MARILLA
MARILLA
Real Name: Marilla (last name unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Inhuman (sub-species of humanity)
Occupation: Nanny to the Inhuman royal family
Group Membership: Member of the Inhuman royal court
Affiliations: Inhuman Royal Family (Black Bolt/Blackagar Boltagon, Medusa/Medusalith Amaquelin Boltagon, Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Gorgon, Karnak, Maximus Boltagon, Triton, Luna Maximoff, Ahura Boltblackagar (see comments)) and cooking staff, Avengers (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Black Knight/Dane Whitman, Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Hercules/Heracles, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Sersi/"Sylvia Sersi", Vision/ "Victor Shade", Wasp/Janet Van Dyne), Edwin Jarvis and the Avengers Support Crew
Enemies: Acolytes (Fabian Cortez, Screener/Scanner,
Mutate-682), Gatherers
(Anti-Vision),
Immortus
(Nathaniel Richards), Iron Man (Tony Stark);
Raza Longknife (merely opposed her in a ruse, but I doubt she would have
been friendly with him thereafter)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: 'Rilla (nickname given by Luna), "Queen of Mean" (derisive nickname used once by Jarvis)
Base of Operations: Currently unrevealed;
formerly
Avengers mansion;
formerly Attilan, Blue Area of the Moon;
First Appearance: Avengers I#343 (January 1992)
Powers/Abilities: The full range of Marilla's
Terrigen mist-fueled mutations have not been explored beyond the obvious
cosmetic changes (it is presumed the spots, three toes, and bulky
head (especially in the lips and jaw) are mutations, but what is individual
variation vs. actual mutation is unconfirmed -- we never saw her
pre-mutation AFAIK--Snood; further the spots could be the equivalent of
"liver spots" in mainstream humanity, given her age) to her appearance,
though she did demonstrate a measure of super-strength. Whether she suffered
limitations, such as a decreased immunity to terrestrial pollutions, is
unrevealed.
At a minimum, she likely possessed conventional Inhuman
longevity, as she was mature for close to a century without appearing
geriatric.
An experienced royal nanny, Marilla countered her nurturing side with a gruff, brusque personality towards anyone who doesn't meet what she perceived as befitting a member of the royal court of Atillan. During her stay on Earth, she complained bitterly about the accommodations at Avengers mansion and tried to meddle in the preparation of meals. Despite her claims of culinary expertise, Marilla's tastes vastly differed from what a human might find palpable.
History:
(Avengers I#343 (fb) - BTS) - Marilla had
served as nanny to the house of Agon for close to a century, taking
care of Crystal and the other members of the Inhuman royal family.
When Crystal joined the Avengers, Black Bolt insisted Marilla would
accompany them to Earth.
(Avengers
I#343) - Seconds after she arrived at Avengers
mansion, the loud, rough and opinionated Marilla made her position as
chief caregiver and protector of Luna clear. She then proceeded to
critique the accommodations, calling the mansion a hovel compared to
Attilan, which rather upset longtime butler Edwin Jarvis.
(Avengers I#344) - Marilla sampled Jarvis' prepared food while she was
down in the kitchen to prepare Luna's bottle. Deeming Jarvis' cooking "swill, dreck, dishwater and poison,",
she decided to help out.
(Avengers I#344) - Marilla got into a heated
argument with Jarvis when he caught her in the kitchen adding "a touch
of Menduvian spice" to the diner he was preparing for the team. Marilla expected gratitude for what she deemed
an heroic action. Jarvis, however, couldn't get over the fact anyone
would dare tamper with his recipes.
(Avengers I#348) - On Jarvis' day off, Marilla figured it was her
task to take over his duties, all the while complaining bitterly about
how she never took a single day off when she was in service to the royal
house of Attilan. She nevertheless informed Vision that he had a visitor
waiting for him in the lobby of the mansion.
