The cast of superhero satire The Franchise want Olivia Colman to play their version of MCU boss Kevin Feige

One of the best jokes in new comedy show The Franchise surrounds a mystery character named 'Shane', who plays a key role in the superhero satire. 

With the series following a group of filmmakers as they attempt to bring the latest superhero movie in a huge franchise to life, we meet several producers, with a figure named Shane being the big boss. Essentially, Shane is The Franchise's take on MCU head honcho Kevin Feige.

However, whilst Shane is regularly mentioned, the character is neither seen or heard throughout the show, which becomes a running joke. The question is then – who should play Shane, should they come into the picture?

Putting this question to the show's impressive cast, several names pop up. Isaac Powell, who portrays Shane's personal assistant Bryson, suggests to 12DOVE that either Imelda Staunton (who certainly brought menace to her role as Umbridge in Harry Potter) or Paul Giamatti (the star of the Oscar-nominated The Holdovers) would be a good fit.

Co-stars Aya Cash (who plays producer Anita) and Himseh Patel (who portrays first assistant director Daniel) however put forward another name – Patton Oswalt, a comedic actor who has appeared in everything from Community to BoJack Horseman. He certainly is a chameleon.

However, Lolly Adefope, who plays third assistant director Dag, offers another, perhaps more intriguing, idea adding: "It would be cool if Shane was a woman."

And then we finally crack it, as Darren Goldstein (who appears as studio representative Pat) offers: "You know who would be a great Shane? It turns out that Shane is a woman and it's Olivia Colman." The star of The Crown and Heartstopper certainly seems like a perfect fit – so HBO, make it happen!

In fact, as showrunner Jon Brown tells us, there is already the idea to cast Shane for a potential second season. Continuing, he admits that the initial plan was that we would meet the boss this season, but feeling the pressure with the expectation surrounding the casting, they instead decided to keep it a mystery for now.

However, Brown is adamant that will change should The Franchise be renewed: "We talked about it at one point, we were going to meet him in episode 8, but it felt tricky. Casting that role would have been hard as it's a relatively small part but the expectation is quite big, so you would want someone to show up that had some status, felt big enough.

"In a way I deferred that for later, kept the powder dry, in season 2 we would want to meet him, I wouldn't want to hold off on it forever. But casting that part will be tough. Trying to find someone who has charisma but is believably of that world. It's tricky and that's why we decided in the end not to do it."

The Franchise is currently airing weekly on Sky and NOW in the UK, and via HBO and Max in the US.

For more, check out our guide to the new TV shows heading your way.