Last week, some huge names joined the ranks of the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ in various roles. A-list stars such as Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, and Benicio Del Toro have all been named as new additions to James Gunn’s already spectacular cast. And rounding out the list was another actress who’s no stranger to readers of ScienceFiction.com.

Former ‘Doctor Who’ companion Karen Gillan was also among the recent crop of new talent for the upcoming Marvel Phase Two film. But when she was announced as the newest cast member to appear alongside Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, and Gamora, the only details of Gillan’s role that were available were that she would be playing the lead female villain. Reports speculated that she would be revealed as Nebula, the self-proclaimed granddaughter of Thanos, but a new rumor has surfaced indicating that the actress could be playing a more prominent comic book character. However, this comic book character isn’t found in the pages of Marvel Comics (yet)!

According to Screenrant, the ex-Amelia Pond will be playing an outer space bounty hunter named Angela, a character who was created by Neil Gaiman for Todd McFarlane’s ‘Spawn’ comics in the 90s. But thanks to a recently wrapped legal battle regarding character copyrights, Gaiman was able to bring his creation to Marvel as a part of the ‘Age of Ultron’ crossover and the new ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ ongoing title from Brian Michael Bendis. And now, if this rumor is true, not only will Angela be making her print debut for the House of Ideas in the coming months, but she’ll be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well.

This rumor originated from a Scottish newspaper that made the claim that Gillan would play the “flame-haired, sword-wielding bounty hunter” in Gunn’s very eclectic movie. There aren’t too many on Marvel’s current roster that match that description, if there’s any at all, so this fairly popular character with a built in fan base seems to fit the bill perfectly. To see how this whole thing came about, you can see the newspaper clipping below:

If this rumor ends up being true, then it’s a very smart move on Marvel’s part. I’m sure that they didn’t acquire Angela for nothing. They probably intend to use her when they can and this seems like a perfect opportunity to do so because, as I mentioned, the character already has a fan base. Ideally, after Gaiman and Bendis unveil her in the pages of ‘Age of Ultron’ #10, Angela will have an even larger fan base that would be very willing to see her in Marvel’s only original, non-sequel film in Phase Two. Add that to all the ‘Doctor Who’ fans who will be attracted by Gillan’s involvement, then there’s a pretty good box office haul right there for one of the most obscure Marvel properties to get the film treatment.

How do you feel about this news about a ‘Doctor Who’ actress potentially playing a ‘Spawn’ character in a Marvel movie? Is that too much of a nerd overload for you or are you super stoked to see Karen Gillan tackle the role of Angela? Let us know what you’re thinking in the comments.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ starring Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Lee Pace, Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, Karen Gillan, Benicio Del Toro, and Michael Rooker blasts off on August 1st, 2014.