What's Inside?
- Vanessa Kirby wants to explore Sue Storm’s dark persona Malice in upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe storylines.
- Kirby emphasizes Sue’s traumatic past and emotional depth as key reasons for Malice's potential emergence.
- Malice showcases the lethal side of Sue Storm, highlighting her inner conflict between heroism and suppressed rage.
After stunning audiences with her fierce and emotionally raw portrayal of Sue Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Vanessa Kirby isn’t ready to step away from the spotlight. In fact, she’s aiming to dig even deeper. In multiple interviews, the Oscar-nominated actress has made it crystal clear that she’s “dying” to explore the dark and dangerous side of her character, Sue’s infamous alter ego, Malice.
Vanessa Kirby Wants To Play Sue Storm’s Dark Side Malice In MCU
Vanessa Kirby has elevated Sue Storm beyond the usual “superhero mold,” delivering a version that’s as emotionally complex as she is powerful. And now, she wants to peel back the layers even further.
“Itching! I’m dying to do Malice,” Kirby confessed in her Variety interview, launching into a passionate reflection on Sue’s traumatic past.
“She’s come from a really tough background. She lost her mother in a car crash. Her dad tried to save her mother. He couldn’t. He then spiraled, became an alcoholic, got locked up in prison for murdering a loan shark, and then died. Sue had to become a mother to Johnny. They were orphans. They had to fight for themselves.”
This backstory, often glossed over in prior cinematic versions, is central to why Kirby feels so strongly about exploring Malice. It’s not about turning Sue into a villain. It’s about humanizing her, and about revealing the weight she carries, and the darkness she keeps at bay. Kirby continued–
“What I loved about her was that she chose a path that was inherently a positive one. She chose to keep her heart open and to stay warm. She’s made this decision, but at her fingertips, she could be lethal.”
Indeed, comic book readers know Sue Storm is one of the most powerful members of the Fantastic Four. Her psionic force fields can maim— or even kill. “There was a line within a scene that isn’t in it anymore with Mole Man… she said something like, ‘I could give you an aneurysm if I wanted to in two seconds.’” Kirby pointed out that in the comics, Sue regularly threatens to weaponize her abilities. “These powers are also really lethal and really dangerous.”
Sue Storm’s Shadow Self Malice Is Powerful And Inherently Interesting
The Malice arc is one of the most psychologically rich stories in Fantastic Four lore. It taps into themes of trauma, repression, and the duality of human nature. First introduced in the comics in 1985, Malice emerges when Psycho-Man manipulates Sue’s emotions, awakening a suppressed rage within her.
“She was called Invisible Girl. Then Psycho-Man comes and disrupts everything, and she has a meeting with her own dark side in Malice,” Kirby explained.
“She comes back, and she renames herself Invisible Woman. So she transforms from a girl to a woman. There’s something about meeting the hardest parts of yourself in Malice that felt extremely poignant to me.”
This transformation from girl to woman, from passive to assertive, isn’t just a cool plot twist. She believes that bringing Malice into the MCU wouldn’t just be a wild ride for fans— it would offer emotional depth and storytelling gold.
“I just love that that’s a part of her, it just makes me so happy,” Kirby said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “She also has a shadow side, like we all do, which has to come out in order for her then, in the comics, to become Invisible Woman.”
Given First Steps’ critical and box office success, and a strong setup involving Franklin Richards and Victor von Doom in the mid-credits scene, the road to Malice may already be paved. And with Avengers: Doomsday on the horizon, Sue’s emotional and moral thresholds are expected to be tested.
Who is Malice in Marvel Comics?
Malice is Sue Storm’s darker alter ego, unleashed by emotional trauma and manipulation from the villain Psycho-Man. Unlike the careful and compassionate Invisible Woman, Malice doesn’t hold back. She uses her full strength without guilt, unleashing the full force of Sue’s latent powers in ways that blur the line between hero and villain. Her emergence shows how fragile even the strongest minds can be when pushed to their limits.
Malice first surfaced during one of the Fantastic Four’s most difficult times, reflecting the fear and anger brewing in the world. Sue had already proven herself as the team’s emotional anchor, yet her own pain made her vulnerable. After a series of personal and global crises, Malice returned more than once, eventually reawakening during the Infinity War. She clashed with Sue again, but this time, Sue faced her inner darkness and won. In a final arc, Sue and her son Franklin used Malice one last time for good. With Franklin absorbing the entity into himself, Sue was finally free. That long-overdue peace gave the Invisible Woman a second chance.
Now the question is, will Malice appear in the MCU? While not confirmed, Vanessa Kirby has expressed strong interest, and the story is thematically aligned with the current MCU direction.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now showing in theaters.
