Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), the antagonist in 2019’s Captain Marvel, is a Kree commander of the planet Hala. He is tasked with finding Mar-Vell (Annette Bening), a defecting Kree scientist who is developing a Tesseract-powered light-speed engine for the long-oppressed Skrulls, so they may find a new home. He tracks Mar-Vell to Earth, where she is conducting a test flight with human Carol Danvers (Brie Larson). Danvers attempts to outmaneuver Yon-Rogg, but he shoots them down. They survive the crash, but as Mar-Vell is about to destroy the engine (to prevent its capture), she is killed by Yon-Rogg. Danvers fulfills Mar-Vell’s wish by blowing up the engine. Its energy miraculously transfers into Danvers, knocking her unconscious. Instead of killing her, Yon-Rogg takes her to Hala, manipulates her memories, and tries to hone her into a living weapon.
With such an exciting backstory, Yon-Rogg should be a memorable villain. Unfortunately, he is rather one-dimensional, his powers and presence are underwhelming, and his “ally-is-actually-a-villain” arc is cliché. However, his actions may lead to one of the greatest developments of Phase Five’s Multiverse storyline. Yon-Rogg unintentionally created Captain Marvel, an important piece of a three-part puzzle. The other pieces are Monica Rambeau’s Photon (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani).
In Ms. Marvel, Khan’s bangle activates, she disappears, and Danvers appears in her place. In the first trailer for 2023’s The Marvels, Khan switches places with Rambeau after the latter touches a strange gateway in Earth’s orbit. Meanwhile, Rambeau is sent to a planet full of enemy fighters.
This location-swapping is similar to events depicted in Captain Marvel’s series started in May 1968, it’s revamping with issue #17 by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in October 1969, and Thomas’ Kree-Skrull War story arc (Avengers #89–97, June 1971 – March 1972). Mar-Vell (written as male) is trapped in the Negative Zone: a negatively-charged and nearly uninhabited parallel universe, filled with an Earth-like atmosphere and a deadly central vortex. The Supreme Intelligence contacts Avengers sidekick Rick Jones, leading him to Kree devices called “nega-bands”. When they are struck together, Jones and Mar-Vell switch places: one exists in the main universe while the other waits in the Negative Zone.
The gateway that Rambeau is investigating in the The Marvels may be an entrance to the Negative Zone. Rambeau may have activated Khan’s bangle (nega-band) when she touched the gateway and it sensed her energy. Danvers, Rambeau, and Khan may share a bond similar to Mar-Vell and Jones’, rotating by location when the bangle is activated. The Negative Zone may be an “intergalactic expressway” for the Marvels. However, it could become a prison if the “trinity” is broken at the wrong time, or a powerful foe is sent there against their will (Kang and his variants?). It also harbors its own threats: Blastaar and Annihilus. If it were opened to contain one villain, the two fiends could escape.
The Negative Zone may further introduce The Fantastic Four and X-Men into the MCU. Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) “discovered” the Negative Zone in the comics (he may appear in a credit scene of The Marvels on the S.A.B.E.R. space station). The mutant Blink has history with the zone, as described in a miniseries that sets up Age of Apocalypse, where it is shown to possess exits to an almost infinite number of timelines and realities.
So, passive movie-goers may not remember poor Yon-Rogg, but his dastardly deeds may bring about a way to access the Negative Zone. This universe, as it just so happens, would fit rather nicely into an MCU Multiverse that seems primed for further expansion.
With such an exciting backstory, Yon-Rogg should be a memorable villain. Unfortunately, he is rather one-dimensional, his powers and presence are underwhelming, and his “ally-is-actually-a-villain” arc is cliché. However, his actions may lead to one of the greatest developments of Phase Five’s Multiverse storyline. Yon-Rogg unintentionally created Captain Marvel, an important piece of a three-part puzzle. The other pieces are Monica Rambeau’s Photon (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani).
In Ms. Marvel, Khan’s bangle activates, she disappears, and Danvers appears in her place. In the first trailer for 2023’s The Marvels, Khan switches places with Rambeau after the latter touches a strange gateway in Earth’s orbit. Meanwhile, Rambeau is sent to a planet full of enemy fighters.
This location-swapping is similar to events depicted in Captain Marvel’s series started in May 1968, it’s revamping with issue #17 by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in October 1969, and Thomas’ Kree-Skrull War story arc (Avengers #89–97, June 1971 – March 1972). Mar-Vell (written as male) is trapped in the Negative Zone: a negatively-charged and nearly uninhabited parallel universe, filled with an Earth-like atmosphere and a deadly central vortex. The Supreme Intelligence contacts Avengers sidekick Rick Jones, leading him to Kree devices called “nega-bands”. When they are struck together, Jones and Mar-Vell switch places: one exists in the main universe while the other waits in the Negative Zone.
The gateway that Rambeau is investigating in the The Marvels may be an entrance to the Negative Zone. Rambeau may have activated Khan’s bangle (nega-band) when she touched the gateway and it sensed her energy. Danvers, Rambeau, and Khan may share a bond similar to Mar-Vell and Jones’, rotating by location when the bangle is activated. The Negative Zone may be an “intergalactic expressway” for the Marvels. However, it could become a prison if the “trinity” is broken at the wrong time, or a powerful foe is sent there against their will (Kang and his variants?). It also harbors its own threats: Blastaar and Annihilus. If it were opened to contain one villain, the two fiends could escape.
The Negative Zone may further introduce The Fantastic Four and X-Men into the MCU. Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) “discovered” the Negative Zone in the comics (he may appear in a credit scene of The Marvels on the S.A.B.E.R. space station). The mutant Blink has history with the zone, as described in a miniseries that sets up Age of Apocalypse, where it is shown to possess exits to an almost infinite number of timelines and realities.
So, passive movie-goers may not remember poor Yon-Rogg, but his dastardly deeds may bring about a way to access the Negative Zone. This universe, as it just so happens, would fit rather nicely into an MCU Multiverse that seems primed for further expansion.