Captain Marvel Star Recalls How She Found Out Her Character Died in WandaVision

The fateful snap from Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War came with catastrophic effects for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading many audiences to wonder what happened to supporting characters seen throughout the franchise. While Lashana Lynch's Maria Rambeau, who audiences met in Captain Marvel, was confirmed to have survived the snap, WandaVision confirmed that Maria had died of a terminal illness in the five years during which half of the planet's population had vanished. This reveal came as a surprise to fans, though Lynch herself was told about her character's fate more than a year before the series premiered.

"Kevin Feige, who is the nicest guy, personally emailed me way before, I want to say, over a year, year-and-a-half-plus, before WandaVision aired and explained what was happening, how it was going to happen, when it was going to happen," Lynch explained to ComicBook.com. "And him specifically saying that he didn't want me to find out through anyone else. So there was a lot of care around that."

While Lynch understandably had an emotional reaction to the discovery that her character passed away, she took solace in seeing the debut of Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau, especially as she witnessed her character's daughter earn powers of her own.

"It was sad to read, but also, because I think Maria had such a massive impact on Captain Marvel and everyone loved her and really related to her, I felt good with the work that I did there and felt good that they were able to now continue her legacy in her daughter, which is amazing," Lynch added. "And the introduction to her powers in WandaVision is also amazing, so I feel genuinely proud. I'm just happy I knew beforehand and didn't find out online somewhere."

Despite her character definitively being dead in the current MCU timeline, that's not to say we can't see more of the character at some point in the future. In fact, with the follow-up film The Marvels moving forward shortly, Lynch was spotted earlier this summer with director Nia DaCosta and star Parris, igniting speculation that Lynch could appear in the upcoming film in some capacity. 

Lynch can next be seen in No Time to Die, which hits theaters on October 8th. The Marvels is currently slated to hit theaters on November 11, 2022.

Would you like to see more of Maria Rambeau? Let us know in the comments below!