America Chavez is on fire! Comic book fans have hailed her into her own ongoing series called America. Now, Gina Rodriguez, star of Jane the Virgin, has expressed that she would love to join Marvel as America on screen! She’s no random star just looking to make a quick buck either, Rodriguez is a true fan.
Recently, she was a panelist on the “Hacking the Script: Disrupting Diversity in Hollywood” panel at SXSW along with Jon Spaihts, screenwriter for Doctor Strange. During the panel, on more than one occasion, she expressed her love for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how elated she would be to be a part of it. When questioned by Geeks of Color on whether or not she knew who America Chavez was, the resulting jump of joy revealed that she was indeed a huge fan, and even name dropped Gabby Rivera, current writer of the America comic series.
With this being said, Gina Rodriguez would be a phenomenal candidate for the role if Marvel brings the character to the big screen. In fact, Rodriguez also mentioned that her manager is already on the case should Marvel put out the call to cast America Chavez. I think it would be in their best interest. Lately, with characters like the new Afro-Latino Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and the Pakistani-American Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, Marvel has been making a major push to include characters of diverse culture and backgrounds on their comic book pages. America Chavez, being a queer woman of color, is another powerful statement of representation. But it should not stop on the pages.
As it pertains to Marvel Cinematic Universe, we’ve had several movies featuring the different members of the Avengers. However, going forward we have Captain Marvel and Black Panther preparing for their own big screen debuts. Now is the time to put these characters on screen while they are gaining traction. America Chavez is already a fan favorite. As a super strong, dimension traveling Latina capable of going toe to toe with some of Marvel’s most powerful, she would be a force to reckon with on screen.
Her comic information is as follows- America is the newly appointed leader of the Ultimates, and best friends with Kate Bishop (Hawkeye). She’s been featured in books such as The Ultimates, Young Avengers, and A-Force, and is currently starring in her solo series, America, written by Gabby Rivera with art by Joe Quinones, Joe Rivera, Paola Rivera, and colors by Jose Villarrubia. America #1 is on sale now.