Gender-Flipped Villain Pitch: Dr. Zin (Jonny Quest)

It's been a minute since I last wrote a gender-flipped villain pitch, and while I have been focused on Beyond the Gates, the road to the 2025 Stanley Cup, the upcoming NFL season, and a few Villainess Reviews, my wheels have still been turning when it comes to gender-flipping villains. I've written three pitches, but I still have so many ideas. It was a matter of which one to write next, and making sure I had the best actresses in mind.

So with that, on to my next pitch.

Hanna-Barbera hadn't been fully on their own for a full decade before they decided to flip the script on their material. From the home stretch of the 1950s and entering the 1960s, H-B gave us characters such as Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, and Snagglepuss, among others, and they would give us The Flintstones in 1960, and The Jetsons two years later. In 1964, H-B decided to deliver some action-packed drama with Jonny Quest, the memorable series centering on the titular kid hero, travelling the world with scientist father Dr. Benton Quest, ass-kicking family friend Race Bannon, Hadji (Jonny's South Asian somewhat adopted brother), and the family dog, Bandit. The group faced many foes in their journeys, but one name seemed to be a constant: Dr. Zin.

Every Quest fan knows Dr. Zin; a criminal mastermind who has antagonized the Quest group at every turn. Zin appeared in four episodes of the original 60s run, and did three episodes of the 1986 revival, and later resurfaced in the 1993 telefilm, Jonny's Golden Quest, and the 1995 telefilm, Jonny vs the Cyber Insects. The character appeared once in The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest; the revived series that aired during 1996 and 1997, and was last shown in the 2015 straight-to-DVD film, Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest--the film that saw the titular cat and mouse working alongside Jonny against Zin.

As far as the voice acting history, that's where it gets controversial. The late, great Vic Perrin originally provided Dr. Zin's voice in the 60s original series, and in the 1986 revival. Every Scooby-Doo fan knows that name. Let me put it this way. Whatever Scooby-Doo villains John Stephenson didn't voice, Perrin voiced them, with the Creeper being a very rare exception (the Creeper was voiced by, of all cast members, Casey Kasem). In the two telefilms, Zin was voiced by Jeffrey Tambor, who we know from a hell of a lot of projects. Here's the thing. Dr. Zin is of Asian descent, yet was voiced by not one, but two White men in a span of three decades. Real Adventures did cast Clyde Kusatsu (who I've seen on All-American Girl and Family Matters, among other things) as Zin in his lone appearance, and in the Tom and Jerry film, Zin was voiced by James Hong. Hong, for a good bit, was one of two actors I felt could be a perfect voice for Zin. The other, of course, is George Takei.

A character like Dr. Zin is begging to be gender-flipped. An intelligent and ruthless mastermind like that needs a woman's touch. We did get something close in Real Adventures:

We were treated to an appearance of Dr. Zin's twin daughters, Anaya and Melana, in an episode of Real Adventures. In their lone appearance, they truly proved that they are their father's daughters, vowing vengeance on Benton Quest in the episode and going all out in their quest. Regarding the cast, Anaya was voiced by June Angela, and her partial filmography does include appearing on the ABC series, Fresh Off the Boat, among other things. The voice of Melana is a more familiar name: Lucy Liu. Ally McBeal, the Charlie's Angels films with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, Elementary, you name it.

But regarding gender-flipping, I want an actual female Dr. Zin to appear in a (live-action) Jonny Quest project. As to who would play the female Zin, I have three options in mind:

Levy Tran

Levy Tran would be golden as a female Dr. Zin; I still loved her as Desi Nguyen in the MacGyver reboot that should have lasted at least two more seasons. I've only seen her as a villainess once, in the Paramount+ original film, Secret Headquarters, as evil henchwoman Virginia. I was elated, because I knew Tran could play a villainess if she had the chance. However, when I had that thought, I had it imagining her as a ruthless and dangerously insane mastermind. If that's not Dr. Zin, then who is? Tran could really be golden as a female Dr. Zin, and she would have such a killer look!

Constance Wu

I had Constance Wu in mind first, because I've been a fan of hers for a few years. I know about her run on Fresh Off the Boat, and I had seen her in Hustlers and Crazy Rich Asians on the big screen. Very recently, Wu was part of the cast of the unfairly short-lived series, Velma, providing the voice of Daphne Blake. I can imagine Wu's portrayal vividly; her version of Dr. Zin could be established as a revered and highly respected member of society, but that would mask her true criminal empire, with God-knows-who on her payroll. And regarding her demeanor, Wu could definitely display a chilling and haunting personality as Zin, it would be so beautiful!

Jeannie Mai

Again, Jeannie Mai as a main villainess would be so epic; I just know she could pull it off. A female Zin would be perfect, and Mai could portray her in pretty much the fashion I mentioned before; popular and respected, yet the attention hides her criminal activities. Also, Mai's version could be a tad on the maniacal side, I think that would be just perfect. Jeannie Mai is a recent option that entered my mind, but the more I think about it, the more I just love the image of her as a female Dr. Zin.

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So that is my pitch for a female version of Dr. Zin, and it includes three very awesome possibilities for actresses who could play her. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!