Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Chloe Bennet - better known to Marvel fans as Quake - has explained how her character is different in the Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors animated movie. Ironically enough, Bennet describes the portrayal as "more like Skye," the younger version of the character she plays in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors animated movie is one of the most exciting Marvel animated projects. It features a tremendous voice-cast, with Bennet playing Quake, her fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. actor Ming-Na Wen portraying the Kree villain Hala, Dove Cameron as the Ghost Spider, and Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl.
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 moved to a 9:00pm timeslot, and the series has rejoiced in a darker, more violent tone. There's a marked difference between that and a child-friendly animated movie. Speaking at SDCC 2018, Chloe Bennet has explained just how the portrayals differ.
"She's a little bit lighter. She's the younger version of Daisy...it's fun. She's a little bit lighter and she has more of a sense of humor. She's more like Skye, which is the character I actually auditioned for. It's just really fun because I can do massive fight sequences and I don't get one bruise or break a sweat. Actually I do [in the booth]... No broken bones. I didn't get punched in the face."
In Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, Quake and Patriot are dispatched by S.H.I.E.L.D. to bring in the fugitive Ghost Spider (better known to comic book readers as Spider-Gwen). Ghost Spider has been framed for an act of murder, and soon Quake is part of an unofficial team who are dedicated to proving her innocence.
In Bennet's view, one of the film's greatest strengths is that "it blurs the line between the protagonists and antagonists, and breaks down barriers." She loves that the portrayal shows faults in the heroes, and elements of good in the villains:
"I don't mean to get too political, but you kinda touched on this a little bit. It's such a divisive world that we're living in right now and I think that if everyone can kind of start to see themselves in other people and try to find the good in other people...or be like 'Maybe that's not the person's that I thought they were...' I think that this show really teaches that, in a really simple and stripped down way."
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Bennet's comments will hardly come as a surprise to anybody who's familiar with the character of Squirrel Girl. Although she's one of Marvel's most powerful heroes, Squirrel Girl is famous for her love of talking things out. She famously managed to persuade Galactus to spare the Earth by leading him to a planet full of nuts. Meanwhile, Kathreen Khavari - who voices Ms. Marvel in the Marvel Rising animation - has also pointed out the importance of her character, who typically explores themes of traditionalist faith in the context of social justice.
Bennet was particularly excited about the possibility some of the characters could make their way into live-action. Milana Vayntrub plays the part of Squirrel Girl in Marvel's New Warriors, a live-action series that was originally intended to air on Freeform. The show was pulled from Freeform in November last year, and as a result Squirrel Girl is yet to make her live-action debut. Vayntrub, for her part, suggested she'd absolutely love to appear in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 7.
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Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors will be released later this year.