The Marvels star Zawe Ashton recently revealed that the 2023 superhero movie almost featured the death of Captain Marvel.
Speaking with ComicBook.com’s Phase Zero podcast, Ashton disclosed that her villain, Dar-Benn, was originally supposed to perish alongside Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers in the movie’s climactic third act.
“There was another ending that we did film where Brie and myself are kind of in space still having it out, and they kind of combust together, which was really amazing,” Ashton revealed. “And that was just a day on wires hanging out with Brie, which is surreal and fun. But yeah, there were a few different plans, I think.”
Dar-Benn was destined to die in The Marvels
While the final cut of The Marvels kept Carol Danvers alive, Ashton shared that there was never a plan for Dar-Benn to make it out of the superhero movie alive. “There was always going to be an epic death just because in terms of, I just think in terms of just bringing that story psychologically for Carol to a close I think was always the best thing,” the actor shared.
“You don’t want to think, did she defeat her? Is this over? Is she going to be kind of doomed to this life of feeling guilty about this whole thing forever and ever? Or is she going get this redemptive moment where Dar-Benn’s out of the picture and then she gets to almost take on the mantle of what she was trying to do? It is a really redemptive arc for that character. I will say I did a day’s diving training because there was going to be a lot of water involved in the original death,” she added.
The Marvels was the MCU’s first box office flop
Directed by Nia DaCosta, The Marvels was released in theaters on November 10, 2023, to mixed reviews from critics. Despite being a sequel to the $1 billion hit Captain Marvel, The Marvels failed to replicate the commercial success of its 2019 predecessor. The superhero movie ultimately finished its theatrical run as the lowest-grossing installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a global box office haul of $206.1 million.
The Marvels features the combined talents of Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel), Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau), and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), with Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh rounding out the ensemble cast in supporting roles.
The Marvels is available to stream on Disney+.
