KUALA LUMPUR — Long before actress Zoe Saldana was the green-hued Gamora in the Marvel Avengers franchise, the US-Dominican beauty was known for playing the all-blue Na’vi named Neytiri in Avatar.
The James Cameron 2009 epic sci-fi blockbuster reclaimed the highest-grossing film spot from Avengers: Endgame after its re-release in China over the weekend.
Despite the disappointing news for Marvel fans, many saw Saldana as the silver lining seeing that the actress starred in both films that are 10 years apart.
Fans have been taking to Twitter to praise the 42-year-old after Avatar raked in an estimated US$21.1 million (RM87 million) over the weekend in China.
As of Saturday, Avatar’s box office surpassed US$2.82 billion compared to Avengers: Endgame which earned US$2.79 billion at the box office.
After Saldana started trending on Twitter, the actress took to Instagram to pen a gracious post, saying she was humbled to be a part of “the two biggest movies of all time”.
The mum of three also followed up with a second post where she shared a fan art that fused her three biggest roles – Neytiri from Avatar, Uhura from Star Trek and Gamora from the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy films.
Despite being a hit twice in China, the 2D version of Avatar was banned by Chinese officials over fears that the film’s plot could cause civil unrest.