Who is Prince Yan in the MCU franchise? Itaewon Class and Gyeongseong Creature star Park Seo-Joon finally made his MCU debut as Prince Yan of Aladna. With yet another considerably new character added to the roster, but who is he, anyway?
The Marvels may have faced plenty of release delays, but eventually debuted on the big screens in November 2023. With the sequel coming out soon on Disney Plus, here's all you need to know about Park Seo-joon's MCU role.
The Marvels Debuts K-drama Heartthrob Park Seo-joon
Casting the major K-drama heartthrob Park Seo-joon in a major role in The Marvels only heightened both MCU fans and K-drama die-hards on seeing the actor on the big screen in a Western superhero film.
"When I first heard that the Marvel Cinematic Universe wanted to speak with me, I couldn't believe it. I actually couldn't believe it." Seo-joon told The Guardian when he first landed the role.
While the K-drama actor faced challenges in filming, he said "Everyone was so helpful and welcoming that I was able to find my feet really quickly."
Without further ado, let's dive deeper into who Prince Yan is and how he differs from Marvel Comics versus when he comes to life in the MCU.
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Who is Prince Yan in the Marvel Comics?
In the entire run of the Marvel Comics, the character of Prince Yan had only made two appearances, one of them was for his debut in Captain Marvel (Vol. 8) #9 in 2014.
It is worth mentioning though that since then, he played a much larger role in going on space adventures with Captain Marvel.
The Aladna planet is called the 'singing' planet for a reason. The only language that the people of Aladna know is through singing or rhyming.
They can only understand and communicate with one another if you sing and perform your message, as seen in The Marvels, when Carol warned Prince Yan about the coming of the main villain, Dar-Benn.
Oh, and there's one thing fans should know about Captain Marvel's relationship with Prince Yan — they're legally married. Here's why.
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Captain Marvel Married Prince Yan For 'Legal Issues'
Before the three Marvels landed in Aladna, Carol Danvers warned Monica and Kamala that she was popularly known on the planet.
While the two acted nonchalant, given her popularity on Earth, too, Carol told them that Aladna was a different territory.
The people began to sing the minute Carol arrived. As it turned out, as she explained, she "theoretically" married Prince Yan for "legal reasons."
See, a part of Aladna's tradition is that the women can choose their mates, while the men have no freedom of choice in who they get to marry.
Prince Yan was initially engaged to marry Lila Cheney, who is a mutant musician.
However, when a nefarious alien attempted to take over Aladna, Captain Marvel intervened, which landed her the role of being Yan's bride.
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Prince Yan's Bigger Purpose in the MCU Explained
Fans were initially disappointed when they found out that Seo-joon merely had a total of two minutes and 47 seconds of screentime, according to a report by Koreaboo.
This is especially because Seo-joon's MCU debut was always marketed to be a "major character" in the franchise, plus the film director Nia DaCosta previously mentioned that he would be a "character with impact." So, what gives?
Well, Seo-joon previously addressed that despite his "short" role, "I believe it plays a crucial part in the overall narrative of The Marvels. I think Aladna and Prince Yan are the place and figure that is important for showing the growth of Carol Danvers."
You might think that Prince Yan's "bigger role" is ruling Aladna alongside Captain Marvel, but it's actually more than that.
Ever since Prince Yan took over the throne, he reversed the rules by allowing the people of Aladna to choose their own mates.
Plus, we have yet to see the debut of his former mutant fiancée, Lila Cheney.
Considering that Marvel is entering as many mutants into their roster, Lila's appearance would be a pretty huge role to consider that could potentially involve Prince Yan's help.
Meanwhile, The Marvels will be available to stream on Disney+ on February 7, 2024.
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