[With Wonder Woman cleaning up at the box office, we've decided to re-post this article.]

There are so many talented actresses in Hollywood, and yet it seems like even when they show that they can carry an action role, they’re relegated to the sidelines. We will give Vin Diesel, a man whose acting range extends as far as a toothpick, multiple franchises, but better actors have to wait patiently for their own franchises that may never come.

That’s a shame, and it’s a loss for everyone. It’s a loss for Hollywood missing out on the next bankable star that could create a franchise for the studio, it’s a loss for audiences who are locked into the same actors playing only a handful of roles, and it’s a loss for talented actresses who can do much more than what they’ve been offered.

Here are 13 actresses who deserve to be leading their own action franchises.

Lucy Liu

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Image via Universal Pictures

She kicked ass in Charlie’s Angels, she brandished a wicked attitude and a Samurai sword in  Kill Bill, but it’s been nearly a decade since we’ve seen Lucy Liu in an action movie. What gives? It’s likely Liu’s awareness of the inherent racism in the industry: both of her high profile action roles have relied on some sort of innate martial arts knowledge, and she’s rightly picky about what roles she undertakes. The key here is the right script – a demand easier said than delivered on – and Liu could be back in her action-queen throne in no time. (Hear me out – how ‘bout a ReCore movie?)  - Aubrey Page

Viola Davis

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Image via Warner Bros.

Now that Viola Davis finally has that Oscar, it’s time to get this woman a franchise. She’s a towering performer who’s delivering tremendous work every time she’s onscreen be it her ABC series How to Get Away with Murder or something as demanding as Fences. But she made her franchise debut with last year’s Suicide Squad to scene-stealing results, and she could bring a complexity to the action genre that is very much needed as films of that ilk regularly come out same-y. I’d watch Viola Davis in anything, but I would especially watch her lead her own action franchise. – Adam Chitwood

Cobie Smulders

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Image via Marvel

I feel like we’re so close to giving Smulders her own action franchise. We’ve loved seeing her as Maria Hill in the Marvel movies and she was one of the lone bright spots in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. She credibly sells herself as an action hero, and while her breakout role was on a sitcom, the path of cutesy sitcom actor to bona fide action hero worked out pretty well for a guy named Bruce Willis. It’s time to stop putting Smulders in supporting roles and let her the lead way on her own franchise. – Matt Goldberg

Ruth Negga

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Image via AMC

Last year, Ruth Negga had an incredible breakout moment that showed off the breadth of her range. In Jeff Nichols' Loving, she earned an Oscar nomination for her work as Mildred Loving, the kindly, centered voice for decency and human rights, based on the remarkable real life woman. She also broke out all the bravado and scene-stealing charisma as Tulip on AMC's pulpy, blood-soaked comic book series, Preacher. With ample charm, easy confidence, and a girl next door vulnerability, Negga transformed the already great comic book character into a living, breathing, fearless modern day woman.

Basically, 2016 proved Ruth Negga can do anything, and she's got the on-screen presence to dominate any frame she walks into. Plus, she can strap together a homemade rocket launcher and make it look easy as pie. Negga is pure star power, an inscrutable talent who deserves a feature vehicle to bring her versatile performance skills fully into the spotlight. Personally, I think she'd make a hell of a Selina Kyle, but even better, I'd love to see her handed an original action franchise, a la John Wick, to allow her to fully carve out a new new hero in the franchise landscape. She's already shown she can kick ass and command as a lead, let's let her do both at the same time. -- Haleigh Foutch

Keri Russell

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Image via FX

I mean, have you seen The Americans? Not only can Russell kick ass, she can act. She’s consistently churning out challenging, complex work on the FX series while also performing some pretty terrific stunts, so transferring that to a big screen franchise seems like a no-brainer. She got a taste of it in Mission: Impossible III, but isn’t it time Russell got her big-screen showcase? – Adam Chitwood

Lupita Nyong'o

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Image via Disney

It kind of boggles my mind that Nyong’o’s breakout role earned her an Oscar, and yet her roles in blockbuster movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Jungle Book have relegated her to mo-capped performances and voice acting. And that’s all well and good, but she’s so ridiculously talented that it seems odd she’s not leading the way on her own franchise. To her credit, I think she’s still taking the time to take on interesting roles, whether it’s in the play Eclipsed or in the drama Queen of Katwe, but she’s got a commanding presence. While I look forward to seeing her in Black Panther, I wanted to see her take the lead in a blockbuster film. – Matt Goldberg

