According to screenrant.com Netflix is "considering" a White Tiger series. Marvel has been on fire with critics and fans alike praising their current Netflix series; Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Daredevil gave Marvel fans a different darker tone from what they were accustomed to in comparison to their movies. The success of Daredevil surely has paved the way for Jessica Jones. Now the pressure is on Luke Cage to deliver when the series drops September 30th.
According to Bleeding Cool-Marvel has cast a wide net by allegedly shooting a number of pilots with the streaming company. One of those rumored pilots may or may not have been White Tiger. Personally I'm all in for a White Tiger series for a couple of reasons; the first, she'd give Marvel another female superhero series. Second, she's a Latina hero thus bringing some much needed racial diversity to the comic book TV/movie genre. Please allow me to introduce the comic hero known as White Tiger.
Who Is White Tiger?
There are three versions of this hero; Hector Ayala, Angela Del Toro, the current White Tiger Ava Ayala.The latter picked up the mantel after her brother, Hector and niece Angela died. The origin of the White Tiger started in NY with an amulet that granted the Ayala family the power of the Tiger God. I'll dip into some history a bit starting with...
Hector Ayala
Hector Ayala was the first to dawn the white suite. Hector found the Jade Amulet in New York, which gave him the power of the Tiger God. Hector was later arrested after being set up, and falsely accused of stealing a TV. Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock were his attorneys and they failed to convince the jury of his innocence. The conviction drove Hector mad and he stole a gun from a security officer and fled the courthouse. The chase ended with Hector being gunned down by police. The tragic events gave way to the next family member to inherit the powers of the Tiger God.
Angela Del Toro
Angela Del Toro obtained the White Tiger amulet after the death of her uncle and began to fight crime under the White Tiger alias. She initially struggled with the idea and it took some convincing from Daredevil to nudge her in the right direction. Anglea was then able and willing to harness the power and take on the mantle of White Tiger.. Unfortunately she was killed by Lady Bullseye leaving the power vacant once more.
Ava Ayala
Ava Ayala is the current and most popular version of White Tiger. Ava is the younger sister of Hector. She's unable to control the Tiger God power the way her brother did-thus leaving her vulnerable allowing her to succumb to the power. Ava has a deep connection with the Avengers being one of the first students to attend and graduate from the Avengers Academy being mentored by Tigra and interning for Luke Cage.
She's the version of the hero the show should be based off of. Outside of her current popularity and familiarity; being part of the animated universe as member of Spider-Man's team on Disney's Ultimate Spider-Man...
Ava has one great backstory. The previous holders of the amulet being her brother a niece, and their time spent as heroes make for a fantastic development down the line. They can serve as one hell of a motivating factor, or it can create some sense of reluctance, and/or hindering her ability to truly control the power. Plus there is the added bonus of her connection with Luke Cage who also happened to be a father figure to her niece Angela.
Now that you have those little details here are five actresses I think will own the role of Ava Ayala's White Tiger.
Genesis Rodriguez
Maybe I'm being biased by including her on this list since we're both from Miami, Florda... Nah. Her resume is actually pretty impressive, not in the award winning way, but Genesis has been in a number of action movies. Before I dig into that, I first saw Genesis in 2012 as Angie, where she had the memorable scene when she and her boyfriend, played by Jamie Bell break into a safe looking to prove his brother's innocence, Sam Worthington's character. She was funny, sexy, a smooth and showed great chemistry with Bell.
In 2013 she costarred along side one the greats in Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a bad ass agent Ellen Richards whose being held captivate by the films antagonist.
Okay so she didn't look that bad ass tumbling threw the dessert, but trust me she was. In Identity Thief she along with TI played criminals chasing down Melissa McCarthy's character Sandy. Rodriguez also costarred in Run All Night with Liam Nesson and Ed Harris as Gabriella. She was pretty good in her short stint as wife of Joel Kinnaman's character. She also voiced a character on Big Hero 6 where was pretty great. White Tiger could be the role she needs to really breakout. Netflix and Marvel should have her in mind because I planted the seed... Inception.
Odette Yustman
I've been a fan of this woman since I saw her in the Unborn as the main character. I was convinced that she could be so much more... Obviously Hollywood didn't agree with, but I still think they're wrong. She hasn't really starred in any movies outside of Cloverfield, but she did go on to play in the action packed comedy Operation Endgame. While it's not a big time hit, well it's not a hit at all I think she jumped off the screen as the kick ass Temperance.
However, it was her role in Banshee as the Native American ass kicking Nola Longshadow. She was absolutely mean, never cracking a smile taking no $h!t from Proctor or anyone who stood in her way... Yustman along with Matthew Rauch put on one of the best fight scenes I'd ever seen.
As White Tiger shed own the role as a more mature tested version of the hero, maybe she could play Angela Del Toro's version.
Lindsey Morgan
She's a relative unknown, which could work against or for Marvel. But if you're a fan of CW's The 100 you know that it's the former. Morgan is a talented young actress and she's primed for a bigger, better, badder role. The Mexican/Irish actress plays Raven the tough as nails mechanic on the ARC. Lindsay has already shown her range and potential as her character changed over the course of the show.
As Ava, she'd bring the tough girl attitude needed to play a struggling young hero. But Morgan's ability to play vulnerable will also work in her favor. Her character isn't your average teen, well no one on the show is...Raven is challenged and put through hell, don't let the pretty face fool you, she's smart mouth gritty strong character. This would be a great way for Netflix to have a young actress who can grow with the role.
Victoria Justice
Alright so she's a Nickelodeon alum, yes she was Nick since she was kid on shows like Zoey 101, iCarly, True Jackson VP, and of course Victorious. On Victorious the multi-talented actress showed why she was destined to breakout while playing the lead character Tori Vega. But her days on Nickelodeon isn't why I'm convinced she'd make a great White Tiger, nope it's her short lived MTV series Eye Candy. As the smart, sexy Lindy Victoria peeled off the kiddy layers and channeled her inner sexiness in this dark teen mystery. Lindy was serving street justice while hunting down a serial killer who she happened to meet while looking for an online date.
Victoria isn't done proving her worth she's set to star in the cult classic remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Though Victoria is still searching for roles to shed whatever stigma accompanies child actors from the two major networks she would be a great in the role of a young struggling hero looking to find her place.
Christian Sarratos
Serratos is a young up and coming actress whose been featured on Nickelodeon's
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide as Susan Ned's "love interest" (lack of a better term). She's also been a mainstay on the
Twilight Saga playing Angela Webber where she won the "Young Supporting Actress Award" from Young Artist Award. But none of those accolades are why I chose her. She currently plays the zombie killing Rosita on AMC's
Walking Dead and that's why I chose her. She pulled away from the teen roles took on something gritty, and it worked. Marvel, call her up bring her from one comic to another maybe Negan will make it happen faster #justsayin.
Thank you Comic Book Movie for allowing me to use my Movie Pilot article.