(Avengers I#350/2) - While the
Avengers were getting involved in the Infinity War, Marilla and Jarvis
continued their own never- ending conflict as the nanny kept
complaining about the quality of the butler's food. Jarvis finally
snapped, claiming the kitchen to be his domain and adding "I do not
tell you how to nanny!!" Decidedly steamed at Jarvis' rudeness,
and muttering it had been 50 years since anyone had spoken to her in
such a manner, Marilla was about to fire back when she noticed Luna
needed changing. Later, as Marilla and Luna watched some cartoons,
with Marilla showing a distinct interest in Fraggle Rock, Jarvis tried
to make amends but was brusquely dismissed. The butler then enjoyed a
small measure of revenge when he pinned a sign reading "queen of mean"
on Marilla's back as she took Luna for a stroll through a rather
crowded Central Park.
(Avengers I#350) - In the days following
Operation: Galactic Storm, the Avengers hosted an informal party for the Starjammers when they came to Earth to pick up their team member Binary
(Carol Danvers). Marilla, strict about Luna's bedtime, interrupted the
festivities to collect the girl from her mother. When Black Widow asked
Marilla if she'd seen the Black Knight, she promised to swing by the
hangar and remind Dane Whitman of the party. When Marilla and Luna arrived
at the hangar, they interrupted a fight between the Black Knight and
Starjammers member Raza Longknife. Seizing the opportunity, Raza ripped
Luna from Marilla's hands and threatened to kill her if the Black Knight
didn't lower his weapon. When he complied, Raza tossed Luna back to
Marilla and stabbed Black Knight, claiming he'd never planned to hurt
the child, but required a ruse.
(Avengers I#357) - In preparation for a celebratory
dinner to commemorate the six month anniversary of the Avengers' current
line up, Marilla decided to bring in the entire kitchen staff of the
royal house of Attilan to cook the meal. A shocked Jarvis needed to be
comforted by Crystal, who also berated Marilla for overstepping her
bounds and not informing anyone. Claiming she wanted it to be a surprise
and expressing wonder at who could say no to such delicacies as
Kendalyian boar hide, gnarled radishes and Orwlyian blood pudding,
Marilla figured she was doing everyone a favor, as usual. When Jarvis
regained his composure, he took back command of the kitchen and ordered
away Lockjaw, who was chewing on a bone on the floor. Upset, Lockjaw
made his way upstairs with Marilla in pursuit. After calming the canine
Inhuman down, they both went to check on Luna and ran into Screener, a
member of the Acolytes, sent by Fabian Cortez to check on Luna's genetic
background. After confirming the child was indeed "merely" human,
Screener used her powers to make both Marilla and Lockjaw forget they
ever saw her.
(Avengers I#358) - Marilla expressed noticeable
discomfort when she brought Avengers house guest Philip
Jarvert his dinner. Amused at the notion she considered him some
sort of ghost, the alternate reality hero offered Marilla to touch him
in order to confirm he was, in fact, alive. Kindly refusing, Marilla
revealed how she'd heard of the Swordsman, how he died saving his great
love Mantis and how his lifeless corpse was subsequently taken over by a
sentient, talking plant who eventually married Mantis after all. Stunned
at this tale, the Swordsman called it the most absurd or horrific story
he ever heard, angering Marilla who insisted this was exactly how she'd
heard it told. The discussion was interrupted by the Vision, who
overheard their conversation and offered to show the Swordsman the
history of his 616-counterpart.
(Avengers I#359) - While taking Luna out for a stroll in Central Park, Marilla and Edwin Jarvis encountered Hercules' ladyfriend Taylor Madison, who was sitting alone on a bench, looking distraught. Marilla didn't want to disturb her, but Jarvis insisted they said hello anyway. Quickly hiding her tears, Taylor made small talk with Jarvis and Marilla, but got upset and rushed to say goodbye the second Jarvis brought up the subject of Hercules. Marilla told the baffled butler that Taylor was obviously a woman in deep pain.
