The Marvel multiverse has grown massive over the last several decades, coming to include hundreds of recognizable actors as prominent heroes and villains therein. It seems almost every actor is involved in these comic book movies in some way, even if the other projects in their career tend to be less focused on franchises and big IP. Even Hailee Steinfeld, one of Hollywood's most promising up-and-coming actresses, has joined these films as both Kate Bishop/Hawkeye in the MCU and Spider-Gwen in the animated Spider-Verse movies.

As exciting as Hailee Steinfeld's future with Marvel might be, the actress had a long road before signing on to the massive movie franchise. Long before starring as Kate Bishop in the Hawkeye Disney+ series or voicing Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Steinfeld rose to prominence as a spitfire child actor, earning an Academy Award nomination at the ripe age of fourteen for her work in True Grit. The 2010s then saw Steinfeld jump into teen dramas like The Edge of Seventeen. While some of these films found moderate success, others didn't get all the credit they deserved, including one 2015 teenage spy comedy that saw Steinfeld team up with four other actors from the vast Marvel multiverse.

10 Years Later, Barely Lethal Isn't as Bad as Critics Say - Hailee Steinfeld's Teenage Spy Comedy Has Heart and Humor

Barely Lethal is a coming-of-age film with a spy thriller twist. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld, fresh off her appearance in Pitch Perfect 2, as Agent 83, an operative working for Prescott Academy, a young girls' shelter that transforms its orphans into killer assassins. Despite growing up separated from the rest of the world, Agent 83 always dreamt of being like the teenagers she watched on television or read about in magazines. 83 finally gets her chance when, during a dangerous mission to apprehend the lethal Victoria Knox (Jessica Alba), she is thrown into a nearby river and presumed dead. With the Academy no longer looking for her, 83 runs away and starts a new life as a high school student. Adopting the name of Megan Walsh, she does her best to blend in with the other teenagers without exposing her lethal attributes. She makes friends for the first time, develops her first crush on a boy, and even experiences her first exposure to bullying. Just as she is beginning to get comfortable in her new life, Megan is discovered by her old allies--and enemies. When Victoria Knox comes after her with help from a former rival from the Academy, Megan must do everything in her power to protect her new friends using all the skills she's developed over a lifetime.

Barely Lethal may have been slept on for its corny humor and run-of-the-mill story, but critics ignored the film's heart. Megan's emotional journey may not be entirely unique, but it is still just as heartfelt as any other film to feature the "found family" dynamic. By the end of the film, she is willing to walk away from the life she had before to be with the people she now holds dearest to her heart. Barely Lethal also features a dynamic cast of familiar faces, some much newer to Hollywood at the time of its release. The vast majority of Barely Lethal's major cast has been associated with Marvel at some point in their career, whether it came before this film's release or after. Steinfeld, as mentioned, has played two Marvel characters in her career, Kate Bishop and Gwen Stacy. Meanwhile, the film's villains are played by Jessica Alba, known for her portrayal of Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman in the 2005 Fantastic Four franchise, and Sophie Turner, who would go on to play Jean Grey in Fox's X-Men reboot franchise. Samuel L. Jackson also stars as Hardman, the leader of the Prescott Academy. Jackson is known for his many appearances as Colonel Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most recently in The Marvels. Meanwhile, Dove Cameron rounds out the cast as Liz Larson, Megan's new roommate and foster sister. While Cameron has never appeared in a Marvel film, many fans may recognize her as the ill-fated Ruby Hale from the fifth season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. For fans of the Marvel brand, Barely Lethal becomes a fun alternate universe wherein Kate Bishop is hunted by the Invisible Woman and Phoenix after moving in with Ruby Hale, all while Nick Fury struggles to catch up to the action. Also, Steve-O is there.

Barely Lethal Could Have Been a Franchise - Hailee Steinfeld Has Proven Herself as an Action Protagonist

Despite the negative reviews at the time of its release, it's still a shame that nothing more ever came of Barely Lethal. The film perfectly blended the action of the spy-thriller genre with all the low-stakes drama of a coming-of-age teenage drama. Had it found a larger audience in 2015, Barely Lethal easily could have spawned a spy-comedy franchise. The film even promises a potential sequel in a mid-credits scene, where Sophie Turner's Agent 84, a.k.a. Heather, vows revenge on Megan following her embarrassing defeat. Unfortunately, any plans for a sequel were eventually scrapped when the film underperformed at the box office, making less than $1 million as a result of its extremely limited theatrical release. Frankly, audiences never really got the chance to decide for themselves whether they liked Barely Lethal or not. The film merely slipped in and out of a handful of theaters unnoticed, only popping back up years later on streaming.

Interestingly, the careers of its stars thereafter only prove that a Barely Lethal sequel would have been great. Many members of the film's cast have gone on to lead popular action franchises. Steinfeld proved her mettle in 2021 when she co-starred with Jeremy Renner in Hawkeye, immediately winning over Marvel fans who still fall over themselves theorizing over Kate Bishop's next appearance. Sophie Turner, on the other hand, is currently preparing to take a much bigger step into the action genre with her upcoming new Tomb Raider series, where she will play a rebooted version of video game legend Lara Croft. While audiences have yet to see Turner as Croft, the series will undoubtedly confirm that she would have made an excellent villain for future installments of the Barely Lethal franchise, had they ever come to fruition.

How to Stream Barely Lethal for Free - Barely Lethal Is Incredibly Easy to Stream for Free

Because of the film's limited release and near-nonexistent marketing, many movie fans most likely have never seen Barely Lethal. Anyone who wants to check out the film for themselves to see if the reviews do it justice is in luck. The action-comedy film is available to stream for free on several streaming services. Both Tubi and Xumo Play offer Barely Lethal for free, with no subscription or sign-up necessary. PlutoTV and PLEX also offer the film for free. Anyone looking for a more permanent way to own Barely Lethal can purchase the film through several mediums, including YouTube Movies, Fandango at Home, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV.

Barely Lethal is far from a perfect film, but it has enough humor and heart in its generally familiar premise to justify its breezy runtime. With an impressive cast of rising stars (many from the Marvel universe), Barely Lethal deserves a second shot at redemption now that a decade has passed since its release.

By Jordan Iacobucci, CBR