Marvel & Star Wars Made The Same Villain Mistake (With The Same Actress)

Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier repeated the same villain mistake as Solo: A Star Wars Story with the misuse of actress Erin Kellyman. The Disney+ miniseries recently came to an end after a six-episode stint, following Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) following the events of Avengers: Endgame. Solo, a fellow Disney-owned property, debuted in 2018 and served as a prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy by giving Harrison Ford’s Han Solo an origin story. Whereas Kellyman portrayed Karli Morgenthau in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the actress made her feature film debut by playing Enfys Nest in Solo.

It’s not uncommon for Star Wars actors to make the jump to the MCU, and vice versa. Natalie Portman and Samuel L. Jackson were two of the firsts to have prominent roles in both franchises before names like Paul Bettany, Ben Mendelsohn, Lupita Nyong’o, Donald Glover, and Mads Mikkelsen joined them in the Disney era. Emilia Clarke might follow in Kellyman’s footsteps by making the jump from Solo to a Disney+ MCU miniseries with her reported casting in Secret Invasion. On the flip side, there’s a push from Star Wars to cast Stan as a younger Luke Skywalker for a future project.

Not only was Kellyman cast in both Star Wars and Marvel titles, but the respective characters shared several glaring similarities, but not in a good way. In Solo, Enfys Nest served as a secondary antagonist, leading a group of pirates known as the Cloud-Riders. Though she was a resistance fighter battling crime syndicate Crimson Dawn, her missions to steal valuable coaxium put her at odds with Han Solo. Similarly, Kellyman’s role as Karli in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier pinned her against the primary protagonists while leading a group of revolutionaries called the Flag-Smashers. Like Solo, the MCU series failed to execute the “villain” with an impactful arc.

In what became an echo to the situation with the Cloud-Riders in Solo, it was revealed the Flag-Smashers had good intentions in uniting the world without borders. However, Karli steered them to become radicals with misguided attempts to publicize their cause. It also didn’t help that the Flag-Smashers relied on violence and their Super-Soldier serum to get their message across. Karli and the Flag-Smashers were underwhelming villains in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, considering the figures weren’t well written in the storyline. The same situation occurred with Enfys Nest and the Cloud-Riders, who had intriguing motivations in fighting against Crimson Dawn, but their arc wasn’t fleshed out enough to pay off in the end.

Sadly, it looks as though Star Wars and Marvel will fail to redeem Kellyman’s characters and the groups they led. Enfys Nest doesn’t seem to be returning to any future projects to give the Cloud-Riders some depth following Solo: A Star Wars Story. As for Karli, the character was killed in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series finale, bringing an end to her arc. Despite Kellyman’s ability to tackle complex figures, both Enfys Nest and Karli Morgenthau were wasted as dynamic villains. Here’s hoping Kellyman’s future roles don’t repeat the same mistakes.

About The Author

Kara Hedash
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Kara Hedash is a features editor and writer for Screen Rant. From time to time, she dives into the world’s most popular franchises but Kara primarily focuses on evergreen topics. The fact that she gets to write about The Office regularly is like a dream come true. Before joining Screen Rant, Kara served as a contributor for Movie Pilot and had work published on The Mary Sue and Reel Honey. After graduating college, writing began as a part-time hobby for Kara but it quickly turned into a career. She loves binging a new series and watching movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. She also has a soft spot for horror ever since she started watching it at too young of an age. Her favorite Avenger is Thor and her favorite Disney princess is Leia Organa. When Kara’s not busy writing, you can find her doing yoga or hanging out with Gritty.

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