(Avengers I#362) - Overcome with a distinct feeling
of dread in the middle of the night, Marilla checked in on Luna who
turned out to be sleeping peacefully. Trying to convince herself it was
little more than superstition and nerves, Marilla went down to the
kitchen to make herself some tea, mixed with some fine, old Attilan
brandy. On the way back, she ran into the Black Knight who was trying to
track an energy pattern inside the mansion that matched the ones left by
the Gatherers during their previous incursion. Unbeknownst to anyone,
Proctor had replaced the Vision with the Gathererer called Anti-Vision
who was ordered to kill the Swordsman. After leaving the Knight to
his work, Marilla found the lifeless form of the Swordsman in the
hallways. Her shriek alarmed the others, just as Crystal shook the
mansion with a seismic wave while trying to ward off the Anti-Vision.
The Avengers engaged the Gatherer, who was eventually rendered immobile
by Sersi who turned his organic plastic into a crystalline compound.
(Avengers Annual I#22/1) - Marilla was present at
Avengers mansion when several 6th century marauders invaded and attacked
Hercules, Vision and Crystal.
(Avengers I#367) - Unbeknownst to anyone including Marilla, baby Luna
was kidnapped by Fabian Cortez of the Acolytes.
(Avengers I#368) - As the nation state of Genosha descended into full blown civil war, SHIELD director Nick Fury
assembled the Avengers from both coasts to New York and ordered them to
stay out of the conflict. After some pushing, Fury revealed the reasons
behind this command: there were reasonable concerns the warring Genoshan
factions might strike out at the Avengers to make a statement about
mutant-human relations. Crystal instantly realized this was all about
her daughter and she rushed to Luna's side. Marilla tried to calm the
distraught Inhuman mother down, telling her they were just about ready
for a walk in the garden. Hugging her baby, Luna revealed herself to be
the shape-shifting Genoshan mutate 682. After delivering a speech about
how the whole world would soon share the mutates' suffering, it
exploded. Crystal's elemental powers kept everyone present, including
Marilla, safe from the blast.
(Captain America I#422 BTS) - Resident inventor and
Avengers Support Crew member Fabian Stankowicz's behavior had become so
bumbling and disruptive, he was considered a nuisance. Not in the least
by Marilla, who had grown increasingly frustrated by Fabian's bumbling
behavior and unreliable inventions.
(Captain America I#422 - BTS) - Marilla was preparing Luna's breakfast: "goatmeal, or whatever it is
these humans call this gruelish confection..." when she inadvertently
tripped over one of Fabian's little robots who had escaped from his
workshop. Incensed, she promised she'd see him fired or she'd leave
herself. Upon hearing this, the somewhat mentally unstable Fabian
jumped the gun and decided to quit before someone would fire him.
Reasoning the Avengers didn't need his services as an inventor after
the recent return of Hank Pym to active duty, and deeming himself
useless otherwise, Stankowicz figured he might as well just kill
himself. Cap's timely intervention spared his life.
(Avengers I#373) - Marilla returned with Edwin Jarvis from a
shopping trip and was shocked to see Avengers headquarters in ruins,
after Sersi destroyed it during a maddened fit. She immediately took
care of Luna as Crystal, Quicksilver and the other Avengers went off to
deal with the threat at hand.
(Avengers I#375 (fb) -
BTS) - After Proctor and the Gatherers were defeated, Ute the Watcher used
his dying breath to undo all the damage Proctor's reality warp had caused.
However, Avengers Headquarters was not restored. Instead, a replica of the
old Avengers mansion appeared in its place. This was apparently a result of
Immortus' manipulations.
(Avengers I#376 (fb) - BTS) - Exploring their new old headquarters, the
Avengers discovered a high tech door lodged inside a wall that seemingly led
nowhere, but radiated transtemporal energies. Current crises prevented them
from researching the door's origins.
