Marvel's next project has finally landed on Disney+. The highly anticipated Secret Invasion has a stacked-to-the-brim cast, with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Olivia Colman, and Emilia Clarke.
This season, we're introduced to many a villain, but the one getting all the attention is Gravic, played by Kingsley Ben-Adir!
We sat down with Kingsley to find out how he feels about joining the Marvel universe...
Firstly, congratulations on stepping into one of the world's biggest franchises! Did you have any nerves about joining a universe that's already so established?
Kingsley: No more than what I normally experience before any job really. It just felt like a new job and a new character and, you know, what comes with all of that.
This franchise comes with such a dedicated fanbase, and is packed full of fan theories. Have you heard about any theories to do with your character yet?
Kingsley: No, not at all! I haven't seen or heard anything. I'm sure it's all to come when the show lands, but not since filming, no. Marvel has this huge fan base, which I'm becoming more aware of as time goes on. As of right now, I haven't had any interactions with anyone yet.
In the projects I've seen you in recently, you've either been American or you've had a different accent. Do you find it more comfortable using a British accent and being surrounded by British cast mates?
Kingsley: I'll be honest with you, there was a part of me that didn't want to lend any of myself to this role. I remember chatting with producers at the beginning and saying to them, "where can we place him?" In an early iteration of the story, there were details about him being an ex-soldier, and him being mixed race was also an important part of the story at one stage.
We were looking at different places he could be from – obviously Birmingham had been done, Peaky Blinders did it, so that didn't work. There's a mixed race community in Butetown just outside of Cardiff, and I just thought that might be a nice way in. It's a large Caribbean community with a military history too, so I started speaking to people from around there to figure out the character.
I think producers were kind of against it at the beginning – they just thought... Welsh??? There was a sort of resistance to it, and I was like, "guys, you're not even gonna notice the difference between my accent and the way I'm going to do this." It's really subtle – it wasn't like The Valleys because it's closer to the British border.
So, I have to ask, did you learn how to say the really long Welsh town name?
Kingsley: I don't know what that is.
Oh, you're going to have to find out!
Kingsley: I'm going to have to find out, yeah! All of my research was around Butetown really. There's a wonderful primary school teacher there called Mrs. Campbell, I think. She was the first Black head teacher in Wales. There was a wonderful podcast on the BBC about her, which I listened to a lot. So yeah, I just know about Butetown and then a bit about Cardiff too.