Falcon And Winter Soldier’s Erin Kellyman Compares Marvel And Star Wars Work

Erin Kellyman’s star continues to blast, though in this case it is traveling from a galaxy far, far away back to a grounded tale on Earth. Kellyman joined the Star Wars universe in 2018 when she appeared in Solo: A Star Wars Story before sticking with Disney for a role in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. In joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kellyman takes on a role of Karli Morgenthau, the leader of a seemingly villainous group referred to as the Flag-Smashers. As it turns out, joining two of the world’s largest cinematic franchises is not a drastically different experience, as Kellyman explained while talking to ComicBook.com.

“They’re actually very similar in the way that I feel about them,” Kellyman says. “So, they’re one of the two biggest franchises there is. And to be part of both of them is a very weird and surreal feeling. I feel very lucky. It doesn’t feel quite real yet. I don’t know when that’s going to sink in. But, yeah. It’s been incredible.” Kellyman recently said that she enjoyed her work as Enfys Nest so much that she would be willing to revisit the Star Wars world should Lucasfilm pick up the phone with intentions of furthering that part of their story.

Still, Enfys Nest and Karli Morgenthau have something else in common: source material. You won’t find Enfys Nest in the Marvel Comics books from 1977 which feature her Cloud-Riders group seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story but you also wouldn’t find a Karli Morgenthau in Marvel books. The slight changes to the characters for live-action adaptation are rooted in the books, nonetheless. The Cloud-Riders in comics were lead by Serji-X Arrogantus, where as the Flag-Smashers seen in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier are simply one villainous character, Flag-Smasher, real name Karl Morgenthau.

“There’s definitely parallels there,” Kellyman says of her character’s comic book counterpart. “I feel like I did a bit of research. I didn’t read the comics, but I researched Karl himself. There’s definitely similarities. But I also do feel like the way that Karli is written now is different. And I think people are going to enjoy, hopefully, the way that she goes and the rest of her journey.”

Kellyman is focused and enthusiastic for the rollout of new episodes of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Two episodes into the Marvel event series and Kellyman’s Karli seems to be framed as a villainous character opposing Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. However, redemption could still be on the horizon despite her hardened character getting the best of the Avengers heroes in a fight sequence in The Star-Spangled Man episode.

“I feel like Karli felt like people were more unified when there was half of everybody had gone, that people came together because they needed to,” Kellyman says. “And they were obviously going through a lot of trauma, so people kind of stuck together a little bit more. There was a lot more unity there, and I think that’s what she’s trying to get back to.”

Are you enjoying The Falcon and The Winter Soldier? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram! Watch our full interview with Kellyman in the video above.

For more Marvel chatter, subscribe to ComicBook.com’s Phase Zero podcast. New episodes release on all major podcast every Friday afternoon.