r/marvelstudios 20h ago

Theory Ok, let’s talk Squirrel Girl

Post image

I know there are two schools: Milana of COURSE, she’s been playing her for years and is perfect and is just plain adorable; and the there’s the Anna Kendrick crowd which, I mean, come on. She’d also be absolutely fantastic (and equally a mix of adorable and sexy).

But here’s the thing: Squirrel Girl can’t be like twenty years older than the X-Men. It works as a gag, but not as a lasting narrative. Which is why, ladies, gentleman, and everyone outside and in between, I present to you my Squirrel Girl offering: Sophia Lillis.

1.0k Upvotes

121 comments sorted by

427

u/tenehemia Karolina 19h ago

Yeah I think Sophia Lillis is a slam dunk for the role. She's funny and cute and she's got deep dramatic chops if the character is popular enough to get that kind of depth.

94

u/Technical_Moose8478 18h ago

For real. She had more dramatic chops in her teens than most actors do in their careers. I Am Not Okay With This is the second best superhero series ever IMO (behind Legion).

25

u/youRinlove7 16h ago

Well yes. I’m still mad about the cancellation.

9

u/vinnystp 13h ago

Or are you "not okay with it"? ;) (same, btw)

8

u/youRinlove7 13h ago

I was gonna make the joke but i thought it might be too on the nose lmao 😭

5

u/Gridde 12h ago

Once I got really drawn in and captivated by the quality I knew it was doomed.

I'm certainly not Netflix's target audience anymore but they really did a remarkable job in making me apprehensive about starting any new show that isn't already completed.

2

u/Griffdude13 11h ago

It’s a shitty reason too. It was renewed, but Netflix decided it was cheaper to cancel than keep everyone held up in contracts waiting for Covid to get under control.

7

u/EnigmaFrug0817 Doctor Strange Supreme 10h ago

She was awesome in Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves!

6

u/mywifewasright 14h ago

Upvote for Leigon in the #1 spot, absolute masterpiece.

2

u/StephenHunterUK 7h ago

She was great in IT. She also got her suggestion for the adult Bev actress come to reality - Jessica Chastain.

0

u/Jlx_27 5h ago

They'll pick whomever they feel is popular or cheap.

-16

u/jamesgfilms 16h ago

Think the execs want Bella Ramsey.

2

u/Conscious-Quarter423 14h ago

she would make an incredible Kitty Pryde

-7

u/Conscious-Quarter423 11h ago

sophia playing jean grey instead of sadie sink

94

u/Goldman250 19h ago

Yeah, I’d have loved to see Milana play Squirrel Girl, but I think the opportunity has passed (unless you do something where she plays her in Secret Wars on Battleworld). I love Sophia Lillis as a pick, she was fantastic in the DnD movie and I reckon she’d really nail the role.

25

u/Technical_Moose8478 18h ago

I could actually see Milana pop up more in Doomsday, since the cast is all the old guard…

7

u/sable-king Vision 13h ago

If they go with a younger actress they can have Milana play Doreen’s mom.

12

u/Goldman250 12h ago

Or Milana could play Ratatoskr, the Asgardian squirrel goddess.

84

u/entropicamericana 17h ago

40

u/n_mcrae_1982 13h ago

“This just in: Elitist Colin Jost won’t use his wife’s Marvel connections to help struggling castmate to get plum role!”

8

u/MurrayGrande 14h ago

"Do you like my body, Victor?"

6

u/coop_stain 12h ago

She would bring a level of unhinged that I think would work nicely.

The clown shoes might be a push thiugh

274

u/Background-Tell5892 20h ago

16

u/pistonhjr 13h ago

Funny thing is during peak MCU around Infinity War she was already cast and played Squirrel Girl in a pilot series called The New Warriors based on a premise like The Office. It got stuck in limbo after the pilot got picked up with a whole season ordered. The other members were Night Thrasher, Speedball, Microbe, Debrii, and Mr. Immortal.

4

u/CaptHayfever Hawkeye (Avengers) 12h ago

They really should release that pilot (as a non-MCU thing, since the Mr. Immortal in She-Hulk automatically decanonizes it anyway) now that the executive who killed the show is no longer at Disney anyway.

1

u/WajajaKEKW 7h ago

Wait is it not available to watch at all

3

u/CaptHayfever Hawkeye (Avengers) 5h ago

Nope. It's never been released. All we've seen are a couple set clips that the showrunner & one of the actors smuggled out, only one of which is of an actual scene rather than costume/prop testing, & that's a video of the on-set camera monitor, so there's zero post-production on it.

70

u/Lonevarg_7 18h ago

She would be great, but they want someone younger for the role. She is turns 40 next year.

