Commonly the first choice to play the damsel in distress post their award-winning role as Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’, director Shawn Levy had everyone doing a double take when he announced Emma as Cassandra Nova in ‘Deadpool and Wolverine‘.In a virtual interview with ETimes, Corrin admitted that they were just as surprised. “Oh my gosh! I’d never ever thought about getting the call from Marvel, let alone to play a villain. So it was a really incredible honour and surprise when that call came in.”
It must be something about making a dramatic shift from royal dramas to comic book villainy because Emma happens to be among the ten actors from ‘The Crown’ to be inducted into the MCU. Before they could take centre stage, actors including Matt Smith, Elizabeth Debicki, and the Queen herself Olivia Coleman have all played prominent Marvel characters.
“I’m the 10th one? No way, that’s incredible,” they say, pleasantly surprised at the revelation. When asked if they shared notes, Emma replied, “I don’t think we’ve really shared experiences at all, which we probably should have…”
This movie is not only significant as it marks Corrin’s debut in the MCU, but also introduces Cassandra as a formidable and powerful character, for the first time since the X-Men film series debuted in 2000. A hero is only as great as its villain, so it begged the question if Nova was as unhinged as Corrin expected. They said with a laugh, “Yeah, she definitely is. She’s as unhinged as anyone would ever want. And it was really fun to play someone that mischievous and cutting and playful and unpredictable.”
“There’s no rulebook for Cassandra,” they said and explained, “because she has so much power. She’s such an omega-level mutant that she can pretty much decide what she wants to do and what she’s in the mood for. Yeah, it was great. As an actor to have that kind of freedom to play with a character is always fantastic.”
In the comics, Cassandra is the evil twin sister of Charles Xavier aka Professor X, who shares his powers of telekinetic and telepathic control. Unlike him, she is unafraid to use her powers and stretch her abilities. Hence, it would be a shame to see all that power, furiosity and madness end after the 2 hours and 7 minutes film, much like Cate Blanchette’s Hela in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch in ‘Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness’.
Emma assured us that actor and writer Ryan Reynolds and director Levy, “have written an incredible arc for Cassandra.”
They added, “As everything in this film, is very nuanced and quite unexpected, in a classic Deadpool way, they’re taking the genre that we all know and love and really giving us all those elements that we want. But, they are also giving us characters with a lot of depth and a lot of integrity and who very much have their own journeys in this film. They’re incredible writers and I don’t think anyone we’ve seen will be disappointed.”
Producer Kevin Feige recently revealed at the global press con that ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ will usher in the ‘Mutant era’ in the cinematic universe, giving way to the highly anticipated ‘X-Men’ reboot. With years to go before the end of the Multiverse saga, we asked Emma who they would like to see their character go up against in the future. “I think to see Cassandra come face to face with her brother Charles Xavier would be pretty extraordinary,” they said.
So can we expect to see more of the star? “It’s the MCU so there’s no rulebook,” Corrin shrugged. Since that’s not a denial, it’s safe to say, Cassandra could return.
‘Deadpool and Wolverine’, the third instalment of the superhero franchise is set to have a wide release in India on July 26, in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.
Deadpool & Wolverine – Official Trailer
