Warning: The following contains possible spoilers for The Marvels.When Marvel Studios cast Zawe Ashton as the villain in Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels, fans speculated about just who the actress might be playing. Thanks to the trailer for The Marvels releasing, fans now know a lot more about the mysterious character. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Paris), and Kamala Kahn (Iman Vellani) will all go up against Ashton’s character when she makes her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in The Marvels.
The Marvels is set to follow the three established heroes when their powers become entangled. That entanglement was previously teased when Kamala and Carol switched places in the Season 1 finale of Ms. Marvel. At least one of the heroes already has a connection to Ashton’s villain in the MCU, but all three might as well when they work through the mystery of their entanglement in outer space.
Zawe Ashton’s Marvel Villain Has A Ms. Marvel Connection
One of the most interesting reveals about Asthon’s Marvel villain is that the trailer shows her wearing a very particular fashion accessory. During her brief scenes in the trailer for The Marvels, fans will be able to spot a familiar bangle on her arm. The bangle matches the one that unlocks Kamala’s powers in the Ms. Marvel series.
Fans will recall that after Kamala begins wearing the bangle, she learns how to manipulate “hard light.” Ashton’s character appears to be able to do the same in the trailer, indicating that she’s also unlocked how to use the bangle to her advantage. Kamala also learned over the course of the first season of Ms. Marvel that the very powerful bangle is part of a pair. Those beings who knew her grandmother and wanted the bangle back were from another dimension (calling themselves the Clan Destine) and wanted to use the bangle to find a way home.
Now, it appears that the two bangles will finally end up in the same place at the same time after being apart for at least several decades. Fans have wondered just how the bangles might be connected to another cosmic artifact, Shang-Chi's Ten Rings. A flashback in Ms. Marvel reveals that the bangle is originally found in a Ten Rings temple. The rings and the bangles both have extraterrestrial origins, so a bangle being on another planet with Ashton's character could reveal more lore behind the artifacts as well.
Zawe Ashton’s Marvel Villain Is A Kree Accuser
Another interesting detail about Ashton’s character in The Marvels trailer is that the bangle isn’t the only powerful object in her possession. She’s also seen wielding a cosmi-rod. That would be the large staff she carries that looks like it has an anvil on top of it. Fans have seen a similar, though likely not exactly the same, cosmi-rod in the MCU before. That’s because it a Kree warhammer utilized by Accusers.
The Kree have been one of the most integral alien species in the MCU. Not only did Carol Danvers live among them for years, believing herself to be one of them, but Ronan the Accuser (played by Lee Pace) appeared in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, wielding his own cosmi-rod, while he tried to get one of the Infinity Stones from Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and his allies.
The cosmi-rod is a very powerful weapon. Its concussive blast can kill those in its path. It can also be paired with even stronger weapons, like an Infinity Stone, to increase its range. The fact that Ashton wields it in the trailer means that the character is either a Kree Accuser, or has managed to take it from a Kree Accuser.
Who Is Zawe Ashton Playing In The Marvels?
The actual name of Zawe Ashton’s Marvel villain isn’t revealed in the trailer for The Marvels. Some fans might have hoped for the character to be Lauri-Ell, a Kree created from the DNA of Carol Danvers, making the two of them sisters, or even one-time Captain Marvel rival Rogue. That, however, isn’t the case. Despite the name of the character not appearing in the trailer, Marvel Studios has confirmed that Zawe Ashton is playing a character named Dar-Benn in The Marvels. The studio has labeled Ashton’s character as such in their official movie stills.
Dar-Benn is originally a male character in the comics and a Kree General at that. The character was created by Ron Lim and Ron Marz in an issue of Silver Surfer. He led a rebel group of Kree to overthrow their ruler, planning for the Skrulls to be blamed for the former ruler’s death. Alongside another Kree named Ael-Dan, Dar-Ben shared the role of leader of the Kree for some time after their coup. The character, however, only appears in a handful of Marvel Comics in the early 1990s, allowing for the MCU to create a unique take on the character without a lot of comparisons to the comic book counterpart.
The Marvels lands in theaters November 10, 2023.