How The MCU Can Bring Back Jenna Ortega After Her Marvel Role 11 Years Ago

By Ben Gibbons

Updated Nov 18, 2024

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Jenna Ortega is one of the biggest rising stars in Hollywood, and fans are determined for her to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) , but considering her previous MCU appearance, it could be easier to set up. Ortega may have blown up in of fame since her appearance in Netflix's Wednesday, but the young star has been acting for years. In fact, her feature film debut was actually a small part in the MCU where Jenna Ortega played the daughter of the Vice President in Iron Man 3.

At the time, Ortega was given a non-speaking role, but it was pivotal nonetheless as she played a girl who had one leg, indicating the Vice President wanted Extremis to work in order to grow his daughter a new leg. Now that Ortega is all grown up, and her star is rising, fans are calling out for her to appear in the MCU, it's time to think about how and where she could be brought in. Fortunately, the MCU has experience bringing back actors to play larger parts than initially expected.

Marvel Could Bring Back Jenna Ortega As Her Iron Man 3 Character

Jenna Ortega Appeared In The MCU Back In 2013

Ortega's character in Iron Man 3 did not have their name revealed. Instead, she simply played a daughter to Vice President Rodriguez, which leaves her character wide open to being brought back. Of course, whether Marvel Studios would write into the story that she received a dose of the Extremis compound and grew a new leg, or some other story to alter Ortega's character from that initial appearance would need to be worked out, but if they did bring her back as the same character, Marvel has a popular superhero whose last name is Rodriguez ready to the MCU.

Jenna Ortega as Astrid in Beetlejuice 2 and as Wednesday with film reel in background

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Elena Rodriguez, aka Yo-Yo Rodriguez, or Slingshot is a character who has the power to move at incredible speed, but she is always forced to return to where she started when she finishes her movements. This character is traditionally the daughter of a criminal by the name of John Horton, but it's possible that the MCU could change that history, or have the character be adopted by the VP. Or, she could be another character with an original story.

Marvel Could Cast Jenna Ortega In A New Role In The MCU

Jenna Ortega Could Be Cast In Various MCU Roles

For most fans of Ortega, the most frequent fancast for her to play is the White Tiger, aka Ava Ayala. White Tiger is set to the cast of Daredevil: Born Again in 2025, although it's the male version of the character that is set to appear. However, this would not stop Ortega from playing the female version, who is often depicted as the daughter or sister of the original White Tiger.

Otherwise, there are a wide range of other characters that Ortega could play in the MCU, including Mockingbird, Polaris, Moonstone and many more that have yet to appear in the MCU. Marvel Comics has a rich history going back to the late 1930s, and in that time, they have introduced thousands of characters. With so much variety and history, Jenna Ortega could be brought to the MCU in potentially any project, though her stardom probably means she would land a more meaningful recurring role.

Why The MCU Needs To Bring Jenna Ortega Back To The MCU

Jenna Ortega Is The Right Actress To The MCU

Aside from Ortega's viral popularity, she's also an actress who considers the roles she plays seriously. In a recent interview on the press tour for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Ortega was asked about if she would consider playing a gender-flipped version of Edward Scissorhands, to which she responded “I don’t like it when it’s like a spin-off — I don’t want to see like ‘Jamie Bond.’ You know? I want to see another badass.” This clearly shows that Jenna Ortega respects the roles as they were intended, and doesn't see the need to change characters just for an agenda.

Jenna Ortega in Miller's Girl and Finestkind

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Ortega is not only a talented actress, but one who has been vocal and ionate about the roles she plays. She excels in playing strong female leads, but prefers original characters or those that are intended to be female in the first place. If Jenna Ortega were to return to the MCU, she would be capable of finding the right balance for stepping into a strong female role, in a similar way to how Florence Pugh has tackled playing the role of Yelena Belova, and this could be great as long as they cast her in the right role.