The Marvels leak reveals 1 villain’s shocking return

The Marvels is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating sequels in Marvel’s Phase Four lineup.

The Nia DaCosta-directed film, a follow-up to 2019’s Captain Marvel, is expected to bring together Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers with Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau (who recently appeared in WandaVision) and Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel (who’ll debut in her own self-titled Disney+ series next year). Zawe Ashton is also set to play the film’s unknown villain, rounding out a cast led largely by MCU up-and-comers.

But a new rumor suggests that Larson may not be the only Captain Marvel cast member returning for the sequel.

Carol’s Former Mentor — As noted first by Murphy’s Multiverse, the IMDb page for The Marvels has been updated recently with a few notable new names.

The first is Samantha Jackson, credited as being the assistant for Shamier Anderson, an actor yet to be officially cast in The Marvels but who recently starred in Netflix’s Stowaway and is currently set to appear in John Wick: Chapter 4. There’s no telling who Anderson might be playing in The Marvels, but the appearance of his name on the film’s IMDb page will likely be enough to get fans speculating.

Thom Jones is also listed on the IMDb page as being the dialect coach for actress Lashana Lynch, who played Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel — but who has yet to be confirmed as appearing in The Marvels. (Jones, notably, worked as the dialect coach for both Lynch and Ben Mendelsohn on Captain Marvel.) Meanwhile, the third and most notable new name is John Humber, who worked as an assistant to Jude Law on Captain Marvel... and is currently credited as returning in the same capacity on The Marvels as well.

Now, IMDb isn’t always the most reliable source of information, so these updates could very well turn out to be inaccurate. But assuming these credits are correct, Law could very well be reprising his role as Yon-Rogg in The Marvels.

The Marvels vs. The Kree Empire — Given the inclusion of both Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau in The Marvels, it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine Lashana Lynch reprising her role as Maria Rambeau as well. In the chronology of the MCU, with Monica all grown up, Maria was revealed to have passed by the time WandaVision took place, but there’s no reason to believe that Lynch won’t appear in a flashback of some kind in the Captain Marvel sequel.

Jude Law returning as Yon-Rogg is, on the other hand, a slightly more interesting and surprising development. The character played a prominent role in Captain Marvel as a commander of the Kree Empire and a toxic mentor to Larson’s Carol Danvers. The villainous sides of both Yon-Rogg and the Kree Empire as a whole were revealed in that film’s third act, which concluded with Carol single-handedly forcing Kree warships away from Earth and easily defeating her former trainer.

The film ended with the tease of more conflict to come between Carol and the Kree Empire, but none of the MCU films or shows that have come out since Captain Marvel’s release have touched on that storyline. If Yon-Rogg really is returning in The Marvels though, there’s the chance that the sequel will again focus heavily on the Kree Empire — and on Carol’s efforts to put an end to its galactic war crimes.

Does that also mean that Zawe Ashton’s mysterious villain will be a member of the Kree Empire in The Marvels? Possibly even the Supreme Intelligence? At this point, it’s certainly possible.

The Inverse Analysis — It should be noted again that this is all just speculation for the time being. A couple of names on an IMDb page aren’t credible enough to be considered confirmation that Law, Lynch, or Anderson are actually involved in The Marvels.

Nevertheless, the mere possibility of Law and Lynch reprising their Captain Marvel roles in the sequel raises some interesting questions about the film and its story.

The Marvels will hit theaters on November 11, 2022.