Karen Gillan Is Leaving The Billion-Dollar Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Karen Gillan has been a fan-favorite part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a decade now, but it looks like she might be done for good.
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Karen Gillan first entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In retrospect, the film was a major turning point for the MCU, changing the focus from Earth-bound heroes to a more cosmic outlook, and introducing director James Gunn’s sense of violent whimsy. Her character of Nebula, daughter of Thanos, cyber-assassin, and eventual hero became an essential part of the greater MCU and has had some of the most nuanced narrative development of any character. However, Karen Gillan is now hinting that she might be done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Nebula. See her recent post on Instagram:
In the post, we see a director’s chair labeled “Nebula,” which we can fairly assume is Karen Gillan’s resting spot on her latest Marvel production. On the chair, we see Nebula’s cybernetic hand, with the whole image having a sense of poignancy and finality about it. That is boosted by Gillan’s caption, which says that filming has wrapped on Nebula’s character for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and that she does not know if this will be her final appearance in the MCU. She also extols praise on James Gunn as a director and affirms that Nebula has been her favorite of all the characters she has ever portrayed. It is odd to think that Karen Gillan has been playing a Marvel character for a decade now, but time does fly between Avengers movies.
Although Karen Gillan is likely best known to audiences from her Marvel appearances (given that it’s, you know, the biggest franchise of all time), Nebula is not her first role in an iconic science-fiction franchise. She first came to prominence in the United Kingdom in the venerable Doctor Who franchise as Amy Pond, the human Companion to Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor. Though the arcane lore of Doctor Who has never really caught on in a big way in the United States, it’s a pretty big deal in the UK.
In addition to Karen Gillan’s roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Doctor Who, she is well known for starring in the Dwayne Johnson reboot of the Jumanji adventure series. She has appeared in both Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level as a video game character called Ruby Roundhouse so far. Development on a third film is currently happening (although being slowed down by yet another Dwayne Johnson production, naturally), so we will likely be seeing her back in that role once more.
Nebula is set to appear in both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and Thor: Love and Thunder, so we have at least two more film appearances of Karen Gillan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is also credited as appearing in the Disney+ Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, so while Gillan might be leaving relatively soon, there is still plenty of Nebula ahead. And if these appearances are her swan song in the MCU, she has done a fantastic job.
