Although Lee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser met his demise in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy when the title characters used the Power Stone to destroy him, this wouldn’t be the last time we’d see the antagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2019’s Captain Marvel showed him in 1995 briefly visiting Earth on behalf of the Kree Empire and nearly bombing our planet to eliminate the Skrulls until Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers intervened. While there are no plans to resurrect Ronan, The Marvels director Nia DaCosta has addressed the connection the main villain in her upcoming Marvel movie shares with the Kree renegade.
Back in early 2021, Zawe Ashton was reported to be joining what was then known as Captain Marvel 2, and we’ve since learned that her character is Dar-Benn, a fellow Kree. As seen in The Marvels’ first trailer, Dar-Benn is wielding the same kind of warhammer Ronan used in both Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, and when Total Film brought this up to DaCosta, she said the following:
Here’s what I will say about that, which in the comics is called the Universal Weapon. I would just say, for anyone watching this film, or having expectations, just know that I am deeply devoted to the comics. And so, there’s always clues there.
Just like in the comics, rather than this warhammer, a.k.a. the Universal Weapon, being something only Ronan wields, they’re used by all of the Kree’s Accusers use to enforce the law. What’s unclear with Dar-Benn, though, is whether the warhammer is hers from when she was an Accuser, or if she acquired it from someone else. It also remains to be seen if Dar-Benn shares a direct connection with Ronan, i.e. being a relative or associate of his from way back when, or if the warhammer and shared Kree heritage is where the ties end.
What we do know about Dar-Benn is that she’s a revolutionary who has an axe to grind with Carol Danvers, whom she refers to as The Annihilator and blames for a Kree civil war breaking out that’s wrecked her homeland. Although Nia DaCosta didn’t provide any other specific information about The Marvels’ lead antagonist, she did open up about the performance Zawe Ashton (who’s also Tom Hiddleston’s fiancé) gave with these words:
Zawe brings a lot of fun to being evil. Then, on the other end, she also brings a lot of pathos. I wanted a villain that was really fun and definitely on the wrong side of history, but you could see why they thought they were on the right side. That’s something that Zawe also brought to the table – really wanting the villain to be understandable even if you didn’t like her.
The good news for Carol Danvers is she won’t have to deal with Dar-Benn alone, as The Marvels is teaming her up with Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel. The problem is that Dar-Benn is the reason this trio ends up forming, as they all have light-based powers the Kree has somehow entangled them so that whenever they use their respective abilities, they switch places. Judging from The Marvels trailer released in July, Dar-Benn appears to be accomplishing this using the same kind of bangle that Kamala relies on to harness her hard light ability. Between that and the Universal Weapon, not to mention her own enhanced physiology and fighting skills, this Kree foe has more than enough to establish her as a credible threat.
The Marvels opens in theaters on November 10. While we wait for more details about what the movie will deliver to audiences, stream Carol, Monica and Kamala’s past MCU appearances with a Disney+ subscription.