Gillian Anderson

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Image via Netflix

As soon as Jane Bond started trending, Gillian Anderson became a fan favorite as the ideal candidate for a gender-bent James Bond. I say leave that shit in the dust. There's too much baggage; from the inevitable purist backlash, to the fact that 007 is the figurehead for a franchise that is inherently imperialist and misogynistic (This coming from a diehard fan of the films.). Instead, let's give Anderson her own role as the figurehead of a modern, less historically fucked up franchise where she can bring all her composure to a new and better hero.

Anderson has made a career of playing remarkable women, from her breakout role as Dana Scully in The X-Files to her breathtaking recent work as Stella Gibson on The Fall. She's been playing the hero to young women for the last three decades, and it's about damn time she had the chance to play one on the big screen. --Haleigh Foutch

Cate Blanchett

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Image via The Weinstein Company

Cate Blanchett is not only one of the greatest actresses of our time, she’s also a chameleon. We can buy her as Bob Dylan just as easily as we can buy her as a semi-closeted housewife in the 1950s. So why not give her an action movie? Granted as the villain in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok she may get physical, but this two-time Oscar winner deserves to have an action franchise of her own. The possibilities are endless given her versatility—world weary spy, revenge-driven lover, biomechanical experiment gone wrong. You could see her in pretty much any role, and her desire to stretch her chops in films as diverse as The Aviator, Hanna, and Blue Jasmine shows she’s got versatility to spare. – Adam Chitwood

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

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Image via CBS

If it wasn’t already apparent, 10 Cloverfield Lane solidified the fact that Mary Elizabeth Winstead deserves to be a movie star. I don’t even really care if it’s an action franchise she leads, I just think she’s a terrific actress who I want to see in more movies. She brought a thoughtful mix of strength and vulnerability to 10 Cloverfield Lane that made her character all the more compelling, and she’s proved her versatility in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Smashed. Winstead is way overdue. – Adam Chitwood

Gwendoline Christie

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Image via HBO

How is it that whenever Christie shows up on one of the most popular television series in history, people can’t get enough of her, and yet she’s been remarkably absent from the big screen. While Game of Thrones makes a lot of demands on the schedules for its cast, people have loved seeing Christie as the ass-kicking Brienne of Tarth since season two. Covering her face and giving her a nothing role in The Force Awakens felt like a missed opportunity, and it seems like all studios are missing out by not giving Christie more to do. – Matt Goldberg

Rebecca Ferguson

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Image via Paramount

The TV series The White Queen showed that Rebecca Ferguson can act, but her stunning turn in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation showed something even more impressive: she can steal a scene opposite Tom Cruise. Ferguson’s subtle, shaded turn as Ilsa Faust in Rogue Nation is one of the more memorable female action roles in recent memory, which granted isn’t terribly hard as most of the “female lead” characters in these franchises are woefully underwritten. Rogue Nation was a welcome exception, and while Ferguson has lined up intriguing projects in its wake, I definitely wouldn’t be mad if she also landed an action franchise of her own. – Adam Chitwood

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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Image via Warner Bros.

She’s been in the game for twelve years now, but American audiences didn’t take proper notice of Gugu Mbatha-Raw until her back-to-back appearances in Belle and Beyond the Lights, heralding a fresh new talent with serious blockbuster potential. So of course, it wasn’t long before Mbatha-Raw joined the cast of Star Wars and the latest Cloverfield film, The God Particle. But the star, whose magnetism largely powered the fan-favorite Black Mirror episode "San Junipero" (no shade to Mackenzie Davis), deserves a starring vehicle of her own, preferably one with a healthy amount of ass-kicking. Hollywood, get on it! - Aubrey Page

Helen Mirren

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Image via Bleeker Street

Listen, if Liam Neeson can still make Taken movies in his 60s, Helen Mirren can make action movies in her 70s. What’s more, Mirren isn’t just an impeccable dramatic performer, she’s hilarious to boot. We also know she’s game, as she showed off some action skills in Red 2 and was keen on joining the Fast & Furious franchise with The Fate of the Furious. Basically I just wanna see a series of movies where Helen Mirren kicks ass and takes names. – Adam Chitwood