This Ant-Man Star Made Her Marvel Debut As An Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Villain

Disney has generally avoided having Marvel TV characters return or crossover into the movies. There have been only a handful of exceptions to this rule, from Charlie Cox appearing in both "Daredevil" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" to "WandaVision" star Teyonah Parris showing up in "The Marvels." One bit of repeat casting fans may have missed, though, was Katy O'Brian, who appeared in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" as different characters.

The "Ant-Man" threequel saw O'Brian play Jentorra, leader of the Freedom Fighters. However, O'Brian had previously appeared on the Marvel Television series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as Kimball, a minor villain in Season 7. "I came in really late in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I had a really small [part]," O'Brian said in an interview with Deadline, discussing her first role in the MCU. "I had like two lines and stood in the background for a while, and then I think I blew up or something." In fact, O'Brian's Kimball died when Quake (Chloe Bennet) destroyed the alien time ship she was aboard.

The final seasons of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." saw the series diverge into its own timeline, separate from the MCU movies. O'Brian said that since Marvel "de-canonized" the show, "I was allowed to be in 'Ant-Man.'"

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." started out as a direct spin-off of "The Avengers," built on the revelation that Clark Gregg's Agent Phil Coulson had survived his apparent death in the film. As the series continued, a time travel plot sent the central characters into an alternate timeline, shifting "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." into its own universe.

Katy O'Brian's Kimball was introduced in Season 7. Her character was part of Nathaniel Malick's (Thomas E. Sullivan) villainous crew, made up of individuals who were destined to die in their original timelines. In a deadly showdown with S.H.I.E.L.D., Kimball and Malick's other enforcers were transported into the Quantum Realm. It was here that Quake wiped them out, marking the end of O'Brian's first Marvel role.

This plot line created an interesting, if coincidental, connection to O'Brian's later "Quantumania" character. Jentorra lived in the Quantum Realm, where she led her Freedom Fighters in the fight against Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Joining forces with Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and Stature (Kathryn Newton), Jentorra played a vital role in the movie's epic final battle and bringing an end to Kang's rule. There has been no word on whether O'Brian's Jentorra will return to the MCU, but having survived the end of "Quantumania," the door is open to another appearance.