Ben Mendelsohn Reveals Some Sneaky Secrets About His ‘Captain Marvel’ Skrull Villain

On the outside chance you're not already on the Ben Mendelsohn bandwagon, allow me to present to you this new interview he did with Entertainment Weekly about his role in the upcoming MCU film Captain Marvel. The guy is a blast and doesn't take himself seriously at all. He knows that you've got to have a good sense of humor about all of this, which is part of the reason why he's appeared in so many big movies like The Dark Knight Rises, Rogue One, and Ready Player One.

With the benefit of having played villains in almost everything, the audience takes one look at Mendelsohn and knows he's up to no good. The actor obviously uses this to his advantage, but wants people to know that his Captain Marvel "villain" Talos is mostly just a misunderstood dude, a victim of a smear campaign against him by the Kree—of which Brie Larson's Carol Danvers is genetically born half in this telling of the story...

Look…. [long sigh] We gotta deal with the Kree. The Kree are punks. And the Skrulls, I mean, we’re just misunderstood. At the end of the day, the Skrull is really misunderstood. Look, I don’t want to curse in print or anywhere else, but if I could, I would about the Kree. Yeah. I would.

What’s the relationship like between the Skrulls and Carol?

You’ve gotta be a bit more careful of Carol than the Kree. But I think as far as we’re concerned in the Skrull world, she’s kind of like a major obstacle. I still think we can take her. If we had to — if we had to, had to, had to —  we could take Carol.

As for his dual roles in the film, Skrulls are notorious shape-shifters, able to take on the form of anyone of any species. Mendelsohn's particular character in this film is the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. When he appears in Skrull form, Mendelsohn uses his natural Australian accent, but as Sam Jackson and Clark Gregg's boss, he turns on his American accent...

I mean, when you’re Skrullin’, it’s a bit of a different thing. It’s a got a certain flow to it that this guy [gestures to human costume] doesn’t have. Because this guy doesn’t sound like this. This guy is [adopts American accent] a lot more like, straight up, ready to do the work, very military industrial complex certain 1990-whatever. A lot more buttoned up. Skrullin’ is a bit more laid back, a bit tougher. A little bit nastier? Maybe? Maybe. You got sharper nails, stuff like that.

A Skrull can be more openly nefarious, perhaps.

The thing is, when you’re Skrullin’, there’s a kind of take-no-prisoners vibe about it, which is more relaxed. This guy’s got to follow protocol because it’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Skrullin’, you’re punching through shields. You’re taking shields off people and using them on people. So it’s kind of more fun to play.

As far as his penchant for playing villains, Mendelsohn admits that it's just a lot more fun...

Well, it’s like the old Rod Stewart album: Blondes Have More Fun. Villains have more fun. What do I like about it? I don’t know! It leaves an imprint on people when you do it right. I think that’s nice. I think it’s nice to provide the counterweight that people have got to get over, you know? In order to get ahead in the hero’s journey. It’s a job of honor. It’s not for everyone. [Laughs] But I do take it as an honor. I do.

The entire interview is a hoot, and Mendelsohn's such a peach, I suggest you check it out right here. This guy over on EW knows what's up...