Red One Proves Kiernan Shipka Is Perfect for This Multi-Billion Dollar Film Franchise

Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Red One!

After seeing Kiernan Shipka as Gryla in Redthe actor is expected to take on a similar role in a multibillion-dollar franchise. Although she started out as a child actress, Shipka has successfully transitioned her career into adulthood, becoming an A-list actress who can take control of a film. 2024 marks an epic year for Kiernan Shipka, with her taking on roles in five notable films, including Dwayne Johnson's Christmas film Red One.

Red One features several mythical figures, including Santa Claus and 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 bears similarities to Marvel's Magik

The two sorceresses have good intentions with dubious methods

Kiernan Shipka's performance as Gryla in Red One points to her ability to play a character as subtle and morally gray as Marvel's Magik. In her human form, Gryla is a young woman with long blonde hair, eyes that sometimes glow, and a black outfit stylized as armor – defining Magik's visual characteristics. However, similarities in appearance are far from the only similarities between these two characters. Both have an immense amount of magic that can be dangerous in the wrong hands.although Magik has stronger abilities than Gryla besides the soul sword and floor discs.

The duo also have similar personalities and moral approaches. Although Gryla is portrayed as the villain, she actually has very wholesome intentions. She wants to fix the world and save Christmas by ending Christmas. She thinks that arresting the mischievous listeners will teach them to be better people. By this definition, Gryla can act as an antagonist throughout Red One, but she falls into the area of ​​antihero and antivillain rather than falling on one end of the spectrum or the other.

Magik is similar in that it tends to fall into the antihero category rather than hero, especially in comics. New X-Men (2007) until Avengers vs. X-Men (2012). The mutant sorceress has a warped sense of morality due to her traumatic upbringing, having no problem 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 appears as a less powerful version of Enchantress, who has given in to her darker side.

Deadpool and Wolverine provided the key to Kiernan Shipka playing Magik in the MCU

Deadpool and Wolverine present the void

After Disney reacquired the rights to X-Men in 2019, the doors opened for the possibility of characters from that franchise appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most obvious crossover options were those with strong connections to existing characters – Wolverine, Magneto, Storm, etc. Magik is a character with a strong connection to Doctor Strange, and she appeared in the almost forgotten 2020. X-Men film New Mutants; however, the MCU was missing an important component of the Marvel world that is inextricably linked to Magik's character arc – Limbo.

The character was kidnapped and raised in Limbo, eventually becoming the ruler of that domain. Almost every version of his origin story involves Limbo in one way or another, but the MCU didn't have Limbo to work with. However, Deadpool and Wolverine shows the duo visiting a world called The Void, which works in the same way as Limbo.

If Kevin Feige wants to introduce Magik into the MCU with a new actress – preferably Kiernan Shipka – The Void is the perfect way to do it. The Void and Limbo could be the same in the MCU, allowing Magik's origin story to remain similar to the comics. She could also be the sister of Colossus, who already appears in the Deadpool films.

Kiernan Shipka as Magik would continue her trend of playing morally gray characters

Shipka is known for playing characters that cross moral boundaries

If Kiernan Shipka were to play Magik in the MCU, it would continue the actor's tendency to play characters that fall into the moral gray area. Her penchant for these types of roles dates back to her big break playing Sally Draper in Mad Men from 2007 to 2015. She may be a sweet young woman in general, but she goes through a rebellious period where she acts questionably.

She also plays a much darker, more morally gray version of Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix film. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Even her recent role in the romantic comedy Dear ones makes exceptionally questionable choices, even though she is a saint compared to Gryla in Red. Ultimately, Shipka excels in this type of role, and her appearance as Enchantress would be no different.