Marvel Studios Officially Unveils the MCU’s 3rd Female Black Villain

Marvel Studios just debuted a major female villain in its latest Disney+ series, marking the MCU’s third Black female villain. Women antagonists have always been part of the MCU’s fabric, but they have become even more central to the shared universe in the Multiverse Saga. WandaVision gave Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff her own Disney+ series, where she fully became the Scarlet Witch, one of the saga’s most brutal villains. Black female villains got a much bigger spotlight on the streamer with Marvel pushing for more diversity. Now, another talented Black actress has taken on a villain role, and the first full glimpse of her character’s design has been unveiled.

Marvel’s Disney+ series VisionQuest introduced T’Nia Miller’s character Jocasta in Episode 3, “Reboot,” as a hooded synthezoid villain lurking in the shadows. The show’s latest two-episode drop then unmasked her in Episode 4, “Malware,” revealing the truth about the Butcherbird Killer, the serial killer terrorizing London, and finally showing Miller in her full glory. Vision and the AIs in his mindscape begin investigating the murders and the motive behind them, which prompts Jocasta to infiltrate the mindscape and warn Vision to stop prying into her business, threatening him and his AI companions until EDITH manages to purge her from the system. 

Vision and Thomas Shepherd trace the victims to Markridge Biotech, the company that developed the world‘s first stable synthetic consciousness. The victims turn out to be the company’s founders, with CEO Katerina Wells, played by Mary McDonnell, left as the only survivor. 

Vision, his AIs, and Thomas’s investigation lead them to Wells’ Re-Evolution of Man gala, believing she is the next target of Jocasta’s revenge plot. It is revealed that Jocasta’s mind comes from Dr. Josephine “Jo” Carrington, a neuroscientist who co-led Markridge’s five-person AI team. 

It turns out Carrington transferred her mind into a synthetic body before dying in 2008. She wants revenge, believing her colleagues stole everything from her. At the event, Jocasta crashes the gala, and a brutal battle with Vision ensues, during which the synthezoid finally sheds the hooded clothing that hid her full look in the previous episode. 

Viewers then get to see Jocasta’s impressive metallic frame and intimidating red eyes, a design close to Ultron’s, though Jocasta is significantly shorter. She dukes it out with Vision, who tries to reach the human she is built from, an idea Ultron whispers to him. 

Vision calls her “Jo”as she is about to attack, and the AI pauses and shifts to her human form, insisting, “I’m not based on her, I am her.” T’Nia Miller’s appearance in the new episodes makes her the third Black female villain in the MCU after Ravonna Renslayer and Dar-Benn.

Ravonna Renslayer was introduced in Loki, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the role. Renslayer was a ruthless, by-the-book TVA judge who was eventually revealed as a Variant of Ohio vice principal Rebecca Tourminet, plucked from her timeline by He Who Remains. In Season 2, her thirst for power ended with her being pruned into the Void, courtesy of Sylvie. 

Marvel followed up on Renslayer with another Black female villain in 2023’s The Marvels. Zawe Ashton was cast as Dar-Benn, the Kree leader obsessed with saving her home planet. She used one of the Quantum Bands, the same artifacts Ms. Marvel wears, to tear through reality and hop between planets, stealing their re two Quantum Bands and destroyed herself

Jocasta is already proving herself a more intimidating villain than these two, armed with a nearly impenetrable synthetic body, flight, and energy blasts. VisionQuest is far from the last MCU project to put female villains front and center; several upcoming projects promise even more compelling female antagonists.

Female Villains Coming to Marvel’s Upcoming MCU Projects 

Latverian Witches 

Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom won’t arrive alone when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18. Promo materials for the film reveal three Latverian witches behind silver masks, each wearing a distinct colorful robe. The figures were first seen at San Diego Comic-Con in July, with the trio wearing red, purple, and green. Fans have tried to unravel who the three witches are, with names like Clea, Wanda Maximoff, and Sylvie being floated around. 

Mystique 

X-Men ’97 Season 3 will give Mystique a bigger spotlight after Season 2 set up a major place for her in the next chapter of the animated series. Season 2 ended with Graydon Creed, who turns out to be Mystique’s son, as president. The blue shapeshifting mutant also murdered Valerie Cooper, taking her place. Mystique could cause a lot of damage in Season 3 as she infiltrates the US government from the inside. 

A live-action Mystique is returning too. Rebecca Romijn played the character in Fox’s X-Men movies with eerie precision, working alongside Ian McKellen’s Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants in multiple films. Marvel Studios is bringing her antagonist back in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, although this time around she will operate in hero territory. Even her aesthetic is changing in the blockbuster, with the character trading the Fox films’ unclothed blue, scaled look for a new white jumpsuit. 

Lady Muse 

Daredevil: Born Again is returning for a third season, which will sadly be its last, but it is set to bring its most terrifying female villain yet to the screen. Set photos have confirmed that Heather Glenn, played by Margarita Levieva, will adopt the mask of Muse, the serial killer Bastian Cooper, her former patient, who attacked her in Season 1 and died at her hand during their showdown in her office. 

Season 2’s finale teased the transformation, and Season 3 looks ready to complete it. The comics introduced a female Muse as a young artist named Morgan Whittier inDaredevil: Unleash Hell -Red Band, corrupted by the original Muse’s supernatural influence. The show’s version will be much more grounded than theorn in Daredevil’s side

Elektra 

Élodie Yung is making a surprise return to the Daredevil universe in Born Again Season 3, her first Marvel project in nine years, since The Defenders. Yung was spotted on set opposite Charlie Cox’s hero, with Daredevil seemingly trying to stop her from pursuing a man in a suit. The two then get into an intense battle, indicating plenty of friction between them. 

Elektra ventured into villain territory in Marvel’s Netflix era, serving as the Hand’s Black Sky weapon in The Defenders. Yung’s character could easily lean into villainy or heroism in Born Again Season 3, depending on where the story goes. 

Emma Frost 

Samara Weaving will play Emma Frost in director Jake Schreier’s upcoming X-Men film, joining a cast that includes Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Maya Boyd as Storm. Frost started out in the comics as the villainous White Queen of the Hellfire Club, a telepath who can also transform her body into living diamond, before evolving into a key X-Men member. 

January Jones last played her on the big screen in X-Men: First Class. The plot of the X-Men reboot is still under wraps, so it remains unclear which side Emma will be on, though one of the bad guys seems the likeliest direction.