Summary

• The rumours of Melissa Barrera being considered for Lara Croft are unfounded, but compelling.
• Barrera has already racked up some decent work post-Scream.
• Until we know the direction of the overall series, it's tough to know who would be the best fit for the role.

Yesterday we got an update that wasn’t really an update about the upcoming 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Tomb Raider TV series. Already confirmed to be in existence and penned by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the update was that 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Amazon Prime had officially picked it up, but given the existing partnership between Tomb Raider and Amazon on the gaming side, thꦺat🌳 hardly seems surprising. However, this update that wasn’t was quickly followed by rumours that Scream’s Melissa Barrera was being eyed for the titular role, and suddenly it seems like big news indeed.

But much like the update wasn’t an update, this rumour wasn’t a rumour - Barrera was merely (alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Nathalie Emmanuel, Anya Chalotra, and current voice oꦕf Lara in the games, Camilla Luddington). , but given she’s also my fan cast, I’m going to run with it.

While there’s little (nothing) to go off right now, I’m already committed to the id✃ea. I love Barrera’s work in Scream, as well as Carmen and the recent Abigail, while my guilty pleasure confession is that In The Heights (in which Barrera leads as Vanessa) might be my favourite musical of all time. So let’s talk about why Barrera would be a great choice for Lara.

Tomb Raider Could Be The Next Step For Melissa Barrera

Even calling her ‘Scream’s Melissa Barrera’ feels a little off. While she led 5 and 6 and is the strongest, most co🦩mplex character in both those movies, she was after repeatedly showing public support for Palestine - and director Christopher 𝐆Landon swiftly departed soon after, rumဣoured to be in part because of Barrera’s exit.

There were fears of a blacklisting for Barrera, but thus far this has not materialised. She’s just been in cinemas with Abigail, directed by Scream 5 & 6 duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, and horror-rom com Your Monster has been making a splash on the festival circuit. Add in Bed Rest, and Barrera already h♛as the CV of a seasoned scream queen.

She’s at the po🌳int where she needs to stick or twist - branch out to other genres, or try to dominate horror for the next decade. Given her talents on display in Carmen and In the Heights, 🐼looking beyond horror is the smart move, and Tomb Raider would underline that she doesn’t miss Scream one bit.

Barrera Brings Heart And Steely Eyes To Lara Croft

Of course, just because it would serve Barrera well is not a reason to cast her. I might as well go to b𝓰at that I should beꩲ cast myself - I could use the money. But it’s not just that the move would be good for Barrera, it would also be excellent for Tomb Raider overall.

Though she’s yet to star in a full action project, she probably has the most action sequences - and certainly the most violent🧸 scenes - of any Scream character across the series. She can play cold, serious, and driven, but can also display great tenderness, as we see in Scream, Abigail, and Carmen. Those scenes in Abigail when blood drops down her ragged hair while her dark eyes stare out from her face mask display the sort of steel a great Lara should have.

The obvious rebuttal is that Lara Croft is white and British, neither of which Barrera is. To the first point, I don’t think race is essential to her character and I’m probably never going to see eye to eye with people who d🎉o. They should cast the best person for the role and if that person is Latina, it works for me.

Given there has been concer♛n over the role of a British ‘tomb raider’ stealing artefacts that don’t belong to her as a coloniser would, and greater introspection on who Lara is gathering relics for and why, centring woman of colour - especially one so politically outspoken as Barrera☂ - could underline this story as a more modernised version of the mythos.

It’s w෴orth noting Lara’s original character design was as Laura Cruz, though it would be a stretch to say Barrera’s casting would be in tribute to this and not simply a result of Waller-Bridge and the producers feeling she was best for the role.

As for the British part, I do consider that to be a🌊 core part of who Lara Croft is. However, neither Jolie nor Vikander are British (American and Swedish, respectively), so it’s just a question of whether Barrera can play British. That’s presumably a question that will come up in the audition, so right now, I❀’m not worried.

What Will The New Tomb Raider Series Look Like?

We have no idea what the Tomb Raider show will look like. There are three distinct eras of the games, plus a fresh requel on the way. Then there are the Angelina Jolie movies that leaned into early ‘00s ridiculous excess and the more grounded Alicia Vikander version that never quite knew how much of the Tomb Ra▨ider mythology it wanted to buy into.

Between them, they cover the original era (Jolie) and the Survivor trilogy (Vikander), leaving my personal favourite, the Legend era, unexplored. Hopefully Waller-Bridge’s series, whoever the lead is, plugs this gap. That would mean more jet-setting and high octane stunts like motorbike chases, leaping across cavernous gaps on vines, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:scaling buildings in a cocktail dress.

A Tomb Raider show shouldn’t try to be too gritty, but should maintain the wit and fun of the best games. With Waller-Bridge bringing experience from Killing🍷 Eve and James Bond, I trust it’s in reliable hands. Hopefully the hands holding the twin pistols are Melissa Barrera’s.