Marvel villain uses Butetown accent in Secret Invasion
- Published
Kingsley Ben-Adir has played Malcom X and Barack Obama on screen
The latest Marvel project includes the likes of superstars Samuel L Jackson, Olivia Colman - and a Cardiff accent.
Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Gravik in Secret Invasion, told Buzzfeed he looked to Butetown in Cardiff when developing the character.
The actor said he learnt about Wales' first black head teacher, Betty Campbell, too.
"There's a mixed race community in Butetown, and I just thought that might be a nice way in," Ben-Adir said.
"It's a large Caribbean community with a military history too, so I started speaking to people from around there to figure out the character."
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read and before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Ben-Adir, from London, said during his research he discovered a lot about Betty Campbell.
"She was the first black head teacher in Wales. There was a wonderful podcast on the 91Èȱ¬ about her, which I listened to a lot. So yeah, I just know about Butetown and then a bit about Cardiff too."
Ben-Adir has previously played Malcolm X and Barack Obama on screen.
He will soon feature in Greta Gerwig's acclaimed Barbie movie, and take on the title role of Bob Marley in a new biopic.
It is not the first time Wales has featured in the Marvel Universe.
The Welsh flag appeared in a scene of the United Nations in the 2018 superhero film Black Panther.
Related topics
- Published9 April 2023
- Published5 April 2023
- Published24 July 2020
