Marvel Rumored to Have Cast Female Villain for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’

As notorious misogynist Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter becomes a distant memory at Marvel Studios, studio chief Kevin Feige is rapidly adding women left and right to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From elevating the Wasp to headliner status, to pushing the Captain Marvel movie to made and a rumored Black Widow film in early pre-production, it seems clear that the MCU will have a lot more women in it now that Perlmutter no longer has a say.

After the debacle of Iron Man 3 director Shane Black revealing that “Marvel corporate” vetoed his female villain for the film over a fear of lost toy sales, it was easy to wonder how deep the anti-woman sentiment ran at the House of Ideas. As if to answer, it has been leaked that the main villain for the anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will be female.


According to Joblo, Elizabeth Debicki, from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Great Gatsby and The Night Manager has been cast as Ayesha a.k.a. Kismet a.k.a. Paragon a.k.a. Her — a being of immense power and dubious motivations.

A group of renegade scientists called the Enclave attempted to create genetically perfect humans to repopulate the Earth. Their first attempt was “Him,” a creature that rebelled and eventually became the cosmically powered hero Adam Warlock. Their second attempt at genetic perfection was “Her” a being that also rebelled and took to the stars to find Warlock, believing him to be her perfect mate.

In the comics, Ayesha is able to manipulate cosmic energies — giving her incredible powers that can even stop the Hulk.

Debicki joins the original Guardians, plus newcomers Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Chris Sullivan as Taserface and Tommy Flanagan as Tullk. Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell have also been cast, and there is virtually no doubt that one of them will be playing Starlord’s alien absentee father — a plot thread left dangling by the first movie.

Don’t be surprised if that father turns out to be … Adam Warlock.