Thanks for the picture, Following the Nerd!
Scoring Hollywood geekdom's coveted triple crown, Zoë Saldana has officially joined Marvel's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy as deadly Zen-Whooberi assassin Gamora. Having anchored James Cameron's epic Avatar and stepped into the legendary Nichelle Nichols' gogo boots as Lt. Uhura in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot (including this month's Star Trek Into Darkness), all she needs now is a cameo in The Hobbit and she'll fully ascend to geek goddess.
Confirmation came in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, courtesy of Marvel president Kevin Feige:
"I believe people are going to respond to Chris Pratt and to an alien Zoë Saldana—because they did respond to that one time before [with Avatar]. And to a tree and a raccoon who, it is certainly our intention, will steal the whole movie."
Tempting allusion to Groot and Rocket Raccoon aside, that's a pretty milquetoast endorsement for the charismatic, sexy, and legitimately nerdy actress. She's already played deadly, as a lithe hitwoman in 2011's Colombiana. It's a pretty cool choice to cast an actress of color given that the character has green skin; it both adds diversity and suggests color-blind casting. And I, for one, think she'll have fun chemistry with Chris Pratt as Star Lord. Whereas Marvel could've cast any model capable of holding a pout (cough*Watchmen*cough), instead director James Gunn and Marvel have chosen a firecracker of an actress with geek cred to spare.
We know professional meathead Dave Bautista will be a curiously short Drax the Destroyer, but I want to know who's voicing Groot and Rocket! Certainly they won't shortchange audiences real, dynamic voice talents for these CGI characters. Even if Groot only ever says one thing, I amGroot!, the right actor can bring whole worlds to the character.
What do you think, geeks? Do we like Zoë Saldana? Remember her from Center Stage?
