Zawe Ashton on Reading Comics to Prep for The Marvels Role

The Marvels star Zawe Ashton has spoken a bit about her process of reading comics in preparation of playing the villainous Dar-Benn.

In an interview with ComingSoon, Ashton was asked what it was like for her to read through different Marvel comics while getting ready to play Dar-Benn. The actress explained that she read comics to “get a handle” on the character before specifically mentioning a Silver Surfer comic that she particularly enjoyed.

“It was really necessary to get a sense of it, if not only to get a real handle on just how beloved they are … I just sort of learned first and foremost to truly respect that source material and truly respect the fandom that is surrounding that source material. That was the first step,” she stated.

“And then I did have to familiarize myself with Dar-Benn just from the comics, because that’s the only place that that character appears. There’s no real-life reference for Dar-Benn at all outside of them. So I read those. I have, now, a really great Silver Surfer comic where Dar-Benn appears. I wouldn’t say I familiarize myself with everything — that wouldn’t be honest — but enough to just truly understand the landscape that I was in. Of course, Captain Marvel is such a huge figure in that. More recently, Ms. Marvel. It was about getting a really great scope, but more than anything, just respecting them as source material was a beginning point for me, definitely.”

What happens in The Marvels?

“Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence,” the official synopsis reads. “But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as The Marvels.”