Marvel fans to meet Welsh villain - complete with Cardiff accent

Marvel fans around the world are set to meet a Welsh villain - complete with a Cardiff accent.Lauren Morais, from the Welsh capital, will play Lisa Molinari in the new superhero series VisionQuest - a spin-off from the miniseries WandaVision. The Disney+ show, exploring whether AI and humanity can co-exist, also stars Paul Bettany, returning as Vision, and James Spader as Ultron.Morais said getting the role was a "pinch me" moment and that she was "very proud" to introduce her accent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).Speaking to Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales, Morais said she initially auditioned with an Essex accent for the part. In the fourth round of auditions, she also did a northern accent and American. But during a reading, not knowing if the Marvel team wanted a Welsh accent, Morais decided just to "go for it"."I said, 'can she be from Cardiff?' and they were like, 'of course'. So she's from Cardiff now," she said. Morais recalled being like "a rabbit in the headlights" surrounded by all the stars of the show, but was also worrying about who was going to cover her shift at a cinema in London. During the audition process she was given time off for the VisionQuest auditions, even though she could not tell her manager what the auditions were for.She said: "I went to my final Pinewood audition and then went back to the cinema to the west end to finish my shift."It's such a dichotomy of worlds and that's what it is as an actor, you're always grafting and then it happens and you're like, what is life."The character of Lisa Molinari has undergone a transformation from the original Marvel comic book character - known as Coat of Arms - who gains extra arms and weapons from a mystical coat. In VisionQuest, she is instead given a high-tech backpack equipped with robotic arms. Morais said co-ordinating the choreography for the fight scenes was "funny"."I'd be with the fight director who was like 'you just need to imagine that a huge arm is coming out of your right side and just absolutely go for it and imagine where it's hitting.' So I used a lot of imagination on that job," she said.But Bettany, whose character Vision is an android attempting to piece together his wiped memories and fragile humanity, had some sage advice."He said 'you're going to feel very silly while you're doing these scenes, but if you commit to it, it's going to look really sick'. And I can confirm, he was right," she said.