stan Lee created the character in the late ’70s largely to keep another company from creating their own Spider-Woman, according to an issue of The Comics Journal. This version of the character got her own animated series in the early 80s. Rather than getting her powers through a random spider-bite, Jessica got hers through more nefarious means: genetic tampering as a child.
What has Daisy Ridley done since The Force Awakens?
While The Force Awakens was not Ridley’s first credit, it’s what made her famous. However, that level of fame has seemed to make her gun-shy about being a celebrity. She was one of a number of Star Wars actors, including Kelly Marie Tran, who abandoned social media after persistent trolling.
Ridley has tended to favor smaller-scale movies like Kenneth Branagh’s all-star Murder on the Orient Express and Ophelia, a version of Hamlet told from the point of view of that character. She has shot another sci-fi movie, Chaos Walking, ironically with none other than Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland. However, that film has been plagued by numerous delays, and it’s set for release in January. Usually, if a studio releases a movie in January, the studio doesn’t have faith in it, so that may make Ridley shy away from large studio projects even more.
“I want to be a working actor, and I am currently unemployed, so I’m not succeeding right now,” Ridley told Variety “… I just want to be in good things and work with great people. I read amazing things a lot of the time. Which is obviously a struggle that people are having is financing and is this going to sell, but in terms of content there is amazing stuff, scripts and books, that are sent my way.”
What do fans say about Ridley as Spider-Woman?
Most fans on Reddit were fine with Ridley as potential casting. They took issue with other things, like the costume. One fan said, “Much prefer the newer costume over the spandex. Not sure about Ridley, but it could work with the right director/writing.” Another fan replied, “I feel like they could do a combination of both suits, and I think Daisy could do well in the role, like you said it really depends on the writing.”
Although an illustration of Ridley as Spider-Woman is new, the fan-casting is not. The idea has been kicking around Reddit for at least four years, with some fans also suggesting she could play Kate Bishop, the young woman that Hawkeye is supposed to train in his Disney+ series. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Hailee Steinfeld was eyed for that role too, although casting so far has not been confirmed.
