Top Ten Black Actresses Who Can Play A Younger Storm

Storm #1. Writer by Greg Pak. Art by Victor Ibanez. Cover Art by Victor Ibanez. July 23 2014. Marvel Comics.I love Storm and was mostly exposed to the character through the many X-Men animated television shows that populated my young life. Last week, during a Yahoo Q&A, X-Men: Apocalypse writer Simon Kinberg verified that Halle Berry, James Marsden, and Famke Janssen will not be reprising their roles in the upcoming X film if their characters were to be written in.

“If we included some of the original X-Men, like Storm, Jean, Scott, and others, yeah we would have to recast them, because Apocalypse takes place a good twenty years before “X1,” which now insanely was fifteen years ago.”

– Simon Kinberg, Yahoo

So who are my choices for the African Queen, Street Thief, Leader of the X-Men and general mutant bad ass? Well, check out my choices below.

The Black Girls Club. October 27, 2012. Written by Ankhesen Mié. "Nikita...I have terms". http://theblackgirlsclub.blogspot.ca/2012/10/nikitai-have-terms.html

10. Lyndie Greenwood

She plays the kick ass Jenny Mills in Sleepy Hollow and would make a great 80s Storm. She’d definitely bring the edgier aspects of the character to life.

Tessa Thompson. Samantha White. Dear White People. Film Promo Photo. Directed by Justin Simien.

9. Tessa Thompson

Tessa Thompson has attitude and could go head to head with the likes of Magneto & Wolverine. I’m very excited to see her in the indie film Dear White People out in October and I expect great things.

Keke Palmer. IMDb. 17 June 2014.

8. Keke Palmer

Now we’re starting to get younger here with Keke Palmer who I first saw in Akeelah & The Bee. X-Men is an ensemble movie with the focus usually on Wolverine, Magneto, Professor X and now Mystique (thanks to Jennifer Lawrence) so Palmer doesn’t necessarily have to deal with the pressures of leading a big film. I think she has talent but I haven’t seen her challenged in her roles yet.

7. Sonequa Martin-GreenSonequa Martin-Green. Vanity Fair. Photographed by Charley Gallay. June 18, 2014.

I love Sonequa’s character, Sasha, on The Walking Dead who can shift from being tough to being vulnerable. I wonder if her zombie killing skills could be useful in Age of Apocalypse

Nicole Beharie. 2013. San Diego Comic Con. Sleepy Hollow.6. Nicole Beharie

I adore her as Abbie Mills on Sleepy Hollow and her interviews are always insightful to watch. I think she’d make an interesting choice for Storm but the question is whether or not she’d take on the role. She’s made comments that she is more interested in characters and, given how poorly written the role of Storm is so far, it seems unlikely that Beharie would bother auditioning or say yes to an offer. I still would love  her to play Storm, though.

5. Hope Olaide WilsonHope Olaide Wilson. Photo by Blake Gardner. 30 August 2014.

I first saw Hope in The Last Ship and was able to see a demo reel on YouTube of her work. I think she’s a lovely actress and at age 29 I think she can play much younger so it won’t be too out of the realm of possibility to see her as the young Storm. She can definitely bring a new innocence to the character.

Quvenzhané Wallis. Photos By Koury Angelo. Styling By Laura Mazza. Art Direction By Kalvin Lazarte. Retouching By: Velem. February 22, 2013.  Milk Made. ALL HAIL THE NEW PRINCESS OF INDEPENDENT FILM: QUVENZHANÉ WALLIS.4. Quvenzhané Wallis

I haven’t seen Beasts of the Southern Wild but given that Quvenzhané was nominated for an Oscar at the age of nine for it clearly indicates this young girl has the chops. I’m very excited for her movie, Annie, coming up which is the biggest film she’s done so far and given that Storm is going to be 20 years younger than she was in X1, Quvenzhané may have to play a few years old than her real life 11 year old self.

3. Yaya DeCostaYaya DeCosta. The Kids Are Alright. Tanya.  2010.  Film. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko.

Yaya was a contestant on America’s Next Top model before working her way up as an actress. Her latest acting gig is playing Whitney Houston in a TV movie which I feel like is great practice for embodying a beloved superhero character given Houston’s popularity. I like Yaya as an actress. She had a small role in Lee Daniel’s The Butler but it was a role that stood out for me and I think she can bring it as the new Storm.

2. Lupita Nyong’oLupita Nyong'o. Golden Globes Awards. Photograph by Jason Merritt. 12 January 2014

She is everyone’s choice to play the mohawk sporting Storm. Her performance in 12 Years A Slave was breathtaking and it helps that she’s African like our Ororo since she hails from Kenya. Only thing that could be held against her is what a lot of the above choices have a challenge getting over also: age. This is twenty years before X1 so we’re looking at a teenaged Storm. I have to say that I would love Lupita to take a stab at the very popular X-Man.

Amandla Stenberg. "Amandla Stenberg (Rue) snags recurring role on ‘Sleepy Hollow’". October 18, 2013. HG Girl On Fire. http://www.hggirlonfire.com/2013/10/18/amandla-stenberg-rue-snags-recurring-role-on-sleepy-hollow/

1. Amandla Stenberg

I LOVE Amandla Stenberg. She was fabulous as the younger version of Zoe Saldana’s character in Colombiana and was, of course, great in The Hunger Games as Rue. Halle Berry was 34 years old in 2000 and, as Kinberg said, the film will take place 20 years before the first X-Men film. That would mean, assuming we’re going with Berry’s age at the time, that we’re looking for a roughly 14 year old Strom and Amandla is 15. I think she has the acting chops, is the most realistic choice in this top ten and it helps that her name, Amandla, is the Zulu name for “power”.

 

 Who would you like to see as the new Storm? Sound off below!

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Ardo Omer

Ardo Omer

Former WWAC editor. Current curmudgeon and Batman's personal assistant. Icon art by Diana Sim.

2 thoughts on “Top Ten Black Actresses Who Can Play A Younger Storm

  1. Quvenzhané is just cute. She looks like my niece; however, I do not think she should play a twenty-something character. The other two worth mentioning in your article are Lupita and Keke. I don’t think Lupita should do it based on looks alone. Yes, she is beautiful, but I don’t want beautiful. I want Storm. At times, Keke looks like a younger Angela Bassett. (By the way, Keke is gorgeous as well.) As a matter of fact, the now defunct print magazine, Wizard, had proposed in one of its “Casting Call” pieces that Bassett should be cast as Storm. In that same article, they had Patrick Stewart and Professor X. Just imagine Bassett as Storm. Keke shows strength and can unleash her righteous indignation when appropriate. I would like to point out that the role of Storm is not going to be a pivotal character with a lot of screen time unless I script the movie. If any of these thespians got the part, it would not be written by Lori-Parks or any other talented writer who could aid the actor in bringing the best Storm to the screen. So, I don’t think Berry should be the bête noire that she is based on her performance as Storm. However, I think the woman playing the role, should read old and new stories with this fantastic character.

  2. Sonequa Martin-Green cannot play Storm.,
    She is going to be in the 10 part television mini series
    for The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms as Yeine.
    If anybody tells me otherwise I will twerk up a storm of rage and furious anger until heart palpitations take me up out of here.

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