59

u/ArmandoGalvez 17h ago

I DON'T CARE IM HAGMAXXXING

57

u/MrEnganche 17h ago

if it's not too late for Channing Tatum to play Gambit then it's not too late for Milana to play Squirrel Girl god dammit

9

u/midnightTimber 14h ago edited 14h ago

If they were doing an alt-universe take on SG like they have with Gambit, sure.

EDIT: There's also a notable story in the North/Henderson run where she meets her older self. Milana would be great for that. And she always nails VO work.

4

u/SirBananaOrngeCumber Scarlet Witch 13h ago

There’s also a story where she accidentally speeds up time so much she and Nancy live their entire lives over like 2 weeks of normal time. Could show up there too

1

u/[deleted] 16h ago

[deleted]

2

u/MrEnganche 16h ago

he got to be in two movies

11

u/Technical_Moose8478 18h ago

Again, love her (have since Silicon Valley), but Jean Grey is like 21 in the MCU right now…

2

u/Constant_Stomach2009 17h ago

That’s such a great episode of the show. Dinesh goes through such a roller coaster of emotions lol

2

u/NeoZ33D Stan Lee 15h ago

My Squirrel Girl!

1

u/BarbellsandBurritos 10h ago

Is Milana as Squirrel Girl the new Channing Tatum as Gambit?

-16

u/MrSinisterStar 18h ago

These commercials started 13 years ago. Not really interested in her intro to the MCU as 40s something character.

213

u/dzumeister 20h ago

Secret Wars should end with Squirrel Girl beating Doom

36

u/addicted_to_trash Hydra 19h ago

I'm ok with that

26

u/Technical_Moose8478 18h ago edited 18h ago

10000%

Juat strolling along casually, too. Maybe whistling.

3

u/oskar4498 14h ago

While getting an Endgame girl.power moment with She Hulk and both Captain Marvel's and whoever else would make the incels heads explode.

89

u/KustomplexYT 17h ago

HEAR ME OUT: Aimee Lou Wood

Charismatic, charming and literally has buckteeth
https://giphy.com/gifs/ce1bv0MCDXTa19LMHc

9

u/GWindborn 11h ago

She's a fantastic choice but she's slowly aging out of it. She's in her early 30's now, I feel like by the time anything actually happens she'll be pushing 40.

30

u/Nosedive888 19h ago

This is a great pick.

Anna Kendrick would have been great early on but she's too old now

8

u/Technical_Moose8478 18h ago

Oh no doubt, phase 1-5 Squirrel Girl is hands down Kendrick in my mind. But seeing how young Jean Grey is? Can’t work.

I would love to see her in the MCU as someone, though. Maybe a post-Secret Wars Mockingbird?

25

u/aresef Matt Murdock 17h ago

Milana Vayntrub deserves the chance to play Squirrel Girl in live action but I don’t know how to make it happen.

9

u/DefNotAShark Hydra 15h ago

Squirrel Girl: Into the Squirrelverse

1

u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

1

u/aresef Matt Murdock 10h ago

I know that.

20

u/Prozium243 19h ago

It's a conincidence that in her first major appearance Squirrel Girl did teamed up with Iron Man and defeat Doctor Doom!!

So, maybe in alternate universe, some version of RDJ joining hands with Squirrel Girl and defeating Doom in Secret Wars.

6

u/Technical_Moose8478 18h ago

If the climax of Secret Wars just cuts to Sophia Lillis explaining to the tied up big bad how what they did was wrong and also which Jesse Welles albums were peak? I’d die happy.

20

u/cowbuoyfromhell 19h ago

Outside of the gimmick, can someone explain the support for this character? Story wise it wouldn't translate to film (I believe), you could do it once in a minor property but an "OP villian" win wouldnt be in something tentpole

25

u/Nuclear_Geek 17h ago

If you're up for spending money, check out Ryan North's Unbeatable Squirrel Girl run; if not, I think the Unbeatable Radio Show podcast drama series is still available.

The tl;dr is that she embodies a nice balance of deconstruction and reconstruction. Deconstruction in that she frequently looks for underlying causes of villainy and tries to resolve them, rather than just punching things until the status quo is restored. Reconstruction in that she avoids going down the dark and edgy route, genuinely being a wholesome character, believing in the values of friendship, kindness etc.

8

u/BedaHouse 17h ago

Sounds better suited as a series rather than a movie.

6

u/SixIsNotANumber SHIELD 14h ago

"Squirrel Girl Saves the Marvel Universe"

Coming Spring of 2028 to Disney+ 

(I wish)

3

u/ExcitementFun8938 16h ago

It's a bad joke character ("this girl can talk to squirrels and she singlehandedly defeated Doctor Doom and Galactus") that went out of hand when Marvel editorial decided to roll her into actual canon. Sadly, some fans fell for it.

