Deadpool & Wolverine plans to introduce a villain unlike any yet seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film, which will see the two titular mutants hopping through the multiverse, promises an unusual threat among the Deadpool & Wolverine cast with Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova. Corrin is a skilled and accomplished actor who has won a Golden Globe for their performance as Princess Diana in The Crown. Taking a dramatic actor of this skill level and introducing them to the MCU is a promising prospect, especially when seeing how they have described their character.

The plot of Deadpool & Wolverine has been largely kept under wraps, with the trailers only generally showing a multiversal problem involving Deadpool, Wolverine, and the TVA. Based on images and footage, foes like Juggernaut may appear in Deadpool & Wolverine alongside other returning X-Men villains like Sabretooth and Toad. With so many threats to face, any central villain must be something special in order to distinguish themselves. Based on recent comments, this appears to be the case with Cassandra Nova.

MCU’s Cassandra Nova Is Set To Be A Kind Of Villain The Franchise Has Never Seen Before

Emma Corrin Has Outlined An Unpredictable Madness To Their Marvel Villain

Cassandra Nova is intended to be the kind of villain that has not yet appeared in the MCU. Following a legacy of so many kinds of villainy, from the Iron Monger to The Vulture to Thanos, this is a difficult ask. Still, Deadpool & Wolverine intends to fulfill this promise. In Variety, Cassandra Nova actor Emma Corrin explained that their villain is similar to Hans Landa, the antagonist from Inglourious Basterds played by Cristoph Waltz:

“He’s so disarmingly polite and nice and unaffected, and it’s really creepy…It’s all the more sinister because he doesn’t need to do anything…Ryan and Shawn pitched this idea, which I was totally on board with: ‘We want this villain to not be a villain in the sense that you expect them to be. We want you to be so endeared by her, so charmed by her, and just when you think that maybe she’s totally seen into your soul and you are going to be best friends for life, you’re dead.’”

Comparisons to Hans Landa are difficult to live up to. The Quentin Tarantino film’s villain has been lauded as one of the greatest antagonists of all time, and Christoph Waltz won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the character. In fact, it was such an excellent role that it launched Waltz’s career, catapulting him to fame in countless villainous roles to follow. It is unclear how well Corrin matches this performance in Deadpool & Wolverine, but the premise is promising.

How Cassandra Nova’s Deadpool & Wolverine Tease Promises A Truly MCU Rule-Breaking Villain

Many Marvel Antagonists Have Felt Too Similar To One Another

In the MCU, villains have often been redeemable. Loki and Bucky go on to become heroes, while Vulture chooses to protect Spider-Man’s identity. A great deal of humanity is inherent to many of these characters that is not planned to be present in Cassandra Nova. Sociopathic tendencies akin to Hans Landa and the ability to manipulate by endearing oneself are not often seen in the MCU, and it will be compelling to see how that is executed.

Even the weakest-ranked villains in the MCU don’t oscillate between friend and foe as chaotically as the way Cassandra Nova is intended. Mysterio and Iron Monger pretended to be good until they turned into total monsters, which they remained until their deaths. Thanos and Ultron were pragmatic beasts twisted toward a kind of destruction they saw as necessary. Nova, meanwhile, promises to be something else, with much harder motivations to realize. She is a twisty, crafty, foe, who will manipulate to get whatever she wants.

Deadpool & Wolverine’s Villain Is Exactly What The MCU Needs For Its Antagonists

A Fresh And Unique Villain Needs To Set A New Standard For Marvel

The MCU’s need for fresh and compelling villains is best met by characters like Cassandra, who bring a rich and complex comic book history to the screen. Born of malice and evil, Cassandra was consumed by her twin brother Charles Xavier in the womb, who recognized the grave threat she posed. However, she managed to transcend the physical realm and create a body for herself, a feat that sets her apart from other villains.

It is important for the MCU to recognize that following the same megalomaniac formula can quickly become tired. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania promised a villain poised to shake up the entire Marvel Universe in Kang the Conquerer; however, there seemed to be little about the antagonist to distinguish them from previous threats like Loki and Thanos, despite a strong performance and some excellent Kang quotes. Stoic wishes for control can grow tired, and terrifying and unpredictable villains like Cassandra Nova are required to keep the series feeling fresh.

For the MCU to continue to thrive, the series must rectify its ongoing villain problem. For a long time, the antagonists in the series were disposable and far too similar, although that has slowly changed over the years. With plans for Kingpin and the teased details of Cassandra Nova, it appears that Marvel plans to try some new things. Seeing Cassandra Nova as a truly malicious, devious, deceptively friendly threat to the multiverse will hopefully elevate Deadpool & Wolverine when it is released later this month.