Phase 4 Secretly Sets Up The Dark Avengers’ Version Of Captain Marvel

The Ms. Marvel trailer indicates that the MCU is secretly setting up the Dark Avengers’ Captain Marvel counterpart. Though there are only so many characters who have the power to rival Carol Danvers, there are at least a few Marvel Comics villains who could fill the Captain Marvel role on the MCU’s Dark Avengers lineup. One such character is Star, who has enjoyed multiple clashes with Carol.

In Marvel Comics, the Dark Avengers were a squad of anti-heroes and villains assembled by Norman Osborn to masquerade as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The MCU is already on its way to having its own take on the Dark Avengers concept. The first steps toward the group’s formation were provided by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow. The two Phase 4 installments saw the mysterious Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine on the recruiting trail. In just two MCU appearances, she’s already established connections with both U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), who could be the team’s replacements for Captain America and Black Widow respectively.

A third building block for the Dark Avengers may come in Ms. Marvel. The subtitles in the trailer reveal the name of a previously unknown character who appeared at the 1:26 mark. Apparently, Nimra Bucha’s character is called “Najma” in Ms. Marvel. What’s so telling about this is that “Namja” is the Arabic word for “Star” [via Twitter]. In the comics, Star is the codename for Ripley Ryan, a fairly new character and a rival to Carol. Using Captain Marvel’s stolen powers, Star pretended to be a superhero and eventually joined the Thunderbolts. Her status as an anti-hero, abilities in Marvel Comics, and history with the Thunderbolts would make her a suitable choice for the Dark Avengers roster in the MCU.

The name of Bucha’s Ms. Marvel character may simply be a coincidence, but it may instead be a hint that Star is joining the MCU. This mystery character’s only line in the Ms. Marvel trailer is “do you know what you are?”, which implies that she has some knowledge regarding Kamala’s true nature. Whoever she is, her interests may involve studying (or stealing) the young hero’s powers. Currently, there’s no word on who the show’s villain is or what kind of threats Kamala will be up against. Since it’s likely that Ms. Marvel will eventually pit her against a super-powered adversary, Star could very well be the character that Marvel picks for her to fight.

Similar to how Marvel used U.S. Agent in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Ms. Marvel could lay the groundwork for Star to have bigger roles in the MCU’s future. If this character makes contact with Val, she could return alongside the other recruits in a later movie or TV show. If she has powers that are on par with Captain Marvel (or Ms. Marvel), she’d be a force to be reckoned with and may even be the muscle of the group.

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