According to The Marvels star Zawe Ashton, the widely-panned Marvel sequel originally featured a much different and far more fatal ending for its ‘main’ character, Captain Marvel, than the one that eventually made it to screen.
As seen in the climax to the disastrous 2023 film, finding the Kree warrior Dar-Benn (as portrayed by Ashton) on the precipice of completing her plan to use the Quantum Bands to steal the energy from Earth’s sun and use it to reignite the sun of her homeworld Hala, Captain Marvel makes one last-ditch effort to overpower the villain by tackling her into the void of space.
Unfortunately for the Avenger, thanks to a power boost afforded to her by the cosmic items, Dar-Benn is eventually able to win out and activate the Bands’ power, in doing so tearing a hole in space time through which the aforementioned solar energy can pass through.
But though Dar-Benn is successful in her mission, it does not come without a cost, as her body soon turns out to be incapable of properly containing the raw power contained within the Quantum Bands.
As such, with Carol Danvers left with no recourse but to watch on, the Kree revolutionary’s time among the living ultimately comes to an end in storm of disintegrating energy.
However, according to Ashton herself, it seems this ‘self-defeating’ ending for Dar-Benn was originally intended to have far greater consequences for the MCU franchise as a whole.
Speaking to the topic during a recent appearance on Comicbook.com’s Phase Zero podcast, the actress revealed, “There was another ending that we did film where Brie [Larson] and I are kind of in space still having it out and they kind of combust together.”
“And that was just a day on wires hanging out with Brie, which is surreal and fun,” she added. “But yeah, there were a few different plans, I think.”
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Notably, given the fact that this ending was not only considered but actually film, Ashton’s revelation lends credence to the theory that, at some point during its long and tumultuous production, The Marvels underwent a serious pivot away from whatever its original plot was intended to be and towards its very ham-fisted and desperate form as a feature length commercial for Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga.
After all, not only are the final and alternate endings wildly different in their scopes, but as previously reported, the film’s current, mutant-related post-credits scene was also added right before it hit screens for public previews.
Further, in light of both Marvel’s recent push to highlight Ms. Marvel actress Iman Vellani as the ‘face’ of the franchise’s future and the purported break down in the working relationship between the studio and Larson, the possibility that The Marvels would have been Captain Marvel’s last ride continues to grow ever more likely.
For those looking to see for themselves just what burning a pile of money looks like, The Marvels is now available to both buy digitally and stream on Disney Plus.