VisionQuest fans to meet Marvel superhero from Wales, with Cardiff accent

Marvel fans around the world are set to meet a Welsh villain - complete with a Cardiff accent.

Lauren Morais, from the Welsh capital, will play Lisa Molinari in the new superhero series VisionQuest - a spin-off from the miniseries WandaVision.

The Disney+ show, exploring whether AI and humanity can co-exist, also stars Paul Bettany, returning as Vision, and James Spader as Ultron.

Morais said getting the role was a "pinch me" moment and that she was "very proud" to introduce her accent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Speaking to Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales , Morais said she initially auditioned with an Essex accent for the part.

In the fourth round of auditions, she also did a northern accent and American.

But during a reading, not knowing if the Marvel team wanted a Welsh accent, Morais decided just to "go for it".

"I said, 'can she be from Cardiff?' and they were like, 'of course'. So she's from Cardiff now," she said.

Morais will follow in the footsteps of Catherine Zeta-Jones who used her Swansea accent in Kill Jackie, a Prime series which follows a former cocaine dealer who is being targeted by hitmen.

The actress said it was important to hear different accents on screen.

"There's a myriad of accents in the UK and sometimes people forget there's so many sick accents around... I think it's so nice that we've got that representation," Morais added.

She said it was a "pinch me" moment when her agent called and told her she got the part.

"I just exploded! I said 'are you sure? Are you joking?' Then an hour later I had to go to a cast dinner," she said.

Morais recalled being like "a rabbit in the headlights" surrounded by all the stars of the show, but was also worrying about who was going to cover her shift at a cinema in London.

During the audition process she was given time off for the VisionQuest auditions, even though she could not tell her manager what the auditions were for.

She said: "I went to my final Pinewood audition and then went back to the cinema to the west end to finish my shift.

"It's such a dichotomy of worlds and that's what it is as an actor, you're always grafting and then it happens and you're like, what is life."

The character of Lisa Molinari has undergone a transformation from the original Marvel comic book character - known as Coat of Arms - who gains extra arms and weapons from a mystical coat.

In VisionQuest, she is instead given a high-tech backpack equipped with robotic arms.

Morais said co-ordinating the choreography for the fight scenes was "funny".

"I'd be with the fight director who was like 'you just need to imagine that a huge arm is coming out of your right side and just absolutely go for it and imagine where it's hitting.' So I used a lot of imagination on that job," she said.

But Bettany, whose character Vision is an android attempting to piece together his wiped memories and fragile humanity, had some sage advice.

"He said 'you're going to feel very silly while you're doing these scenes, but if you commit to it, it's going to look really sick'. And I can confirm, he was right," she said.

The MCU has seen a Welsh character before - the role of Welshpool appeared in Deadpool and Wolverine in 2024.

Wrexham AFC striker Paul Mullin played the surprise role as a Welsh version of Ryan Reynolds' character Deadpool.

It is not the first time Marvel fans will have heard a Cardiff accent, as Kingsley Ben-Adir, who played Gravik in Secret Invasion, previously told Buzzfeed he looked to Butetown , in Cardiff, when developing the character.

Morais said she was very proud her character had a Cardiff accent.

"I'm just so proud to be from Wales, I love it, that's why I wanted my accent in it," she said.

"I love Welsh people, I love Wales, let's go for it."

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