10 Most Exciting New Faces Coming To The MCU
7. Teyonah Parris – Monica Rambeau (WandaVision)
The choice to set Captain Marvel in the 1990s was a fairly unusual choice, considering all of the MCU films save for Captain America: The First Avenger had been set in the relative present. But this did mean there's a significant chunk of time between World War 2 and Iron Man in 2008 which had been largely unaccounted for.
Getting some more insight into the chronology of this universe is no bad thing, and thanks to this new approach chronicling lost time, new characters can be smoothly introduced. This is has so far best exemplified by Monica Rambeau's first appearance as the adventurous, lovable kid who idolises her “Auntie Carol” in Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers having a friend called Maria Rambeau with a daughter named Monica meant alarm bells for those in the know – Monica ends up as a Captain Marvel herself inthe comics. Akira Akbar in the role did an amazing job too; I’d place bets on her having a very promising career in the future.
Crucially, these few scenes in Captain Marvel serve as an efficient origin story for Rambeau, who will return in WandaVision on Disney+. This time she’s older, presumably wiser, and played by Teyonah Parris. Parris’ career really kicked off in 2012, with a recurring role in the acclaimed drama Mad Men.
She made waves as the first major black character to appear in the series, and has since gone on to unapologetically the political into her acting, working on projects such as Dear White People, Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq, and Empire. With this background, the role of Monica Rambeau is perfectly suited to Parris. Rambeau’s Captain Marvel appears in the comics as the first African American woman to join the Avengers, eventually becoming their leader for a short time - quite the milestone.
But more than that, she is fiercely intelligent, outspoken, and powerful. She’s far from the only person to have used the name Captain Marvel, but she is potentially the most respected out of them all. Teyonah Parris is sure to balance to lovability found in Rambeau’s first MCU appearance with the distinguished authority of the comic book depiction, to do this complex character justice.