Nebula: The most underrated character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..L to R: Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Nebula (Karen Gillan)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019

The evolution of Nebula

Nebula evolved in every movie.  In the first Guardians of the Galaxy, she was just a villain for Gamora to defeat. In the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Nebula became more than that. While she still had a vendetta, she defeated her sister, she found a way to get over them by defeating her. She even hugged her for a second in the end. In Avengers: Infinity War, she had a bigger role that continued into Avengers: Endgame. The moment where her and Rocket were sitting on the steps of the spaceship was a moment we wouldn’t have had from her years ago.

Karen Gillan said it best in an interview with the Daily Beast. She spoke about how she saw Nebula:

"“That was something where I read the scene and went, ‘Ah, I can latch on to that. I understand this girl—this is the element that makes her really interesting.’ Then we did the screen test, and I remember it being really emotional—like, there was crying, which was kind of weird because the character was a villain in the first Guardians, and we were in tears [laughs]. So it was this interesting thing where me and James Gunn [writer/director of both Guardians of the Galaxy films] discovered this part of the character that wasn’t really featured in the first Guardians, yet gradually crept in over the course of a few more Marvel movies.”"

Reading this helped explain why Gillan was so good as Nebula. Performers are at their best when they can relate to their roles. She could feel what Nebula was going through and it was showed in her performance. If she’s improved on this character in such a short amount of time, imagine what could happen if she got a solo project? Nebula could be the sleeper character the MCU didn’t know it needed. It’s a good thing she “crept” into the movies.