Carol Danvers was introduced to us back in 1968 in Marvel Super-Heroes #13, and throughout
the years, she’s risen in the ranks to becoming one of the most powerful super powered individuals
in the Marvel universe.
Which is pretty impressive, considering who she’s rubbing shoulders with.
Now with the Captain Marvel film set to hit theatres in the upcoming year, it’s probably
about time that you acquainted yourself with this bad ass character.
And, note that while we’re specifically talking about Carol Danvers, we will briefly
touch on the legacy of Captain Marvels over the years.
So today, we’re diving into some of the most interesting things you need to know about
the character with our list of the top 10 Captain Marvel Surprising Facts.
10 The Alias
Aside from Danvers, the title of Captain Marvel has belonged to 6 others.
The first, Mar-Vell, was an alien military officer that Carol actually encountered and
aided – he’s the reason why she got her powers as Ms Marvel, but more on that later.
Mar-Vell would die of cancer due to the exposure of a toxic nerve gas from a battle he had
with Nitro.
The five that would follow all played an important role in the Captain Marvel legacy, but none
have been as influential as Mar-Vell and Danvers. 9 Ms Marvel
Speaking of titles, let’s take a look at the mantle Carol wore before becoming Captain
Marvel – Ms Marvel.
In 1977, writer Gerry Conaway gave Carol the title, with the goal of creating a socially
progressive comic.
The use of the word Ms was meant to reflect that – it was associated largely with the
feminist movement, and it was used to represent that she was an independent woman.
She also fought from equal pay for equal work.
8 Publishing Rivalry There’s been a lot of publishing controversies
over the years concerning the name Captain Marvel.
So back in the golden age, a character named Captain Marvel was published Fawcett Comics.
DC sued them for the character being too similar to Superman.
That character would later be bought and renamed as Shazam by DC.
Fawcett died out in 1953, and that opened the door for Marvel – who prior had been
operating under the name Timely Comics – to buy the trademark for the name Captain Marvel.
In order to keep this trademark intact, Marvel had to published a Captain Marvel title at
least once every two years, which led to various ongoing series, one shots and limited series
over the years.
7 US Air Force When we first met Carol, she actually didn’t
have superpowers.
She was an officer in the US Air Force, and security chief of a restricted military base.
There she met the human alias of Kree alien hero Captain Marvel.
She had joined the military at 18 in order to pay for college after her father refused
to send her to school.
Her powers would arise in 1977 when she got her own self title as Ms. Marvel, with her
powers coming from energy exposure after a device called the Psyche-Magnetron exploded
and melded her genetic structure with Captain Marvel’s.
In terms of her military career, her backstory details have been filled in over the years
- she would rise in the ranks, becoming part of the Air Force Intelligence, and getting
a position at NASA as head of security, which led to her resignation from the Air Force,
with her retiring as a Colonel.
Her job at NASA is now when she encountered Mar-Vell.
6 Different Origins Speaking of Carol’s origins, the MCU film
that stars Brie Larson as the title character set to be released in 2019 is completely tossing
her origin story out the window.
The decision to do this was to differentiate the character from DC’s Green Lantern, and
Hal Jordan’s origin.
In a podcast, co-writer Nicole Perlman stated, “Her origin is very similar to Green Lantern.
And obviously, that’s not what we want to do….And also, she’s her own person and
she’s a great character.
We have to be aware of what’s happened in other Marvel films and make sure that her
particular storyline is unique and fun and also fits in within this world that’s going
on at the same time.”
5 Infinity War Film If the film has you hyped, you’ll be excited
to know that there’s a chance that Captain Marvel may appear on the big screen before
her self-titled movie.
During an event at the Smithsonian Institute, Avengers Infinity War directors Anthony and
Joe Russo let it slip that Captain Marvel will be making a cameo in the film.
When everyone in the crowd starting freaking out, they back pedaled saying “Um…Captain
Barvel.
Totally different character.”
That sounds like a confirmation to me.
4 Superhero Groups Carol has been a member of A LOT of superhero
groups.
While the Avengers may be the first that comes to mind, she’s also been in the Defenders,
the Mighty Avengers, the New Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the X-Men and a group
of space pirates called the Starjammers.
Her run with the latter two was particularly interesting – she had briefly been depowered
but gained new powers and became the mutant Binary, and operated as such in those groups.
But hey, she’s versatile, and that’s pretty impressive.
3 Civil War While she didn’t partake in the MCU Civil
War, in the comics, Captain Marvel had sided with Iron Man in Marvel Civil War, on the
side of pro-registration.
But her allegiances change for Civil War 2.
The Civil War 2 story arc functions as an allegory of free will versus determinism,
with the core of its conflict being over an Inhuman named Ulysses Cain who can predict
the future.
Captain Marvel is of the belief that his powers should be used to prevent threats from occurring,
while Iron Man thinks that gives superheroes too much power.
The two lead the opposing factions.
Also, fun act, this series’ schedule release was in 2016 – a move Marvel made in order
to capitalize on the MCU film Captain America: Civil War.
2 Marcus Like most superheroes, Carol Danvers has her
fair share of weird crap happen to her character over the years.
But perhaps the weirdest was her encounter with a character named Marcus who was the
apparent son of Avenger’s enemy Immortus.
In The Avengers #200 back in 1980, there is a story line in which Ms Marvel is kidnapped
and taken to an alternate dimension in which she is brainwashed and impregnated.
Shortly after, she gives birth to a child on Earth who rapidly grows into another version
of Marcus – essentially he impregnated her in order to be ‘born again’ in a physical
tangible form.
Comic book historian Carol A Strickland called it what it was in an essay titled The Rape
of Ms Marvel, in which one of Marcus’ lines in the comic are cited as evidence – he
says, “Finally, after relative weeks of such efforts – and admittedly, with a subtle
boost from Immortus’ machines – you became mine.”
Chris Claremont, who had previously written Ms Marvel, also criticized it, calling it
an inappropriate storyline.
He would go one to ‘undo’ the damage in 1981’s Avengers Annual #10 when Rogue absorbs
her powers and memories.
Danvers then gives the Avengers hell for their failure to realize that Marcus had brainwashed
her – they had let her go back with Marcus, assuming they were “in love”.
1 Out ranks Captain America Perhaps the most surprising fact to those
unfamiliar with Danvers or her association with other Marvel superheroes is that she
actually out ranks Captain America.
We were reminded on of this in the Kelly Sue DeConnick run of the character’s solo title
in 2012 when she assumed the role of Captain Marvel.
Danvers first states “this ‘broad’ left the service a full bird colonel.
So technically, I outrank him.”
Then after, the two have some banter where Cap says “I’ve been trying to get you
demoted for years,” to which she replies, “Don’t I know it.”
Carol retired as a USAF Colonel, and Colonels outrank Captains, despite her now also having
the superhero title of Captain Marvel.
There we have it friends!
Are you excited for the upcoming Captain Marvel film?
Are you guys happy with the casting choice of Brie Larson?
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I’ve been Kelly Paoli and this has been top 10 nerd.
Catch you all in the next one!