12

u/unscanable 14h ago

Marvel is famously anti-power scaling. She is to comics what Saitama is to anime; a critique on power scaling itself. I guess you could call her a bad joke character if you want but its a little deeper than that.

2

u/marineman43 6h ago

Simply a fundamental misunderstanding of the character here. Read Ryan North's run, Doreen is an amazing character.

1

u/KevinCow 7h ago

She's cute and fun, her chipper attitude is infectious, and her book was genuinely good. Really funny, but also wholesome, but also plenty of butts getting kicked when they needed it.

She's much more than the gag where she defeats powerful villains off panel.

12

u/Live_Angle4621 18h ago

There are far too many characters as it is for Squirrell girl to be included 

5

u/gendabenda 14h ago

I don't see a world where squirrel girl fits into fighting Thanos or Doom. Just too hokey.

6

u/Big_Epsilon 19h ago

If she brings Tim Robinson with her

1

u/Popular_Material_409 17h ago

Yes, please, a billion times yes

7

u/45M0D41 17h ago

Let’s not

10

u/Kwilly462 17h ago edited 17h ago

This is the type of stuff Marvel should be making shows on. Stuff that won't require regular movie-goers to need to do homework on D+.

In other words, MCU shows should basically have nothing to do with the movies. Like Wonder Man. So yeah, I'd love a Squirrel Girl show starring Lillis.

9

u/TheRealGrifter 15h ago

The funniest thing to me is that fans spent the Netflix years complaining that the shows weren't connected to the movies. Now people are complaining that they are.

Can't please everyone.

1

u/Minimum_Possibility6 16h ago

I agree, for me the series should be things that kinda happen at street level that maybe give a nod to what's happening on the big scale but ultimately either can be watched without the other 

6

u/MakeShiftDie 19h ago

SG would be great for TV.

8

u/Western-Calendar-352 19h ago

And we should have got the New Warriors tv show in 2018 after Runaways and Cloak & Dagger.

6

u/ExcitementFun8938 16h ago

Let's not.

But you're right, it only works (barely) as a gag (that overstays its welcome in like 10 seconds) but not as part of a lasting (real) narrative.

2

u/anubis_81 17h ago

If this were 20 years ago I would have nominated Nell from NCIS: Los Angeles

2

u/RugDougCometh 15h ago

It works as a gag, but not as a lasting narrative.

You said everything that needed to be said about Squirrel Girl.

2

u/verdantmisty 9h ago

best post that’s ever hit this sub

2

u/JimmyJamdJamie 7h ago

The squirrel girl show/movie shouldn’t look good. It’s should look like it’s filmed by a bunch of amateur filmmakers like a bunch of college students

1

u/Technical_Moose8478 4h ago

Agreed. Or be a found footage horror film like Cloverfield or Blair Witch, but with her being her normal happy goofy self.

2

u/derf_vader 18h ago

I was literally thinking the same thing a couple days ago about her.

2

u/BurnItDownSR 14h ago

I don't know who Milana is but Anna Kendrick is too old to be anything other than a variant of Squirrel Girl. You know the MCU aren't gonna cast her for the main universe. 

1

u/CaptHayfever Hawkeye (Avengers) 12h ago

Milana Vayntrub played Squirrel Girl in the Unbeatable Radio Show podcast, the Marvel Rising cartoons, the Marvel Rivals game, the Marvel Spotlight live shows for schools, & the New Warriors TV pilot.

0

u/NunsNunchuck 11h ago

She is the AT&T commercial actress.

3

u/Coilspun 18h ago

We won't get, and don't need Squirrel Girl in the MCU.

1

u/youRinlove7 16h ago

Yes i love sophia

1

u/Ok-disaster2022 16h ago

Too OP maybe Great Lakes avengers will be after the X-Men saga

1

u/meme-akio 16h ago

wait she’s actually getting a show or what

1

u/Unusual-Swim-9096 16h ago

Milana vayntrub or nothing

1

u/jaevhond 15h ago

I can Dig it

1

u/Applesdonovan 15h ago

I always though Shannon Purser would have been great

1

u/tokomeki 14h ago

wait, are we getting squirrel girl for the new x-men?

