Brie Larson continued her campaign to play intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran in a hypothetical Metroid movie over the weekend by sharing a piece of fan art envisioning what the Captain Marvel star could look like in the role. The post is the latest instance of Larson vocalizing her desire to star in a potential film adaptation of Nintendo’s popular video game series. Her public interest in the role, and the subsequent wave of online fan support, began in 2018 when Larson dressed up as Samus for Halloween.
Any discussion of adapting video games for the big screen inevitably comes with the caveat that most past attempts have been universally panned. No video game movie is guiltier of this than Nintendo’s first outing into the realm of theatrical releases, 1993’s Super Mario Bros. The film, which holds an abysmal 23 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, was also Nintendo’s only experiment with film adaptations, until the announcement of an upcoming animated Mario movie from Despicable Me studio Illumination, which is slated for release in 2022.
In a recent Twitter post, Larson shared a piece of art by BossLogic, which depicts the actress in profile, wearing Samus’s trademark blue “zero-suit,” while her armored power suit materializes around her in a cool, cyber effect. The bounty hunter’s iconic orange helmet and green visor are visible translucently over her face. “Make it happen,” Larson writes in her caption, with clapping emojis between each word, emphasizing once again her desire to play Samus Aran in a Metroid movie. Adding their own art to the campaign, Apexform also posted a piece of artwork envisioning the actress in the role.
Though Larson continues to bring up her interest in a potential Metroid film, there is unfortunately no indication at this time that Nintendo has any plans of moving forward with such a project. The series has been relatively quiet lately, even in video games, with 2017’s Metroid: Samus Returns being the only release in the franchise in the past decade. Metroid Prime 4 still looms on the horizon, but a series of development hiccups and a drought of updates have left fans skeptical that the series will see a new entry any time soon. Larson’s excitement over BossLogic's fan art echoes the desire of Metroid’s loyal fan base to see Nintendo do something new with the franchise.
In the absence of official Metroid content, creative fans like BossLogic and Apexform put their own skills and passion to work for the series, creating one of the most dedicated followings in games, from fan art, to remix albums of the games’ original music, to full-on remakes of classic games in the series. With Nintendo set to return to the big screen in 2022, perhaps Larson’s wish can come true at some point in the future. In the meantime, fans are sure to keep showing their love for Metroid in awesome, creative ways.
Sources: Brie Larson, BossLogic, Apexform