Danai Gurira is on the new 'Avengers: Endgame' poster.Credit: Disney/Marvel
Danai Gurira's star is on the rise. Best known for her role as Michonne in The Walking Dead, Gurira broke out last year with her supporting role as Okoye in Black Panther.
(Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War follow.)
In Avengers: Infinity War, Gurira was one of the few surviving good guys, joining Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) among others from the original lineup of Avengers. Her king, T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) did not survive.
So that was a pretty big deal. Only a handful of non-Avenger characters made the cut, including Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). Oh, and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), obviously.
Danai Gurira as OkoyeCredit: Disney/Marvel
The rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy are toast. Spider-Man is toast (ignore the trailers for Spider-Man: Far From Home.) Half of all living things (not including foliage?) are toast. Thanos really did a number on the universe with that Infinity Gauntlet. Now we'll get to find out how our heroes stop him and reverse his galactic genocide.
Yeah, Infinity War ended on a bummer note. But not for Danai Gurira. Being one of the few surviving good guys has its perks, after all. She is now featured on the new Avengers: Endgame poster. After a brief blip yesterday when Disney/Marvel forgot to include her name on the poster, we got this:
Danai Gurira's Okoye is one of the characters featured on the new Endgame poster.Credit: Disney/Marvel
That's . . . a very big deal, indeed. On the one hand, Michonne is a beloved character on one of TV's biggest shows. On the other hand, Gurira starred in two of the highest-grossing movies of 2018. Avengers: Infinity War is the fourth largest-grossing movie at the box office of all time. Black Panther is ninth. Avengers: Endgame could very well top Infinity War.
Not only that, Black Panther was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It didn't win, but still . . . if I were Danai Gurira I wouldn't want to stick around making 16 episodes of zombie television when I've had a part in some of the biggest movies of all time. Granted, Okoye is not a main character. She's a supporting character. But she's tough and fierce and not chained down to the uneven writing we see in The Walking Dead
Even with a much better Season 9, The Walking Dead has gone on for nine years and Gurira has been a part of it since Season 3. Ratings---while perking up a bit lately---have seen a major decline after the dark days of Season 7 and 8. And I'm sure it just gets exhausting after a while, especially when you have other options.
Now Gurira can put that poster up in her living room in a nice frame and marvel at it to her heart's content. It's quite something. I can only imagine the feeling.
I've had my problems with Michonne's character since The Walking Dead's time-jump earlier this season, but I guess we're supposed to find out what exactly made her so bitter in this Sunday's episode, so hopefully that resolves things. I'm not sure how Gurira will be written off the show in Season 10, but with the MCU not showing any signs of slowing, and a Black Panther sequel somewhere on the horizon, well, the world is her oyster.
Here Are Some Relevant Posts I've Written That You Should Totally Also Read!
No comments:
Write comments