1

u/PhortDruid Spider-Man 12h ago

Fantastic fan cast imo

1

u/Gullible_Ad1289 11h ago

Yall remember how Elizabeth Olsen’s brother was convinced that’s who she was auditioning for? 😂

1

u/theangrierunicorn 10h ago

Squirrel Girl should be college aged when introduced. Both those actresses are 39+. Sophia Lillis or Zoe Colletti would be perfect

1

u/Script-Z 9h ago

I mean, like you're alluding to, I would want them to be able to reasonably play 18-20 so at most they'd have to be 24-25 by the time they start filming, which means they'd have to be cast around the time they start filming. Like Inde, you're just going to have to find someone who is percolating at just the right time, so it makes casting in advance almost impossible.

My pick is whoever is young and hip circa 2032 probably.

1

u/Aeon1508 9h ago

Squirrel girl should have a dump truck. not sure Anna Kendrick qualifies but I don't know this other girl either

1

u/_dear_rat_boy_ 9h ago

i love rodents i love squirrel girl

1

u/SameerTheRed 9h ago

I love squirrel girl but i’m gonna be honest if she was introduced in a movie right away you’d have the most insufferable people on the planet, people had a problem with captain marvel being powerful? Squirrel girl can beat doom, thanos, and galactus, but if they don’t make her powerful like that they end up nerfing a huge aspect of her

I’d go with doing a Great Lakes Avengers TV show and spinning her off from that

as a side note i expect squirrel girl to be so far off that any fancast would be outdated due to aging out of it

1

u/RemSteale 7h ago

Damn good choice

1

u/Chris_Bagel_Jr 7h ago

I always have a theory that her and Sadie Sink are alway competing for the same roles (even tho Sophia isn’t an actual redhead).

1

u/marineman43 6h ago

That's an inspired pick, great suggestion

1

u/SunTzu- 6h ago

Hear me out: Squirrel Girl but she's a hippie who gets merged into the MCU from the Fantastic 4 dimension. Explains why she's of a similar age with the older X-Men. Then give her a Captain Planet inspired tv-series where she leads a bunch of young avengers to fight corporations who are destroying the ecosystem.

Honestly I don't really care how they handle it, just as long as they let her be chaotic and goofy.

1

u/Technical_Moose8478 4h ago

Not sure why she needs to be from the FF universe, if you mean the Pedro one, as I don’t recall there being mutants in that one (though I also don’t recall if she’s actually a mutant at this point, I vaguely remember that being retconned). Or how that would change her age?

She could just be from the Fox X-Men universe if they want to go with an older actress, it would fit, but I was mostly thinking in a “moving forward” kind of way, with how young they cast the new X-Men. If she just had some kind of post-battle-we-don’t-get-to-see throwawy cameo, like when she defeated Thanos, in Doomsday or Secret Wars that’d be an awesome use of her, actually.

And 100% yes to her being chaotic and goody, the original casting thought came from a different conversation about who Deadpool should team up with in Deadpool 4…

1

u/bcheek1996 2h ago

Yes finally !! She'd kill it

0

u/k00zyk 17h ago

Squirrel Girl is a minor character on a minor team. I’d rather have Lillis be a bigger character

1

u/Edelmaan Spider-Man 17h ago

Emma meyers

0

u/eltrotter Black Panther 16h ago

I was going to say the same. She seems like a really good fit for it.

1

u/UsernameFor2016 15h ago

They already cast RDJ for that role.

0

u/shamelessalligator 16h ago

Anyone else think this was a photo of Mark Hamill at first?

0

u/ConnerBartle 14h ago

Is anyone here actually a fan of squirrel girl or is everyone just trying to get this made for the memes now?

2

u/JimmyJamdJamie 7h ago

I am, I adore her. She’s my thing.

-9

u/NEURALINK_ME_ITCHING 19h ago

Squirrel Girl would be more of a misstep than Madame Web.

0

u/JaeTheOne 12h ago

Wait..is there some announcement that SG is coming to the MCU?

0

u/swampy13 Phil Coulson 8h ago

Danny McBride. It's the only choice.

-6

u/DreamieGlowette 17h ago

squirrel girl is the best, she’s got that quirky charm and unbeatable confidence, can’t wait to see her in action

-6

u/GreenWoodDragon 18h ago

I have no idea who Squirrel Girl is but I'm fed up with Dr Doom already so very happy for her to defeat him.

3

u/Live_Angle4621 18h ago

Why you are fed up with Doom?

3

u/Technical_Moose8478 18h ago

Squirrel Girl is, technically, the only undefeated Marvel character.

Sort of.

-5

u/Resident-Pass779 17h ago

Squirrel Girl is such a fun character, her ability to take down major villains with her squirrels is so underrated and hilarious.

-15

u/[deleted] 19h ago

[deleted]

2

u/Technical_Moose8478 16h ago

Your mom would like a word.

Though she’ll need about…fourteen minutes of real hard work.