Uhura to Join Guardians of the Galaxy?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Zoe Saldana is close to doing just that: joining Guardians of the Galaxy. She would be playing Gamora—a deadly, green-skinned alien.

Saldana is most known for her roles of Neytiri, a blue-skinned alien, in Avatar and Uhura in the rebooted Star Trek universe. If she isn’t careful, she’s going to get typecast as only playing characters that Captain Kirk would have sex with (although, who wouldn’t Captain Kirk have sex with?)

Is Saldana a good choice to play Gamora? How do I put this politely? First, Zoe Saldana is extremely attractive; however, she wouldn’t seem to be… “thick” enough to pull off the Gamora look. Do I really care about that? No. I’m sure she would be fine in the role. Some have opined that perhaps a lesser-known actress (someone we’re not so accustomed to seeing in huge, tent-pole movies) would be better, but I disagree. Currently, the only confirmed actors in Guardians of the Galaxy are Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista. Pratt has turned in some solid performances in movies like Moneyball and Zero Dark Thirty, and Bautista was one of the very few good things about The Man with the Iron Fists, but they’re both fairly “unknown” actors. While it’s probably true that any Marvel movie will be a blockbuster, right now, no matter who stars in it, it’s still understandable if Marvel wants to throw some proven talent in there. Saldana is absolutely proven talent.

Saldana will next be seen in the highly anticipated Star Trek Into Darkness, and she’ll reprise her role as Neytiri in Avatar 2, whenever James Cameron finally makes it some time around 2026.