Is Dar-Benn related to Thanos in ‘The Marvels?’

Apathy is Marvel’s biggest fear at the moment, what with “superhero fatigue” clinging to every conversation like a jealous ex. Whether as a method of curbing that pesky problem or simply hinting at the pile of gold it sits upon, trailers for The Marvels continue to pique our interest, and this latest one is no exception. 

Titled “Beginning”, it opens with archived footage of the Avengers preparing for their time-travel mission in Endgame, as well as Tony Stark wiping the smirk off Thanos’ face with the snap of his fingers. It even concludes with the iconic theme song swelling in the background. Intentionally or not, the trailer is positioning The Marvels as an Endgame sequel more than any other Phase Four or Five film. 

But that’s not all. Thanos himself narrates a good chunk of the trailer, and even suggests that Dar-Benn is the successor to his genocidal ion project. Couple that with Dar-Benn’s previous statements in former trailers about how Carol Danvers “took everything from [her]” and before you knew it, we were furrowing our eyebrows, tilting our heads, and saying, “Wait a minute.” 

Why we think Dar-Benn could be Thanos’ daughter

First of all, Thanos isn’t exactly short on offspring. The comic book character is constantly adopting powerful children or spawning them, so this isn’t a completely left-field question, let’s be clear. So far in the MCU we only know of Gamora and Nebula, but the Mad Titan has legions more lurking in the shadows, some of whom we saw throughout the Infinity Saga.

Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Cull Obsidian, and Proxima Midnight (to name just a few) were all Children of Thanos, aka of the Black Order. Now, Captain Marvel didn’t single-handedly kill them and Thanos at the Battle of Earth, but it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say she heavily aided in the endeavor. Should Dar-Benn also be a member of the Black Order, it would explain her fury toward Carol. Thanos just might be the “everything” Dar-Benn accuses Carol Danvers (and the Avengers as a whole) of taking from her, which would explain why the Kree general has such a hankering for her demise.

We should note that Dar-Benn is not a female in the comics and doesn’t have any relationship with Thanos, but that doesn’t mean the MCU version of the character can’t. It would explain why the movie is positioning itself as a follow-up to Endgame, why it centers around yet another universal destruction, and why the ghost of Thanos’ past is reminding us there are others in the galaxy with visions similar to his.

Then again, we could be completely off base and maybe Carol killed Dar-Benn’s pet parrot or something. Both are perfectly good explanations. We’ll find out for certain when The Marvels premieres in theaters on Nov. 10.