This essay contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame
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| Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures |
I've seen Endgame twice now, and after
letting it settle a bit I just had to write out a post talking about how
phenomenal Karen Gillan is as Nebula in this film. I'm going to talk
about the entire arc of her character in this movie, so if for some
reason you missed the spoiler warning in the title, get thee hence and
go watch this movie, then come back.
Cool? Cool.
One
of the things I loved most about Endgame in general is the massive
amount of long-term character payoffs we get in this film, and Nebula is
one of the most significant examples of this. From the very first time
we see her, she is playing a game with Tony and is clearly so warped
(still) by Thanos' upbringing that she assumes the only way to win is
through raw aggression. Once Tony explains the rules of the game, and
then Nebula actually wins, the look
of shock on her face speaks volumes. The point of the game was just to
have fun, not to prove anything, and the handshake at the end of the
scene was exactly the sort of gesture that she'd been so hellbent on
walling herself off from earlier in her life, viewing it as a sign of
needing support; of failure and weakness (we'll come back to that in a
bit).
Then you have the heartbreaking
montage of Nebula insisting Tony eat the last of the rations and fixing
him up while he sleeps, a far cry from her "of all our sisters, I hated
you the least" declaration to Gamora in Guardians 1. To add to this, in
his message to Pepper, Tony describes Nebula as "only slightly
sadistic". Which, even taking Tony's sense of humor into account, is a
far cry from the Nebula of old.
When
she gets back to earth, Nebula immediately comforts Rocket, and then in
her scene where she explains where Thanos has gone, she is mirroring
almost exactly Gamora's speech to the Guardians and Thor in Infinity War
("For as long as I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal...",
paraphrasing/"My father spent a long time trying to perfect me...").
These two moments are very elegant ways of showing just how far Nebula
has come in terms of confidence and emotional vulnerability/openness.
Her
reaction at Thanos' death is also poignant, but unlike Gamora's weeping
in Infinity War when she kills the Reality Stone illusion version of
Thanos (which I will forever hold up as one of the most perfect examples
of the counter-intuitive mind-screw that is mourning an abusive
relationship that I've ever seen in a film), Nebula merely solemnly
closes Thanos' eyes and moves on. She has made her peace with what was
done to her, gets her closure, and walks away.
Later
in the film, we come to what is perhaps my favorite character moment:
Nebula's conversation with Rhodey in the Temple of the Power Stone. I
know most of the fandom is highlighting and underlining the all-female
superhero moment in the finale as a powerful moment of representation,
which it is. But as someone with a physical handicap, seeing two people
who have been literally, physically bent out of shape or torn apart by
circumstance bond over their shared trauma and resolve to continue
kicking ass anyway (because damn it, that's just what needs to be done
to save the universe) was incredibly
powerful for me to see. In my particular minority, it's very uncommon
to see representation in an action movie in a role that isn't relegated
to something like tech support from a wheel-chair. So thank you for that
one, Endgame.
Of course, on the heels
of that we get the jewel in the crown of this performance: when Karen
Gillan plays two versions of the same character at the same time, and
you can clearly see just how different each of them is. 2023 Nebula
knows exactly how to go for the throat of her 2014 self "You're
weak/"I'm you", and leverages what
she knows about Vormir to start winning over 2014 Gamora-- displaying a
level of emotional openness and concern for her sister that 2014 Nebula
would never show, as evidenced by the earlier moment where she slaps
away an offered hand from Gamora. Later
on, 2023 Nebula connects with Gamora and takes her hand, echoing her
moment with Tony at the beginning of the film and directly
counterpointing 2014 Nebula's prickly aggression.
Which leads, near the end of the film, to the most heartbreaking moment
of her whole arc. When the two Nebulas face off, you can see 2014 Nebula
hesitate, and try desperately to believe that she could, in fact,
become the version of herself she sees before her eyes. But her trauma
overcomes her, she breaks, and says "He won't let me [change]." The way
she says it killed me each time I heard it, and the look on 2023
Nebula's face after she kills her is haunting. To say nothing, of
course, of the pained look on 2014 Nebula's face and the tear that falls
out of her eye as she slumps dead on the floor.
Basically,
Gillan's performance is a master class in portraying the journey from
abuse and pained isolation to self-acceptance, agency and emotional
vulnerability and trust-- while also showing, via the 2014 version, just
how far the 2023 version has come. Gillan plays two radically different
versions of the same character equally convincingly, and manages to
display a shockingly large range of emotions for being covered in facial
make-up. I love everything about this performance, and I think that if
it took place inside of a standard prestige drama movie, she'd get a
nomination for an Oscar.
I'm so glad
McFeely, Markus and the Russos let her take center stage for Endgame on
the heels of her supporting role in Infinity War, because she brought
the three-movie arc of this character to a resoundingly powerful
conclusion.
I just hope Gunn isn't tied
up too much longer by Suicide Squad 2, because Endgame made me so much
more excited than I even thought possible for Guardians 3.
