By any measure, it’s been a big weekend for Jenna Ortega. The star of Netflix’s Wednesday is one of the primary cast members of Scream VI, which will easily finish first at the box office. As reported on Friday, Ortega is also in negotiations to star in Beetlejuice 2, and she hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time last night. And during her SNL appearance, Ortega appeared in a skit that was clearly inspired by Marvel’s X-Men.
Within the video below, Ortega portrayed Zena, one of the students at Professor Zander’s Academy for Extraordinary Children. SNL apparently decided to avoid using the names of Marvel’s mutant characters. But Professor Zander (Mikey Day) was a dead ringer for Professor Charles Xavier, while Ortega’s Zena was wearing a costume that resembles the one worn by Rogue in the comics.
Zena and her fellow student, Knockout (Molly Kearney), were joined by Professor Z for a game of School vs. School, an academic competition that pit them against Mrs. Cashman (Punkie Johnson), and her students, Gabe (Michael Longfellow) and Manny (Marcello Hernández). However, the host, Jay McCormick (Kenan Thompson), doesn’t seem to realize just how one-sided this contest really is.
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Given the trajectory of Ortega’s career, it seems likely that she will star in a superhero movie at some point. Additionally, she has already appeared in the MCU. That’s easy to forget, because she had only a minor role in Iron Man 3 as the Vice President’s daughter. But she was there.
However, this minor appearance shouldn’t preclude Ortega from coming back to Marvel. If Gemma Chan can be Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel and Sersi in Eternals, then Ortega should easily be able to land another MCU role. For now though, this SNL skit is just an enticing glimpse at something that could happen in the future.
What did you think about Jenna Ortega’s SNL episode? Let us know in the comment section below!
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