'Asked & Answered with the Women of Marvel': Angélique Roché

Get to know the Asked & Answered with the Women of Marvel series here. Be sure to head over to Marvel.com/WomenofMarvel every other week for more!

Angélique Roché is a busy woman.

From hosting the Women of Marvel and Marvel’s Voices podcasts, to curating the Marvel’s Voices: Power and Possibilities essay collection to most recently, co-hosting the first Marvel/ESPN Arena of Heroes NBA game, the journalist and former lawyer just doesn’t stop — nor would we ever want her to. She’s so generous, so brilliant, so fun and we’re so lucky she’s a Woman of Marvel. We had some questions for her.

We asked. She answered.

What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

This is going to sound so bad, but no one (who knows me) is going to be surprised. I reach for my phone. It’s such a bad habit.

What are you totally into right now?

I’ve been collecting a lot of nerdy pop art. A friend of mine sent me this amazing piece by Mike del Mundo, “Bishop Squared,” which is one of the dopest things. I also have a new piece from Bre "CreativeBre" Robinson called “repTAR.” It is a really cool Reptar Basquiat-Rugrats mashup. I also bought a piece from my Marvel colleague, Jon-Michael Ennis, “City Girls: Maria.” So right now, that’s kind of what I’m geeking out about.

Oh, I am also playing Horizon Zero Dawn and I just finished the entire Tomb Raider series.

Who heads your legal team: Jennifer Walters or Matt Murdock?

What kind of question is that? Jen Walters.

Follow up: Who has your back in a fight: She-Hulk or Daredevil?

Oh, as a lawyer I know I need Jen not to know what happened and to have plausible deniability. So, Matt Murdock would be the default.

First thing you’re planning to do when Dr. Fauci gives the all-clear?

I am getting on a plane. That is my first plan. So hopefully, it doesn’t take that long. Other than that, I would love to spend the day going to museums and then going to a jazz concert. I used to love to spend the day at the Portrait Gallery in DC and then go across the street to the movies when I lived there.

What’s your take-out shout-out?

This is rough, hands down it is sushi. Since I’ve been in LA, Sugarfish. Now, everybody is going to know how much I spend on takeout (lol).

What gets you up at 3 AM?

Since moving to LA, earthquakes have definitely become one of the things that get me up at 3:00 AM (lol).

But seriously, getting on a plane, getting hair and makeup done for a shoot, getting ready to tell a story, or go to the Comic-Con floor, all of that will get me up at 3:00 AM.

Who is your favorite super-powered hero?

Traditionally, it is Monica Rambeau and recently Rūna (Valkyrie).

Fortune teller—Tell me everything or No thanks, I’ll be surprised?

Let me be surprised. If I’ve learned anything about time paradoxes it is, don’t ask. The minute you know, is it really your future? Or are you just kind of acting out something that was on a piece of paper and committing self-fulfilling prophecies every single day? So, I’m good.

Who makes you laugh?

Like a human person? My mom and my dad. My dad tells the corniest jokes and my mom is always trying to be funny. It’s um, a thing to behold when they get on a roll.

What are you proud of?

Digging in when, to everyone else, it seems like it doesn’t make any sense, and being able to just keep going.

If you could take a trip in the TARDIS, when and where would you go?

I’ve been asked myself this question so many times and it’s never the same answer. Today? I’d like to go to the Schomburg [Center for Research in Black Culture]. There is a specific photograph by Chester Higgins Jr. of Maya Angelou dancing with Amiri Baraka during a celebration of the life of poet Langston Hughes.

As a poet myself, it just seemed to be an evening of perfect alignment and beauty. Through this one photograph, of this one moment, you can see so much joy as Maya and Amiri are dancing over the spot where the poet’s (Langston Hughes) ashes were buried, celebrating him and life in general in such a pure way. I just want to be a fly in that room.

Superpower of choice?

This has always been a battle between teleportation and time travel. Right now, because of COVID, it’s teleportation. I feel like it would be very helpful if I could just teleport myself into the hotel room across the world.

What’s on your desert island mixtape?

“Lime in the Coconut,” “If You Want To Be Happy,” “Say a Little Prayer for You,” the Aretha Franklin version. A couple of hits from the Blues Brothers. “Starfish and Coffee” by Prince. And a lot of Sade.

Coolest Con moment?

I’ve not been able to tell anyone the story because it just didn’t make any sense until now. Sarah Amos, I, and a couple of other folks are up on the platform [at the Marvel booth] at San Diego Comic-Con. Sarah comes up, grabs a Black Panther mask, and says, “I need this.” She goes down, comes back up with a dude in the Black Panther mask. And I’m just like, “What is happening right now?”

You can’t really hear him (the guy in the mask) with the noise but you could tell he was greeting everybody; he was very nice. After he leaves, Sarah goes, “I don’t know his name. But that was Shang-Chi.” I love that Simu Liu had literally just gotten the role, and one of the first things he wanted to do was come see the Marvel booth. He was announced later that day and suddenly he was the titular character in a movie. And I was like, that’s cool. I’ve met him. That’s one of my coolest Con moments.

Better to ask for permission or forgiveness?

Generally, what I try to do is study as hard as I can so that if I come to a situation where I have to ask for forgiveness, it was enough of an educated guess that it’s probably not a lot of forgiveness. So, both, depending on the scenario.

Favorite time of the year?

I love the fall. I love leaves, and I love sweet potatoes, and I just love the fall.

Truth or dare?

Truth.

What do you always make time for?

The people I care about.

Mantra or quote that keeps you going?

My grandfather used to say, “You have six months out of the year to take care of your business and six months out of the year to stay out of everyone else’s. If you do that, you don’t have time for anything else.”

Best thing about being a Woman of Marvel?

The best thing about being a Woman of Marvel is the women of Marvel. It might sound a little corny, but being able to work with so many brilliant, big-hearted, diverse perspectives, from diverse geographies, who have passions for a world of characters I love is pretty amazing.

Can't get enough of the Marvel host? You can listen to Angélique Roché here on Marvel's Voices and Women of Marvel, everywhere you listen to podcasts.

MacKenzie Cadenhead is a children’s book author and an old school (Read: former) Marvel editor — not old-old but let’s just say she knew Gwen Stacy when she was dead. She co-authors the "Marvel Super-Hero Adventures" chapter book series for young readers and is a proud Woman of Marvel. You can see what she’s up to over at Instagram @mackenziecadenhead.

The Women of Marvel podcast assembles to chat all things Marvel and more! New episodes are released every other Thursday. You can find Women of Marvel on Sirius XM, Marvel.com/podcasts and Apple Podcasts.