(Avengers I#380) - Marilla was looking for Luna in Avengers mansion, eventually finding the little girl in Crystal's quarters. Luna seemed obsessed with the full length mirror inside the room, but Marilla paid little attention to the girl's passionate pleas of "unca unca," picking Luna up and heading for her bedroom just as the frantic face of the Black Knight appeared in the mirror, calling for Crystal or the Avengers' help. His summons echoed in vain.
(Ultraforce I#10) - In the midst of a fight between Ultraforce and Loki and his summoned Frost giant, Ultraforce member Black Knight decided to use a scrying pool to summon help from his home dimension. Focusing on what he loved the most, Dane Whitman pictured Crystal and managed to display his image on the dress mirror inside her room. Crystal's daughter Luna was the only one who saw "unca Dane" appear, but lacked the cognitive and vocal ability to relay his plea for help before Marilla took her away.
(Avengers I#389) -Marilla stood up for Deathcry,
when government agent Henry Peter Gyrich invaded Avengers mansion, planning
to arrest the Shi'ar teenager for illegally accessing the stargate near
Earth's sun on four separate occasions. Calling out Gyrich after he put
down both Deathcry and Quicksilver, Marilla followed the young Shi'ar
girl upstairs to calm her down, only to discover she'd already gone out
the window. As the Avengers went out to look for their alien ward,
Marilla ran into Hercules who had volunteered to stay behind on monitor
duty. Marilla admitted her worries to him, stating that even among
Inhumans she wasn't consider a "prime specimen," which made her
especially sensitive to Deathcry's plight on Earth. Hercules comforted
Marilla after her confession, calling her a gem beyond value.
(Avengers I#390) - Marilla joined the Avengers
at Tony Stark's summer home in the Adirondacks, a place alternate
reality heroes Magdalene and the Swordsman had been staying at while
trying to adjust to life in the 616-dimension. A relaxing day of
innocent, sunny fun was interrupted when Hercules returned from a stroll
through the woods with the mysterious youngling Tuc in tow. As twilight
set, Tuc revealed himself to be a sensitive, capable of reading people's
fortunes with his cards. Deathcry, Hercules, Crystal, Quicksilver and
Marilla sat around the campfire for a reading. Tuc read everyone's
fortunes, revealing stunning and disturbing truths about all present.
When he came to Marilla, however, he began to cry and only stated that
she should remember that Luna loves her so. The mysterious youth then
disappeared without a trace.
(Avengers: The Crossing#1) -
Marilla was
present at the Mansion when past Avengers, Force Works members and other
alumni like the Beast (Henry McCoy) gathered to celebrate the
anniversary of the team's founding. Marilla was a bit preoccupied with
Luna though, who for some unknown reason was acting extremely upset.
Marilla figured finding Luna's favorite teddy bear might calm the girl
down. She finally found the toy on the steps leading to the sub-basement
containing the mysterious, closed, trans-temporal door (that had been
mystifying
the team since it appeared along with an alternate Avengers Mansion in
Avengers I#357). Surprised to see an unusual light coming from that
particular room, Marilla went to investigate and saw Iron Man standing
inside the opened door. Elated, she approached Stark exclaiming that the
others would be very happy to know he'd finally solved the mystery.
However, when she saw the look in Tony's eyes, Marilla knew something was
wrong. Iron Man (then under mental influence from Immortus to disrupt
the Avengers to hold off the Time-Keepers from destroying Reality-616 in
order to prevent the Avengers from spreading across the universe) shot Marilla
through the head and left her for dead.
(Avengers I#391 (fb) - BTS) - Marilla's body was either vaporized by a subsequent plasma blast or otherwise hidden to hide the evidence.
(Avengers I#391 (fb) - BTS) - Though her body was never found, the Vision found organic residue in a maintenance shaft, which his bio-scanners indicated to contain Marilla's DNA.
