Along Beatrix Kiddo’s rip-roaring rampage of revenge, she may have sparked another. In Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, Vol. 1, Uma Thurman’s avenging bride tracks down Vivica A. Fox’s Vernita Green and kills her in a kitchen brawl – with Green’s young daughter Nikkia witnessing it from the doorway. “When you grow up, if you still feel raw about it, I’ll be waiting,” Kiddo tells her – and it’s long been rumoured that this could be the spark of a possible Kill Bill, Vol. 3, with Nikkia seeking her own vengeance against the woman who killed her mother.
Speaking to NME earlier this year, Fox herself had a strong idea of who could play the grown-up Nikkia in a potential Vol. 3 – and pegged Zendaya for the role. “How hot would that be?” she said. “And that would probably green light this project. Because her and Uma are both very tall, and it would just be kick-butt, and I love her. Hopefully not we can put that out, like ‘Tarantino, cast Zendaya!’ And spark his interest to put it on the fast track. Wouldn’t it be amazing?”
If Fox is trying to speak Zendaya-as-Nikkia into being, word of the dream-casting made its way to Zendaya herself. Speaking to Empire in the Dune issue – on sale now – the star said she was ‘honoured’ by Fox thinking of her. “I saw that! I was quite honoured that she would say that,” she said. “Obviously she’s incredible and I’m very flattered that she would think of me.” Of course, none of this means the project is any closer to happening – and Zendaya herself seems aware its all rumour-mill and scuttle-butt for now. “You know, it’s just an idea,” she says. “The internet kinda takes things and run with it.”
She’s not wrong there – but if Tarantino were to rekindle an interest in a third Kill Bill (could it be his long-mooted tenth-and-final film, in which case would he see the value in bringing his filmography full circle?), and if it was to focus on Nikkia Green? Well, you can’t deny that Zendaya would be perfect casting. Take it and run with it, internet.
Read Empire’s full Zendaya interview and our epic Dune set report in the October 2020 issue, on sale now. Dune is expected in UK cinemas this December.