Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Nebula (Karen Gillan)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Why Nebula should be appreciated more than she is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
There has been criticism about all-female fight scene in Avengers: Endgame. But, who cares? The scene was awesome and it showed the world that Marvel Studios is taking women representation in their projects serious. There are a lot of women in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that will be focused on in the future. We know Captain Marvel will lead the charge moving forward. Shuri and Okoye have become fan favorites and looked at as role models. There’s one character that seems to get overlooked. The daughter of Thanos, Nebula.
Nebula came into the MCU as an unknown character with a tragic story. She was kidnapped from her home planet by Thanos. She was then raised to be a warrior, his daughter and the sister of Gamora. Whenever she lost a fight to Gamora, Thanos removed a body part and replaced it with machinery. As of now, Nebula may be more mech than organic.
Despite the fact Thanos was the one torturing her, Gamora was the one who inherited Nebula’s resentment. As time went on, she became more than that. No longer was she just the angry sister of Gamora. Nebula became one of the deepest characters in the MCU.
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.
Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Nebula (Karen Gillan)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019
Nebula is a changed character
Thankfully, Marvel Studios discovered how deep this character could go. The evolution of a character can make or break them.
For Nebula, it gave everyone more of a reason to care about her. When she was being tortured by Thanos, we felt bad because she refused to give up. We also loved her will to stay silent. Had this been years ago, she would have given up the information for a pat on the head from her father. She worked side by side with Peter Quill. A man she probably despises for his immaturity and because Gamora loves him. In Avengers: Endgame, She became selfless by her continued work with the heroes of Earth to try and set things right.
Nebulas has officially gone from a generic character to a key part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hopefully, the future for Nebula in the may be brighter than any of us know. She even developed more emotions other than anger. For now, we should all look at Karen Gillan’s role as Nebula and be happy that she’s done such a phenomenal job. She took this dark and unknown character into the light. Something none of us saw coming.