Marvel Star Opens up About Getting Canceled Online

With the departures of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the franchise has entered a new era known as the Multiverse Saga.

Related: Disney Plans To Replace Avengers With Whole New Team of Heroes: Report

Despite concerns about “superhero fatigue” and the departure of Jonathan Majors, who portrayed Kang the Conqueror, Marvel Studios is set to once again redefine the Marvel movie landscape.

With Majors out and Marvel President Kevin Feige considering a transition from the Multiverse Saga to a new (likely) Mutant Saga featuring Fox’s X-Men characters, Avengers 5 (formerly titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) and Avengers: Secret Wars (Avengers 6) are in development.

Famously, Marvel stars have had to historically live a fairly sequestered public life, always careful with what they say in public, during interviews and on social media — lest they face the wrath of The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios.

The talented Scottish actor behind a key Guardian of the Galaxy is now coming forward after the breakup of her superhero team in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), as she explains her approach to dealing with the online world.

According to the BBC, Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Who franchise star Karen Gillan (Nebula and Amy Pond, respectively), surrounded by a world of careful PR-friendly comments and the (quick-to-anger) public opinion forum that is modern social media, is not actually afraid of being “canceled” online. Opening up about this, Gillan shares:

To be honest, it’s not one of my big fears. I am not going on social media thinking, ‘God am I going to get cancelled?’.

She adds that when she was working on her new project, Douglas Is Cancelled, it did “come to the forefront of [her] mind”, however:

One of my friends pulled me aside one day and said sometimes I just worry about the amount of social media followers you have.

I said ‘What? Why’. She was like it’s just a lot of people watching what you are doing.

That made me think should I be worried? But other than that I have not thought about it too much.

Gillan then makes it clear that she has “always tried to be authentic on social media” and intends to “continue on that path”, while being “mindful of what [she is] saying”.

With Gillan now stepping down (more or less) from her role as Nebula, perhaps the days of having to be hyper-careful (to not incur the upset of the Mouse House) are behind her.

The option to return is always there for fan-favorites like Nebula, however.

The Guardians are clearly Marvel’s “cosmic-level” threat task force, and with things coming to a likely cosmic head in Avengers 5 and Secret Wars, some experienced heroes ought to return to the fray.

Although the Guardians of the Galaxy team under James Gunn were officially disbanded in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it is only a matter of time before such Marvel characters (and the iconic stars tied to them) will return to the bigger Marvel picture.

What do you think about Karen Gillan’s lack of fear of being “canceled”? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

More on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

In the last installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the team embarks on one final adventure through space.

Headed by Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), the gun-toting human and former part-Celestial, the team includes daughters of Thanos, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), the tree alien Groot (Vin Diesel), lovable yet lethal Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), the vengeful Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), the alien empath Mantis (Pom Klementieff), the Ravager Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn), Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), and newcomer Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova).

Fans were introduced to Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and saw the return of Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, his “mother”. Chukwudi Iwuji portrayed the terrifying baddie, the geneticist calling himself the High Evolutionary, with Nico Santos playing his assistant, Theel. Daniela Melchior appeared as Ura, and Kai Zen portrayed Phyla-Vell.

The cast included Linda Cardellini as Lylla the Otter, Asim Chaudhry as Teefs the Walrus, and Mikaela Hoover as Floor the Bunny, all Rocket Raccoon’s former cellmates and allies.

The other films in the Guardians of the Galaxy series are Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).