The Marvels villain actor reveals Captain Marvel "combusted" with Dar-Benn in alternate ending

Dar-Benn in The Marvels
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Zawe Ashton, who played The Marvels villain Dar-Benn, has revealed that the MCU movie had an alternate ending – in which Captain Marvel seemingly died.

"There was another ending that we did film where Brie and myself are kind of in space, still having it out, and they kind of combust together," Ashton told ComicBook.com's Phase Zero podcast

Of course, this isn't quite how things go down in the movie's final cut. Dar-Benn, a Kree warrior on a vengeful mission to restore her home planet and get her hands on the powerful Quantum Bands, clashes in a final battle with Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) as the movie begins to wrap up. 

Dar-Benn's plan involves using the Bands to steal the energy from the Earth's sun in order to restore the extinguished sun of her own planet, and Carol, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), AKA Ms. Marvel, are doing their best to stop her. When Dar-Benn attempts to use both Bands, however, they prove too powerful, and she combusts – but Captain Marvel remains unharmed. 

Ashton acknowledges that filming alternate endings is common practice with comic book tentpole movies, in part due to the ever-changing nature of Marvel's vast interconnected universe(s). "I'm happy to be a kind of moveable, jelly-like actor," she added, laughing. "It keeps it exciting."

The Marvels is streaming now on Disney Plus. For more on the movie, check out the rest of our coverage below.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism. 

Read more
Anthony Mackie in Captain America 4
Captain America: Brave New World merchandise reveals cut characters and a wildly different look for The Leader – and Marvel fans are wondering what happened
Ms. Marvel and Captain America Steve Rogers side by side
Ms. Marvel actor Iman Vellani got so into Captain America: Civil War that she "lost friends" over "people being Team Cap"
Danny Ramirez and Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained – Who dies in the Marvel movie? How does it set up the next Avengers?
Thunderbolts
The big Thunderbolts theory about Taskmaster may not be so straightforward
Captain America: Brave New World
That Captain America: Brave New World cameo changed several times, but it was always going to be that character
Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson doubles down on never coming back as Black Widow: “Natasha is dead. She is dead. She’s dead. Okay?"
Latest in Superhero Movies
Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield in Stranger Things 4
Stranger Things star Sadie Sink joins Spider-Man 4 and fans are already theorizing she might be X-Men’s Jean Grey
The cast of Thunderbolts
Marvel fans are revealing who they'd like to see added to the Thunderbolts lineup, from Moon Knight to a major Hulk villain
Batman and Catwoman talking
Robert Pattinson is hoping to team up with his The Batman co-star Zoe Kravitz on another project soon
The cast of Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts director says the new Marvel movie is inspired by Toy Story 3: "Can they get out of the trash can together?"
Robert Downey Jr announces his Doctor Doom casting at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
"He is so dialed in": Robert Downey Jr. is coming up with backstory and costume ideas for Doctor Doom ahead of Avengers: Doomsday
Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in The Batman
Robert Pattinson worries he will be a "f*cking old Batman" by the time filming on The Batman 2 finally starts
Latest in News
Overwatch 2
My hopes for an Overwatch anime or Diablo horror movie are going strong as Blizzard president points out "we are Blizzard Entertainment, and not simply Blizzard Games"
The New Thunderbolts leaping into action
Marvel's New Thunderbolts* comic steals the MCU's asterisk, and the reason why is just as big of a mystery
Pokemon Go players brace for the worst as Niantic is sold off for $3.5 billion: "This game is entering its death knell"
Stamp PSP
A 16-year-old pitch for a newly discovered first-party PSP game has me mourning the death of PlayStation's Japan Studio all over again
Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon says he "got rid of" agents who deliberately kept him away from video game gigs: "They just didn't want me to do it"
Mass Effect
Jennifer Hale says she didn't see a single line as Mass Effect's Commander Shepard until it was time to record: "It was all cold reading on the spot"