Back in 2016, Rachel McAdams entered the MCU as Dr. Christine Palmer in Doctor Strange. Director Scott Derrickson originally wanted to get Jessica Chastain to portray Christine, whose comic book counterpart is also known as the Night Nurse. Via Heroic Hollywood, Doctor Strange co-writer C. Robert Cargill explained why Chastain passed on the role during his appearance on the Junkfood Cinema podcast.
“This is the interesting thing that Hollywood’s starting to find out, is that a lot of the actresses out there want to be superheroes as much as the actors do,” said Cargill. “I know this happened with Scott [Derrickson]. He went to Jessica Chastain to get her on Doctor Strange, because we were considering her. She’s like, ‘Hey, look, this project sounds awesome, and I would love to do it. But I’m only going to get one shot at being in a Marvel film and becoming a Marvel character; and I trained in ballet, and I really want to wear a cape.’ And that was the coolest rejection ever. She wanted to be in a Marvel movie, but she wanted to be the superhero, not the badass doctor Night Nurse.”
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That was probably a prudent decision by Chastain, since McAdams isn’t returning for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Chastain portrayed the villainous alien, Vuk, in Dark Phoenix, and she also recently starred in It: Chapter Two. Additionally, Chastain was attached to play Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada’s Painkiller Jane in 2016. However, that film has yet to be made.
Would you like to see Jessica Chastain as a superheroine in the MCU? Which character should she play? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Doctor Strange Vol. 1: The Way of the Weird
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