Teyonah Parris: Monica Rambeau ‘is trying to reconcile her own grief by helping Wanda’

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As I often say, I don’t know a lot about Marvel. I see the movies once in the theater, find them entertaining and then move on. The backstories and character details kind of wash over me. However my friends love Marvel movies and have so much knowledge about them that I have FOMO. WandaVision has been the perfect series to introduce me to the Marvel universe on a deeper level. It pulled me in with the nods to classic television and the storyline while offering so many Easter eggs and theories to unpack. I’ve heard several actresses say that they’re not completely aware of what’s happening and can’t give spoilers. That’s what they’re supposed to say as they’re sworn to secrecy. However they can talk about the parts of the plot which are known to audiences. In Wandavision that’s Wanda working through her grief by maybe creating an entire universe around her. (It’s unclear if she’s the one controlling everything although it’s heavily implied.)

Monica Rambeau, played by Teyonah Parris, is an ally to Wanda in a way. Teyonah has a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter that goes deeper into her role in the series along with what’s next for her character. Her character is going to be in Captain Marvel II as well. We saw Monica as a child in the first film and on Wandavision she’s hinted that there’s no love lost between her and Captain Marvel. What did Carol do?! Here’s an excerpt from her THR interview. Please note that there are spoilers for past episodes of WandaVision along with vague spoilers for what’s next.

Since Monica returned via the blip, she’s… learned about Maria’s [her mom] passing, been sucked into — and then ejected from — Wanda’s hex. Do you think she’s going to have to address these traumas?
I think she is addressing them in the best way she knows how, which is through work. She’s very much a person who loves her job. While missing persons’ cases aren’t typically in her wheelhouse, this has turned into much more than that; it’s more like a missing-town case. And once Monica sees Wanda and realizes that she’s grieving, she recognizes their parallel experiences and that they’re both grieving loved ones. So I think that Monica is handling it in the best way she can. I’m not saying it’s the most effective and most therapeutic way, but I do feel like she is trying to reconcile with her own grief by helping Wanda with hers.

Monica seems to have an issue with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson)… Will the remainder of WandaVision provide any clarity?
What I can say is that we have a couple more episodes to go, and we also know that Monica will be in Captain Marvel II. So there’s quite a bit of real estate left for us to explore that relationship. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone so I’ll just leave it at that.

When you found out you were going to play Monica again in Captain Marvel II, was Nia already attached as director?
No comment. I don’t know if I’m giving away anything by saying something. So I’m not going to say anything to that, but I’m really excited to join Nia and for us to come back together again. And to join Brie and Iman [Vellani]. It’s just going to be a wonderful experience, especially with Nia being the first black female to direct a Marvel Studios film. It’s gonna be exciting times.

Was there a celebratory call between [you and Nia]?
I call Nia all the time, so, yes, absolutely. I’m like, “Hey, girl! I’m just excited. OK, bye.” That’s the call. (Laughs.)

Can you spare a couple adjectives that best describe your reaction [to the last three episodes]?
Epic and incredibly sad. I mean, the whole show is incredibly sad to me, but I’m putting those words together.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

I forgot that Nia DaCosta is directing Captain Marvel II! Honestly I wasn’t a huge fan of the first film, I found it a bit bloated. When Oya covered the story that Nia was hired, we included a video interview with her. I didn’t know about her before that and she was so good at explaining her process and interest in film that it got me excited for the second movie. It’s not out until November of next year unfortunately, but I’m looking forward to seeing that one in theaters. In the mean time we have three more episodes of WandaVision! I’m kind of bummed that Teyonah described them as “sad” but that’s the whole premise of this show.

There are so many layers to WandaVision and the one that sticks out to me is Wanda’s grief. I relate to her creating a sitcom bubble based on her childhood expectations and seeing the dirt seep in through the cracks. Maybe Monica will come help her deal with losing Vision. Episode seven is out now but I’m waiting until tonight to watch it. From the teaser, below, it looks like they’re borrowing from Modern Family. Also she makes a reference to lockdown!

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Thanks to Karen and Zakia for help with this story! Photos credit: Getty and Marvel and via Instagram

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13 Responses to “Teyonah Parris: Monica Rambeau ‘is trying to reconcile her own grief by helping Wanda’”

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  1. Becks1 says:

    One of the things I love about WandaVision is that I think it works even if you’re not a big Marvel fan. I am really enjoying it and I dont consider myself to be a fan of the Marvel movies (my husband watches them so I watch them, but I find a lot of them really boring, including Infinity War and Endgame, lol, although I do love the Iron Man movies and I really love Black Panther) . but I really enjoy WandaVision and while I know I’m missing out on a LOT of hidden messages and easter eggs etc, I dont feel it hinders my enjoyment of it – it just means that I know I probably would like it more if I knew more.

