Entertainment

Morena Baccarin Is Taking On Superhero Films

by Kadeen Griffiths

Gotham fans have gotten to know her very well as Leslie Thompkins — one-half of the only Jim Gordon couple worth 'shipping these days — and now she's diving even further into the comic book world. According to Coming Soon, Morena Baccarin will be playing Copycat in Deadpool, the upcoming movie starring Ryan Reynolds as the title character. The actress herself confirmed the casting by posting a picture of her Deadpool chair on Twitter Thursday, but the chair simply has the name Vanessa on it. It doesn't take very much for a Deadpool fan to theorize that Vanessa's full name is Vanessa Geraldine Carlysle. It's a match made in casting heaven, if you ask me.

In the Marvel comic books, Copycat was once a young prostitute who fell in love with Deadpool. In a later story, she died in Deadpool's arms from wounds inflicted on her by Sabretooth — saved only by healing blood magic a.k.a. comic book magic — and took up a new identity as the owner of a chimichanga stand. This is just one of many stories in which Copycat appears, and it's unclear at this point exactly what role she will be playing in the Deadpool film. Hell, I'm still trying to figure out what role Deadpool is playing in the Deadpool film.

If there's anything that we can be assured of, it's that Baccarin will bring amazing depth and independence to the character. After the unpopular direction that Barbara Gordon's character took on Gotham, reducing the amount of fans who wanted to see her with Jim Gordon or Renee Montoya down to about three, Leslie Thompkins came in like a breath of fresh air. She is not only endearing and gentle, but stubborn and independent as well. Her scenes, though relatively few, are packed with so much depth that I already feel like I know her better than I know Jim.

Now imagine Baccarin bringing that to Vanessa. No matter how many or few scenes Copycat is in, she will steal every single one. I mean, Banks would be amazed by Baccarin's ability to smize — though now my extreme bias and affection for the character of Leslie Thompkins is showing. Yes, Vanessa Carlysle is a different breed of character than Leslie Thompkins, but the former is lucky to have the actress of the latter portraying her. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a long career in super hero films for Baccarin. Even more hopefully, we'll one day see her leading a franchise of her own as something a little more central than a love interest.