Viewers might be surprised to see Mary J Blige popping up in Netflix's new sci-fi series The Umbrella Academy, but the legendary R&B star and Oscar-nominated actress says she's been a fan of comic books since childhood – and she's not stopping there.

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"I always wanted to play a Marvel character," the actress, who stars as hired killer Cha-Cha in the The Umbrella Academy cast for 10-part superhero drama, tells RadioTimes.com. "I’m just waiting on Marvel to give me a call so I can be the next villain or whatever. I absolutely love it, since I was a kid."

Think of the possibilities! We reckon Blige could give Cate Blanchett's brilliant Goddess of Death from Thor: Ragnarok a run for her money...

In The Umbrella Academy – a drama set around a dysfunctional superhero family who must band together to prevent an impending apocalypse – we get to see Blige in a typically commanding role, as one half of a duo (alongside Mindhunter's Cameron Britton) sent to take out time-travelling youngster Number 5 (Aidan Gallagher).

It's just one of several irons she has in the fire at the moment. The others include three (!) solo albums and a horror movie with Nat Wolff called Body Cam.

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"I’m in the studio right now, working on like three albums," she says. "I’m almost done with two. I’m working with [Grammy Award-winning producer] Sounwave, and a couple of new young producers."

And she's got aspirations for another artistic outlet too.

"I want to learn to sing opera," she says. "It’s a superhero technique for a singer. So if I can nail that, then I’m untouchable."

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The Umbrella Academy is out now on Netflix

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