Marvel star Karen Gillan has opened up about the “flak” she’s still receiving for the skimpy outfits her character Ruby Roundhouse wore in the Jumanji reboot films — which it seems a lot of fans may have missed the irony on.
“I can understand where people are coming from,” Gillan recently told iNews in a new interview. “But it was a commentary on Lara Croft, the male gaze... those are not practical clothes at all.”
Ruby’s costume features a red cropped top with leather harness detailing, a pair of short shorts with a large leather belt, black leather gloves, and brown nearly knee-high lace-up boots. Honestly, it feels pretty obvious that they were going for something exaggerated with Gillan’s costume — and it even feels in line with iconic female characters in games like Tomb Raider's Croft and others who have been dressed impractically by character and game designers.
Gillan also specifically noted in the interview that doing the Jumanji films — as well as taking the plunge into Marvel films with Guardians of the Galaxy — were even “further leaps” from her origins in British television and film. Considering she broke through as the Doctor’s companion in Doctor Who, making a Hollywood blockbuster like a Marvel film or the Jumanji reboot definitely opens you up to new scrutiny in a major way, even when it comes to a costume the actor didn’t even design.
The first Jumanji reboot film, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, was released in 2017, the same year Gillan reprised her role as Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The follow-up film, Jumanji: The Next Level, was released two years later in 2019.
We’re still waiting on a third film, which is set to be released in December 2026 but will be the last of the new Jumanji films. It currently has no official title.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
