Marvel Studios delivered another round of intriguing and layered villains in the MCU's second Disney+ show of 2022, Iman Vellani's Ms. Marvel, which completed its run in July.
The series ended with an all-out battle against the Department of Damage Control, with Kamala Khan fully realizing her potential as she showed her classic embiggening powers from the comics. But before that, she had to get back to her own time after helping to save her grandmother, all while taking on a powerful group of interdimensional travelers in the Clandestines.
That fight ended with the Clandestines seemingly meeting their end, as they turned completely to skin and bones in trying to get back to their own world through the Veil in Episode 5. There was initially some confusion about the villains' fate after that moment though, with fans wondering whether there was the slightest chance of a Clandestine return in some form and some of the Ms. Marvel team even worrying about how the episode would land.
One of the show's leading VFX artists has now made it definitively clear what happened to Najma and her followers.
Ms. Marvel VFX Artist on Clandestines' Potential Return
In an exclusive interview with The Direct's Richard Nebens, Ms. Marvel VFX Supervisor Kevin Yuille of FuseFX confirmed whether there was a chance the Clandestines could return after their supposed deaths in Episode 5.
While discussing the crystallizing effect that came through in the Veil scene, he confirmed that the team didn't want the shot to look like the Clandestines "were going back to their world" as they interacted with the Veil. After going through a few different versions of visuals for the scene, Yuille confirmed that the effect was meant to confirm that the villains "absolutely...did not make it:"
"As far as the crystalizing, that’s another thing that had gone through so many versions. There was this decision that, for storytelling, they didn’t want them to look like they were going back to their world. So, if we broke them up like hard light and they break up and they turn into these pretty little dots, it almost looks like ‘They made it! Oh, they’re home!’ So they’re like ‘No! We gotta make sure they look dead!’ It’s tough to do a shot like that, and you worry about looking cartoon-y, but that was for storytelling, to say absolutely, 100%, they did not make it."
The Clandestines are No More in Ms. Marvel
With the Veil having been discussed as a portal back to the Clandestines' home, many believed there was a chance that they simply went back to their home. But Yuille made it unmistakably clear that seeing them turn to skeletons through the crystallization meant that the villains are truly and unequivocally dead, with no chance of coming back.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clandestines didn't get a chance to evolve as fully as the Ms. Marvel team initially expected them to through the last few episodes. Whether other members of the Clandestine race could come back in another form later in the MCU's story is still a mystery, but the villains that Kamala battled seem as though they're off the table for the foreseeable future.
That being said, Kamala Khan is set to play a key role in next year's The Marvels, where her bangle will be an important plot point after she and Carol Danvers switched locations in Ms. Marvel Episode 6. With the Clandestines' history tying back to that bangle and Kamala having fought them in her MCU introduction, there could be a nod to them in that new adventure.
All six episodes of Ms. Marvel are now streaming on Disney+.
