At 28 years old, Beanie Feldstein has already led one of the most exciting and promising careers of her generation in Hollywood (from her supporting role in the acclaimed sleeper hit Lady Bird, to her dramatic turn in the Impeachment: American Crime Story cast as Monica Lewinsky) and all while staying relatively quiet about being Jonah Hill’s younger sister. In fact, at this point, I would say that she has a pretty good shot at beating her Academy Award-nominated brother to the punch of starring in any superhero movies – unless you count the time he voiced Green Lantern in The LEGO Batman Movie.
If you do count that one, then Feldstein at least has a shot at being the first in her family to act in the Marvel movies, and I have a few characters in mind for her to play, including one that would allow her to re-team with her Booksmart director, Olivia Wilde.
Rebecca Marchand
After making an extremely impressive feature-length debut as a director with the hit coming-of-age comedy Booksmart in 2019, accomplished actress Olivia Wilde was reportedly approached the following year by Sony to direct a film that would be set in the studio’s shared universe of Spider-Man characters (which is not too far off from what they actually call it). Rumor has it that the still untitled project is a Spider-Woman movie, without any word on which iteration of the female webslinger will be the focus, even though most people are betting on seeing Jessica Drew make her live-action cinematic debut. If that rings true, I am not so sure that I would cast Beanie Feldstein in the role, but would recommend her to play someone very close to the fan-favorite superhero.
In 2020, Jessica Drew met the niece the never knew she had, Rebecca Marchand – an extremely intelligent teenager born with a genetic defect that would prevent her from being able to walk later in life – whom she was appointed to protect from mercenaries seeking to kidnap her for ransom. I think you could make a fun and unique kind of adventure rarely seen in superhero movies out of their aunt-niece dynamic, not necessarily in the first upcoming Spider-Woman movie, but perhaps in a sequel. On the other hand, if it turns out that Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman movie is about Gwen Stacy, I might have an even better idea role for Beanie Feldstein to play.
Mary Jane Watson
In an alternate reality of the Marvel Multiverse officially named Earth-65, there is no Spider-Man, but only a Spider-Woman, who’s also the alter-ego of Gwen Stacy – Peter Parker’s ill-fated first love in the comics’ main continuity. In a previous hypothetical Marvel movie casting call, I suggested that Beanie Feldstein’s Booksmart co-star, and real-life good friend, Kaitlyn Dever, would make a great “Spider-Gwen” if she was to be the focus of Olivia Wilde’s forthcoming project. If my suggestion became a reality, I hope that Sony would also be interested in my recommendation to play one of the young superhero’s best friends.
In Earth-65, Mary Jane Watson (whom followers of the Earth-616 continuity should recognize as Peter Parker’s eventual wife) is great friends with Gwen Stacy, with whom she starts a band (along with Felicia “Black Cat” Hardy) called The Mary Janes. However, Gwen’s secret devotion to vigilanteism would end up creating a rift in their relationship, almost like the temporary conflict that Feldstein and Dever’s characters in Booksmart would suffer near the end of the climactic second act. Channeling that same compelling chemistry would make the actresses perfect choices to play these alternate versions of Gwen and Mary Jane, if not just for the chance to reunite with Wilde again.
Nina Price
On the other hand, as exciting as it would be to see a Booksmart reunion with Beanie Feldsein and Kaitlyn Dever on the set of Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman, let’s take a moment to snap back to reality for a second – specifically the reality that is canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is more likely the superhero franchise that Feldstein would like to get her hands on, and I have a few different ideas for roles that she would be great as. I was inspired to include two of these characters after seeing Feldstein appear in a few episodes of What We Do in the Shadows – the FX original series inspired by Taika Waititi’s hilarious, mockumentary-style horror-comedy movie from 2014.
In the first season of What We Do in the Shadows, Feldstein’s character, Jenna, ends up becoming a vampire – a creature of mythological lore that is more prevalent in the history of Marvel Comics than many may realize. A bloodsucker I had in mind for Feldstein (in case she was not interested in playing the same kind of bloodsucker again) is a half-vampire, half-werewolf hybrid named Nina Price, who is also the niece of another Marvel character, named Jack Russell. In the very first appearance of Moon Knight, Russell (better known as “Werewolf By Night”) would actually fight against the mystical superhero, who is getting his own Marvel TV show on Disney+ soon, which is one way that Feldstein’s Nina could be introduced into the MCU.
Anita Blake
Another way that we could see Beanie Feldstein appear in the MCU as Nina Price would be in an upcoming movie that will surely have plenty of vampires: Marvel’s Blade reboot starring two-time Academy Award winner, Mahershala Ali. However, that could also mean that she might not last on screen very long, since the half-mortal bloodsucker hunter (previously played in three movies by Wesley Snipes) is pretty damn good at his job. So, in an effort to give her a larger role (and appease her wishes to not repeat playing another bloodsucker, if necessary), instead of the prey, why not make her the predator.
Anita Blake is a vampire hunter based in the St. Louis, Missouri of Earth-97534, but with a few extra special abilities hidden under her sleeve. In addition to killing undead creatures (which would earn her the nickname “The Executioner”), she also works for a company called “Animators Inc.,” which specializes in bringing the dead back to life, as well as exerting full bodily control of the reanimated corpse – a skill she was naturally born with. In that case, if not a role in Blade, she sounds like the perfect person to have around if the MCU ever wanted to make that zombies episode of What If…? into a live-action movie one day.
Squirrel Girl
Another female Marvel character who would be especially great to have around in the midst of a zombie apocalypse is Squirrel Girl. Why? Despite her youthful age, seemingly meek personality, and resemblance to the furry woodland creature from which she takes her name, she is one of the few Marvel superheroes with an almost flawless combat record, besting the likes of even Thanos. Because Feldstein has consistently proven herself to be force to reckoned who defies expectations every chance she gets, I think that alone would make her a wonderful choice to finally bring this obscure fan-favorite character to life on the big screen (or the small screen, in a live-action TV show, even).
However, like I said, Beanie Feldstein is the kind of actress who is full of surprises. So, perhaps we should be willing to anticipate that she may find herself in the DC movies instead. In the meantime, check out the Marvel characters we had in mind for Megan Fox to play!