Captain Marvel 2 casts Zawe Ashton as its main antagonist

It looks like Captain Marvel 2 has cast its villain, and the last time we saw her was as a dangerously ambitious personal assistant in the gory art-world satire Velvet Buzzsaw.

According to Deadline, Zawe Ashton is set to play the primary antagonist of Captain Marvel 2. We don't know which character that will actually be, but we do know that it will take some tremendous strength and cunning to pose a threat to one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Brie Larson will return in the lead role as pilot-turned-cosmic-ranger Carol Danvers, who most recently helped finish the fight against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. No word on if WandaVision star Teyonah Parris (who plays Monica Rambeau, the daughter of Carol Danver's best friend Maria Rambeau) will join the cast, as well. 

Nia DaCosta, director of the COVID-delayed Candyman reboot, is set to direct Captain Marvel 2, and Deadline adds that Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani will also appear in the film; the teen hero starts out as a huge Avengers fangirl in the comics, most of all for Captain Marvel, so it would make sense to introduce Ms. Marvel in this context before setting her loose in her own Disney Plus series.

The theatrical debut for Captain Marvel 2 is still set for November 11, 2022, putting it beyond our Marvel Phase 4 calendar and up next after Black Panther 2's planned arrival on July 8, 2022. We're currently in the longest drought between MCU movies since the wait for Iron Man 2, and it's set to finally be broken when Black Widow hits theaters on May 7. That's assuming it does hit theaters at all, though Disney is still reportedly not considering a straight-to-streaming release for Black widow.

See what else we're excited about watching with our guide to upcoming movies for 2021 and beyond.