(Avengers I#391 - BTS) - Giant-Man (Henry Pym) confirmed the Visions' findings, noting her to have been a victim of a high-intensity plasma-blast, and that the murder had tried to hide the evidence.
(Iron Man I#321-322 - BTS) - Marilla's death at the hand of Tony
Stark was acknowledged.
(War Machine I#20 - BTS) - Tony's murder of Marilla was
mentioned.
(Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man#1 - BTS) -
While the alternate reality (Earth-96020) teen Tony Stark got used to his new
existence in the 616, the Avengers reviewed the crimes committed by his
deceased counterpart, chief among them the murder of Marilla.
Comments: Bob Harras, Steve Epting, Tom Palmer
Marilla certainly was a cut above Luna's previous nanny Maya, introduced during Steve Englehart's Fantastic Four. Played as a welcome source of comic relief, her dedication to Luna and Crystal were inspiring. It's especially interesting to note that near her final appearances, the gruff, superior attitude gave way to show a caring, insecure woman who could sympathize with those less fortunate because she herself was from a society where her mostly cosmetic Terrigen mutations made her a second class citizen at best.
Also of note: her somewhat dated speech patterns showed Marilla was relatively old, compared to most other Inhumans who had been in more recent contact with the outside world.
Ahura's last name is given in Medusa's OHotMU A to Z Hardcover#7 entry. It follows the precedent of <Given Name> Bolt<father's given name> for males, as per Blackagar Boltagon for Black Bolt, who's father is Agon.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Character name has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Avengers I#348 p5, pan1 (main)
Avengers I#343 p4, pan4 (arrival)
Avengers I#373 p11, pan2 (with Jarvis)
Avengers: The Crossing#1 p46, pan6 (death)
Appearances:
Avengers I#343 (January, 1992) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#344 (February, 1992) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#348 (August, 1992) - Bob Harras(writer), Kirk Jarvinen(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#350/2 (August, 1992) - John Lewandowski(writer), Kevin Kobasic(pencils), Ariane(inks), Ralph Macchio, Pat Garrahy(editors)
Avengers I#350 (February, 1992) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio, Pat Garrahy(editors)
Avengers I#356 (November, 1992) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#357 (December, 1992) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#358 (January, 1993) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#359 (February, 1993) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#362 (May, 1993) - Bob Harras(writer), Gordon Purcell(pencils), Steve Alexandrov, Fred Fredericks(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers Annual I#22/1 (March, 1993) - Glenn Herdling(writer), Mike Gustovich(pencils), Ariane Lenshoek(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#367 (October, 1993) - Bob Harras(writer), Jim Hall(pencils), Don Hudson(inks), Ralph Macchio, Pat Garrahy(editors)
Avengers I#368 (November, 1993) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor), Pat Garrahy(editors)
Captain America I#422 (December, 1993) - Marc Gruenwald(writer), Rik Levins(pencils), Danny Bulanadi(inks), Mike Rockwitz(editor)
Avengers I#373 (April, 1994) - Bob Harras(writer), Steven Epting(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#380 (November, 1994) - Bob Harras(writer), Mike Deodato Jr.(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Ultraforce I#10 (July, 1995) - Hank Kanalz, Phil Crain(writers), George Perez, John Royle(pencilers), Geroge Perez, Al Vey, Jeff Whiting, Jim Sanders III(inkers), Hank Kanalz, Scott Bernstein(editors)
Avengers I#389 (August, 1995) - Bob Harras, Terry Kavanagh(writers), Fabio Laguna(pencils), Scott Koblish(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers I#390 (September, 1995) - Bob Harras, Terry Kavanagh(writers), Mike Deodato Jr.(pencils), Tom Palmer(inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
Avengers: The Crossing#1 (September, 1995) - Bob Harras, Terry Kavanagh(writers), Mike Deodato Jr.(pencils, inks), Ralph Macchio(editor)
First Posted: 08/27/2013
Last updated: 10/17/2013
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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