Kat Dennings Talks Darcy's Return to Marvel on WandaVision
Kat Dennings Doesn't Know Where Darcy Will Be After WandaVision — She's Just Glad to Be Back
If there's one place Marvel fans wouldn't have expected Darcy Lewis to make her grand return to the MCU, it's on a Disney+ series focussed on Scarlet Witch and her spiral out of control. And yet, when WandaVision's fourth episode aired on Jan. 29, there was the illustrious former intern in all her glory. And we weren't even the only ones shocked — when Kat Dennings sat down for a video call with POPSUGAR, she admitted that she had been surprised to get the call to return from Marvel.
"It's so rare that you get to revisit a character at all, so something on this kind of scale with this long in between appearances is really fun," she admitted. "[My first thought was] absolute shock, first. And then I said yes, without knowing what it was. I was like, 'Yes, whatever it is, I'll do it.'"
Honestly, who wouldn't say yes without thinking to Marvel? It's Marvel. (OK, so, maybe Chris Evans did, but that's different.) "When they said it was WandaVision, I was a little bit confused! Only because that was the last thing I expected to hear," she added. "Darcy didn't interact with anybody in that world at all, so it was definitely a very unexpected pairing, but an absolute joy. I mean, it's such a unique show."
"She's now an expert in her field, and she's demanding respect. She's a boss!"
Seven episodes into the limited series, and there's no doubt of how unique it is. Darcy's return is thanks to the Hex, a forcefield around the city of Westview, NJ, that has seemingly been erected by former Avenger, Wanda Maximoff. Darcy — now a doctor in astrophysics — is recruited by S.W.O.R.D to figure out what the anomaly is and how to take it down. And from there, a lot goes down. For Dennings, the opportunity to evolve her well-beloved character was a welcome one. "The writers are amazing, and Jac Schaeffer, our head writer and executive producer, put so much thought and character development into Darcy. It was just so amazing — I've thanked her profusely," she gushed. "I consider it a new role. She's obviously been through a ton of school to get her PhD and become a doctor. She's now an expert in her field, and she's demanding respect. She's a boss! So, it felt great — it feels so good to be portraying a smart woman and a cool character in the show."
And Dennings took Darcy's promotion seriously, admitting that she began listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson's podcast StarTalk, because she wanted to hear a real astrophysicist talk. "These terms are very complicated, and when you're saying them, you don't want to sound like you're sounding out a word for the first time," she explained. "You want to sound like you've said it hundreds of times. So, that was how I prepared — I listened to an astrophysicist saying these words over and over, so I sounded like I had said them all the time. There's an ease that a real astrophysicist has saying those words that I wanted to try and get." We have to respect the dedication to the craft!
Darcy's inclusion in this new "world" has allowed her to interact with new characters outside of her original Thor story, namely Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Jimmy Woo (Randall Park). If Twitter had its way, the fast fan-favourite trio would have their stand-alone TV series after WandaVision! "Oh, well, what a dream," Dennings said when I asked how it was working with her costars. "Randall is an unbelievable actor and the loveliest man you'll ever meet! There's nothing to complain about — we would sit down at that desk with our little bag of chips, and I was like, 'God, I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this as my job.' And the great thing is that it doesn't make sense that Darcy and Jimmy would be together in a scene, but now it's happening."
That mishmash of characters from different comic book backgrounds is what makes fans love the MCU so much, and it's what made up some of Dennings's favourite scenes. "It's really fun to be in something that you know a lot of people are going to watch. Because as an actor, sometimes you put your heart and soul in something two people see, and that's fine, too. But this is definitely a one-of-a-kind a situation," she said.
"It's really fun to be in something that you know a lot of people are going to watch."
Fans have two more episodes of WandaVision to enjoy seeing Darcy on their screen, and Dennings is adamant that she doesn't know what's in store for the doctor's future. Could she ever be a superhero herself? Probably not, but Dennings theorized that if Darcy ever got powers, it would be less of the world-saving variety and have more of the self-serving element. "She could pour water from her fingertips? So, she could make cup of noodles and coffee at the same time," she threw out. "It's always about snacks with me. The power of snacks." Maybe she'll show up in Thor: Thunder and Love, alongside her former employee Jane Foster who's set to become the goddess of Thunder, aka Lady Freakin' Thor.
"Here's the thing, I'll do anything they say," Dennings answered when I asked. "If Marvel called me and said, 'We need you to get on a trampoline, and you're just going to jump really high. Wherever you end up, we're going to make a movie.' I'm down. I'll do whatever they say." But, she hasn't been asked to join the cast for Thunder and Love. "I don't think I am [in the movie], because they are shooting it right now. But, my door's always open for Marvel."
You heard the lady, Marvel. Your move.
