Jodie Comer is a renowned British drama actress, having won both a BAFTA and an Emmy for her performance in Killing Eve. Now, she’s making the leap into American superhero franchises, acting opposite Ryan Reynolds in the Disney video game flick Free Guy.
The movie is about living in a futuristic video game world. But if you are looking for her familiar blonde mane, brace yourself: Comer is barely recognizable with glasses and a black bob wig. She’s cast in the vintage emo “nerdy” girl look, right down to her hair. It veers way too close to the “Can I speak to your manager?” haircut, which is a 2000s beauty relic, and not in a cute star eye makeup way. It feels like a throwback to what gamer guys thought (and fetishized) women video gamers looked like in the aughts.
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It seems Comer is playing a puppet master/Agent Q-type character and has serious combat and firearm skills. In the trailer, however, her character serves to defend Reynolds’ character, who can’t fight to save his life. Comer functions as a way to “fix” his inadequacies, acting in the manic pixie dream girl trope, albeit with rocket launchers. She's playing a hot, fighting “nerd/techie” — a stereotypical gamer dude fantasy.
Her first appearance? It's a butt shot, at a minute into the three-minute trailer. Then she, the only woman in the trailer, delivers not one, but two sex jokes. “Is that a Glock in your pocket?” Comer asks as she straddles Reynolds’ character. “It’s two Glocks,” he replies, as she reaches down his waist to grab the guns. Reynolds yelps, “Oh!” as if she grabbed his penis instead. Groan. She also tells him to “enjoy his lifetime supply of virginity” when he decides to be the “good guy.” Groan again.
You can watch the trailer below. The film is in theatres July 3, 2020.