Again the Marvel cinematic universe is the focus of the fan buzz with the expectation of Avengers: Doomsday. Each new casting news, leaked information, or interview with an actor appears to spark off new hypotheses as to who will come back to the ever-growing superhero franchise. Amid this speculation, actor Kat Dennings has come out to comment on the increasing rumors of her role in the upcoming movie and has provided some truth without eliminating the ability of Marvel to be as unpredictable as he has proven in the past.

With the hype of Avengers: Doomsday still going strong, fans have turned back to earlier stages of the MCU to speculate whether some of the faces they have known in the previous movies will make a comeback. The announcement of the Chris Evans return has already generated expectation, and it has been popularly believed that Marvel is ready to give the world a massive reunion of characters along with time and plot lines. With this kind of mood, it was only natural that the fans started to wonder whether Kat Dennings, an actress who also has a role in the Thor franchise, as Darcy Lewis, could appear in the movie event too.

Dennings has been linked with Marvel over a period of more than ten years. Her first joining was in Thor where she plays the role of Darcy, the witty yet so grounded intern who became an instant fan favorite. With time, Darcy was developed as a comic relief into a fairly significant character in the universe particularly with her revival in WandaVision where her character was brought back with added depth and narrative significance. This arc alone changed the perception of the audience of secondary MCU characters and supported the desire of Marvel to revise familiar faces in unconventional manners.

With that kind of a history, the rumors that Dennings was joining Avengers: Doomsday went viral, particularly since Chris Hemsworth was confirmed to play Thor once again. It is natural that fans thought that Darcy Lewis whose tale has been very close to that of Thor could appear on the screen with the God of Thunder once again. The rumor had become so much noisy that Dennings saw it necessary to respond to it.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Dennings went directly to the rumors concerning her new work. I am in the universe of Marvel, and, as you know, she was part of the franchise since its inception. She then, with a clear and straightforward explanation, added on, I can tell you nothing, but I am not in [Doomsday]. This was a simple statement, but stated with the sort of prankish consciousness that veteran Marvel performers tend to develop when negotiating fan expectations.

Dennings made an attempt to highlight her point further, albeit, with humor, in spite of her clarity. “I mean, I’m not in it. And I am not telling you now, I am not in it. Had I been in it, which I am not, I cannot tell you, but I literally am not. Of course they must have shot it. I am not there, I am here, I joked, and gave solace, and, at the same time, made fun of the notoriously secretive culture of Marvel. The comment was a reflection of a tone that is known by those who have followed MCU to a large extent, and that the information is closely guarded.

Although Dennings signed that she does not feature in Avengers: Doomsday, she also came up with an interesting fact that kept the speculation going. She said that she had been scanned by Marvel, a common procedure that the studio follows to digitize the actors so that they can be called upon at some time in the future. They scanned me, so the truth of the matter is that they can put me in anything they please now. Who knows? I in the system! I in the system! I said, and once more I had to strike a balance between honesty and the undertones of the game.

This statement was widely echoed by fans, particularly those who knew that Marvel is increasingly employing digital technology, multiverse storytelling, and archival character assets. To be in the system is to imply that the actors who do not work on the existing productions are in the long-term creative toolbox of Marvel. It supports the notion that there is no character who is ever really dead, especially in a franchise where timelines are interrelated and alternate realities do exist.

The Marvel adventure of Dennings is one of the testimonies of how supporting characters may make a permanent impact. Her appearances in WandaVision were a turning point not only after Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Love and Thunder. Darcy Lewis came back not as a nostalgic cameo but as a character who had a degree of agency, scientific knowledge and emotional appeal. That development was part of a wider trend of Marvel to reconsider its history and to re-purpose existing characters with whom audiences already have an attachment.

Elsewhere in the MCU, Dennings has continued to be a heavy contributor on television and film, particularly in her successful 2 Broke Girls. Through her career path, there is a balance between mainstream franchises and character-driven projects, which has enabled her to stay relevant but not defined by one character. She is not dependent on the appearance of Marvel, which also gives her statements some credibility due to that independence.

In a bigger picture, the remarks of Dennings point to the way the contemporary franchises cope with the expectations of the audience. The fans are demanding transparency but mystery is also a strong story telling device. Dennings said that she is not in Avengers: Doomsday, but she still has a relation with Marvel, and this struck a chord that was very sincere and still left the door open to possibilities in the future.

Her clarification has been well received in the public. A lot of the fans loved the simple answer, and others caught onto the notion that it could mean anything in a universe constructed on the basis of unpredictability that one would be digitally archived. Her remarks are seen by some as an affirmation that Marvel is planning much more than separate movies, but by other people they are a call to learn not to read too much between the lines.