As Marvel fans recall, fan favorite comic book character Monica Rambeau made her debut in 2019’s Captain Marvel though played by child actress Akira Akbar and not as an adult like most other Marvel heroes. Actress Teyonah Parris has inherited the part though, taking on the role of the grown up Monica for Marvel’s first Disney+ series WandaVision. It would be easy to anyone in that situation to just make the character their own, considering there’s about thirty years of time between Captain Marvel and WandaVision, but speaking in a new interview about her inspirations, Parris revealed that she studied Akira Akbar’s performance from the moviel.
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“When I started to do my character work, I definitely went to the comic books on my own and I still am mining through who she was in the comics,” Parris told Variety. “And I also looked to Akira Akbar’s performance in Captain Marvel, and what she brought in. Obviously, as a child, when you grow, you change — you can be totally different than you were as a child. But I do think that there are elements of who we are as young people that remain with us. And not only that, but the relationships we have with those who are in our lives. So, the relationship she had with her mom, Maria Rambeau [or] Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel — how do those relationships influence her?”
She continued, “And then on a more practical level, [producer] Mary Livanos, who is amazing — she has been an incredible wealth of knowledge. And she’s the keeper of all things comics, all things Monica, all things everything. So, I would always just go pick her brain. And then you have Jac (Schaeffer, head writer on WandaVision), who — if anytime I felt like, ‘I’m not quite understanding this’ or ‘It’s not really working in this way, how can we adjust?’ — she was always right there. And the same with Matt. Matt is the most patient human being I have ever met; it is unreal. And he’s so kind. When I tell you that all the things that could happen on a set and go wrong, he remains so chill and so under control, and it was very amazing to watch. But he’s also a wealth of knowledge, as he comes from the sitcom world himself as a child actor. I am in very great hands. And it’s been quite a collaborative and fun process.”
Parris will reprise her part for the upcoming Captain Marvel 2 where she’ll star alongside Brie Larson as the title hero with Iman Vellani appearing as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel. As comic fans know, Rambeau was actually the second Captain Marvel and had the title well before Carol Danvers. It’s unclear if the upcoming sequel will somehow see them both using the designation but it’s something to get excited about.
WandaVision will debut new episodes every Friday from now through March with Captain Marvel 2 scheduled to be released November 11, 2022.
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