With most of the MCU’s heroes either dust or feeling sorry for themselves, there’s only one hero who has enough power to take on the deformed purple Shrek and save the universe. Enter Carol Danvers, a United States Air Force officer and human-Kree hybrid with superhuman strength, speed, and endurance as well as energy projection energy absorption, and flight. Danvers has also been a part of more teams than Wolverine and is even dubbed “Marvel’s mightiest Avenger.” But how did this powerful being known as Captain Marvel come to be? Well fasten your seatbelts, because I’ve traveled to the Kree planet and back to tell you all about the history of Captain Marvel.
In March of 1968, Carol Danvers makes her comic debut in “Marvel Super-Heroes #13,” where she meets Dr. Walter Lawson who is secretly the Kree hero Captain Marvel. She is then caught in an explosion and sustains serious injuries. Fast forward to January 1977, Danvers returns to the comic world, but with a self-titled series and a new set of powers. However, Danvers didn’t start out as Captain Marvel, as I previously mentioned, Walter Lawson is the original Captain Marvel, instead, Danvers dons the name Ms. Marvel. The series reveals that during the explosion, a device called the “Psyche-Magnetron” combined Danvers’s DNA with Captain Marvel’s, thus turning her into a human-Kree hybrid, complete with awesome powers.
Image from IndieWire
During her time as Ms. Marvel, Danvers has been a part of The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, New Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., Starjammers, and even the X-Men. In fact, Danvers is attacked by Rogue, an X-Man who permanently absorbs her powers and memories due to the mutant’s abilities. This results in Rouge manifesting a Danvers persona. Eventually, this persona is killed by Magneto and Danvers’ memories are restored by Professor X. However, during this time, Danvers transforms into a new character called Binary and is able to draw power from a phenomenon called a white hole where she’s capable of producing enough power as a star. If this, or a play on this is portrayed in “Endgame,” then Thanos is done. She eventually loses connection with the white hole and her original powers are restored. However, she is still able to manipulate and absorb energy, just on a smaller level. She then rejoins the Avengers under the new name “Warbird”.
During the “House of M” storyline in 2005, Danvers becomes Captain Marvel for a brief period due to her subconscious want to be liked and accepted. This, unfortunately, only lasts for a short period since the story takes place in an alternate reality created by Scarlet Witch. During the “Civil War” story, Danvers fights alongside Iron Man and supports the Superhuman Registration Act. In July of 2012, Carol Danvers officially dons the name “Captain Marvel” and rejoins the main Avengers. It is also important to note that Kamala Khan takes up the mantle of Ms. Marvel in 2013 once Danvers becomes Captain Marvel.
So, how does Danvers fit into the MCU? Well, to start off, the story for the MCU version of Captain Marvel takes place in the 1990s, not the 1960s like her comic book counterpart. Like I previously stated, Danvers is strong and if the Binary storyline makes it into either of the films, that would be a great turning point in the Avengers’ fight against Thanos. However, films typically differ from the comic books and the MCU has proved that it is mostly based on the characters and storylines they’re telling rather than their expanded lore. Whether you’re a long-time fan of the character or just now learning about her, I think we can all agree on one thing; Thanos is in for one hell of a fight.
Images: IndieWire
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