Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Red One!
After seeing Kiernan Shipka as Gryla inRed One, the actor should take on a similar role in a multi-billion dollar franchise. Though she started out as a child actor, Shipka has successfully transitioned her career into adulthood, becoming an A-list actor who can take control of a film.2024 marks an epic year for Kiernan Shipka, with her taking on roles in five notable movies, including the Dwayne Johnson Christmas movie Red One.
Red One features multiple mythical figures, including Santa Claus and the Krampus; however, the main villain is Kiernan Shipka’s Gryla. In Icelandic mythology, Gryla was an ogress who cooked naughty children into stew. However, the 2024 Christmas movie shows her as a shapeshifting sorceress who wants to save the world from evil by punishing people on the naughty list. Shipka’s chilling and memorable performance proves that the actress could play a significant role in the MCU as a fan-favorite comic book character.
Kiernan Shipka’s Gryla Has Similarities To Marvel’s Magik
The Two Sorceresses Have Good Intentions With Dubious Methods
Kiernan Shipka’s performance asGryla in Red Onepoints to her ability to play a character as nuanced and morally gray as Marvel’s Magik. In her human form, Gryla is a young woman with long blond hair, eyes that glow at times, and a black costume stylized as armor – defining visual characteristics of Magik. However, similarities in appearance are far from the only ways these two characters are alike.Both have an immense amount of magic that could be dangerous in the wrong hands, although Magik has stronger abilities than Gryla, plus the soul sword and stepping discs.
Gryla essentially comes across as a less powerful version of Magik, who has given into her darker side.
The pair also have similar personalities and approaches to morality. Though Gryla is painted as the villain, she actually has very wholesome intentions.She wants to fix the world and save Christmas by ending Christmas. She thinks imprisoning the naughty listers will teach them to be better people. By this definition, Gryla might act as an antagonist from the start to theend of Red One, but she falls into the anti-hero and anti-villain area rather than falling on one end of the spectrum or the other.
Red One Has Much More In Common With A $1 Billion Marvel Franchise Than Expected
The holiday action comedy Red One is unique in its Christmas storytelling, but other aspects of the movie have similarities to one Marvel franchise.
Magik is similar in that she tends to fall into the category of anti-hero rather than a hero, especially in the comics fromNew X-Men(2007) up toAvengers vs. X-Men(2012).The mutant sorceress has a warped sense of morality due to her traumatic upbringing, lacking issues with murder and violence when necessary.She makes questionable choices in the name of doing the right thing. The sorceress also has a dark, demonic side within her that she tries to suppress. Gryla essentially comes across as a less powerful version of Magik, who has given in to her darker side.
Deadpool & Wolverine Provided The Key To Kiernan Shipka Playing Magik in the MCU
Deadpool & Wolverine Introduces The Void
Once Disney reacquired the rights to X-Men in 2019, doors opened to the possibility of characters from that franchise appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most obvious crossover options were those with strong connections with existing characters – Wolverine, Magneto, Storm, etc. Magik is a character with a strong connection to Doctor Strange, and she appeared in the mostly-forgotten 2020X-MenmovieNew Mutants; however, the MCU was missing one major component of the Marvel world that’s inextricably linked toMagik’s character arc– Limbo.
Red One’s Gryla Plan Left 1 Plot Hole Everyone Forgot About
Red One’s villain, Gryla, had a plan to end Christmas and kidnap Santa Claus, but it left one plot hole everyone in the movie forgot about.
The character was kidnapped and raised in Limbo, eventually becoming the ruler of that domain. Nearly every version of her origin story involves Limbo in some form or another, but the MCU didn’t have Limbo to work with. However,Deadpool & Wolverineshows the pair visiting a world called The Void which functions in the same way Limbo does.
Anya Taylor-Joy ofFuriosafame plays Magik inNew Mutants(2020).
If Kevin Feige wants to introduce Magik into the MCU with a new actress – ideally Kiernan Shipka – The Void is the perfect way to do it. The Void and Limbo could be one and the same in the MCU, allowing for Magik’s origin story to remain similar to the comics. She could also still be the sister of Colossus, who already appears inthe Deadpool movies.
Kiernan Shipka As Magik Would Continue Her Trend Of Playing Morally Gray Characters
Shipka Is Known For Playing Characters That Cross Moral Lines
If Kiernan Shipka played Magik in the MCU, this would continue the actor’s trend of playing characters who fall into the morally gray area. Her tendency towards this type of role stretches back to her big break playing Sally Draper inMad Menfrom 2007 to 2015. She might be a sweet young woman overall, but she goes through a rebellious period where she acts in questionable ways.
$250 million
$164.59 million
31%
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Scores fromBox Office MojoandRotten Tomatoesas of 12/9/24
She also plays a much darker and more morally gray version of Sabrina Spellman in Netflix’sChilling Adventures of Sabrina. Even her recent rom-com role in thecast ofSweetheartsmakes exceptionally questionable choices, though she’s a saint compared to Gryla inRed One. Ultimately, Shipka excels in this type of role, and her appearance as Magik would be no different.
