Black people on social media and internet message boards had been waiting for Marvel to cast Storm like the decision involved national security. For years, every rumor surrounding the MCU’s eventual X-Men reboot came with fancasts, debates and very specific requirements for who should inherit the white hair of Ororo Munroe. She needed presence, she needed to feel regal and Black fans repeatedly made one thing particularly clear: Storm needed to be played by a dark-skinned Black woman. Period.
That demand was never about disrespecting Halle Berry or Alexandra Shipp, both of whom have their own place in Storm’s cinematic history. It was about seeing a version of the character that reflected the beauty image generations of Black fans associate with Ororo. Storm isn’t simply Black. Her brown skin, white hair and distinctly African beauty have always been part of what makes her iconic. Enter Maya Boyd. The Broadway actress has officially been tapped to play Storm in Marvel’s next X-Men film, and from a beauty perspective, the casting understands something Black audiences have been trying to explain for years.
Storm’s beauty has always been about contrast. Brown skin against white hair. Bright eyes, gold jewelry, sculpted cheekbones and a cape dramatic enough to require its own wind machine. Ororo Munroe was giving beauty editorial decades before superheroes became fashion and beauty’s favorite source material. Against Boyd’s melanated complexion, Storm’s signature silver-white hair has the potential to look extraordinary. More importantly, her casting creates another opportunity for dark-skinned Black beauty to exist within blockbuster fantasy without being softened, lightened or made racially ambiguous.
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Read Full Article by Victor Qunnuell Vaughns Jr at www.ebony.com
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