    • Merricat says:

      +1. I have a bit of MCU knowledge and my husband knows nothing about it, but we love WandaVision. It’s the onion, you just keep peeling back layers of grief and trauma. I think it’s extraordinarily well done.

    • Case says:

      Honestly, even for MCU fans the hidden messages are QUITE hidden at times! There are several YouTube accounts that help unravel the details of each episode and I find they really enrich the experience for me.

    • BeanieBean says:

      This looks like something I could watch. I’m going to give it a try. And Randall Park is in it! Love him.

  2. LizzyM says:

    WandaVision is awesome! Honestly Wanda and Vision have never been my favorite MCU characters and to tbh I found them quite boring but this tv show has got me hooked!
    I won’t spoil but it’s clever, well thought and Marvel finally steps out of its comfort zone. I’m so ready for the next stage!!

  3. Darla says:

    Yes it’s an amazing show. I hope “Vis” dies for good this time at the end, but Olson is taking me on a trip for sure.

  4. Sam says:

    I was never much into (or understood) the Marvel Universe but I LOVED Black Panther. When I would watch it with my husband he would always be explaining different Easter eggs and references for me. I wanted to know more so I found a website that lists all of the Marvel movies in chronological order of occurrence within the universe (a very different order from which they were released in) and my husband and I spent a year watching every single one. I liked some more than others (wasn’t a huge fan of Dr. Strange movies, liked Ant Man a lot more than I thought I would. The Iron Man movies are my favorite) but it really helped me to understand the universe, the character backstories and just in general enjoy the entire thing more. Anyway, long way of saying if you like Marvel and want to know more, that’s a great way to do it.

    • Merricat says:

      Black Panther is one I saw in the theatre, and I loved it.

    • Becks1 says:

      We’re getting ready to do this (even though see my comments above about marvel movies, lol) but I am wondering if I will enjoy them more if I follow them in story order. Our boys are old enough to watch them so it seems like as good a time as any to start.

  5. Case says:

    This show is just incredible. One of the best things Marvel has put out to date, which makes me SO excited for this new “phase” we’re in. It’s mysterious, it’s tragic, it’s funny, and it’s so smartly written. Elizabeth Olsen is knocking it out of the park, and I love learning about Teyonah Parris’ character. I expect a lot of similarly experimental work coming from Marvel moving forward.

  6. H says:

    I’m a huge comic book nerd and Marvel fan. I was unsure about WandaVision but its completely won me over. I loved how we went through the decades (and TV shows with Wanda) but at its underlying core, its about grief and loss. I’m off to watch this week’s episode!

  7. FF says:

    First I’ll say: Tayonah looks amazing. Utterly gorgeous.

    Second, the not so congratulatory: Ugh. I guess I’m the only one annoyed about how dirty they did Monica and Maria just so they could avoid dealing with Monica canonically being the first Captain Marvel. And now apparently, the only way Monica’s pain can be relevant is to tie her in as a subplot where she’s emotional support for a white character.

    Getting tired of this experience in Marvel movies (Black Panther excluded, though my fear that it will start happening, now Chadwick is no longer with us, is ever present). How many times is the opposite true? Why keep doing this?

    In the comics, Monica’s inspiration for being the hero she became was her two parents and how they raised her. Now not only is Monica tied to personality mogadon, Carol Danvers – a character who has absolutely nothing to do with her in the comics – they kill off her mother offscreen just so there can be some echo chamber empathy with yet another random white character who theoretically has an entire team that should be doing this for her.

    This is why you should keep white women far away from writing black women characters, it always turns into this nonsense.

    Adding Nia Da Costa is sadly too little to late, the narrative damage is already done. It’s getting tiring seeing plots say again and again that PoC characters can only be relevant in a story when they are of facility to white characters. It’s like repeating they’re not the really important ones in any plotline over and over again.

    I really hoped they weren’t going to do this when I heard Monica would be in WandaVision but here we are.

    • Imara219 says:

      Yes! Thank you for this breakdown. Black women characters are usually depicted in service to White women– whether emotional or physical and that is beyond profound.