‘Avengers’ Actress Danai Gurira To Play Richard III In Shakespeare In The Park Production

Danai Gurira, the actress most widely known for her roles in Marvel’s Avengers franchise and AMC’s The Walking Dead, will play one of the stage’s great villains this summer when she takes the title character of Richard III for New York’s Free Shakespeare in the Park.

The Public Theater production, part of Free Shakespeare’s 60th anniversary season, will be directed by Robert O’Hara, a Tony nominee for Broadway’s Slave Play.

“Our dearly beloved Danai Gurira will be giving us her version of this extraordinary character,” said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis in a statement. “Shakespeare’s Richard created the model for politics as an extension of show business – with devastating results. As always, Shakespeare seems to be speaking directly into our contemporary dreams and nightmares.”

Gurira, the author of the Tony-nominated play Eclipsed, has portrayed General Okoye in several of Marvel’s Avengers cinematic universe films, including Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). In addition to voicing the role on the Disney+ animated series What If…?, she will return to the movie franchise in the upcoming  Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

She also starred on AMC’s The Walking Dead for seven seasons as the character Michonne. Her many stage credits include the 2011 Shakespeare in the Park production of Measure for Measure, and her Broadway debut in 2009’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.

In addition to Richard III, the upcoming season of Free Shakespeare in the Park will include a return of the company’s As You Like It with music and lyrics by Shaina Taub. Directed by Laurie Woolery, the musical will feature Darius de Haas, Joel Perez and Taub reprising their roles from the original 2017 Public Works production. The revival of the popular production was originally planned for the 2020 season but was delayed by the Covid pandemic shutdown.

Production dates, performance schedules, and complete casting for both productions will be announced at a later date.