You might still be in shock following the ending of Avengers: Infinity War, but hope
is on the way in the form of Captain Marvel.
It's worth wondering how any new superhero can beat back Thanos after the Mad Titan took
down just about every other Avenger.
We've combed through decades of comics and months of interviews to find out just how
powerful Captain Marvel really is.
From her energy absorption powers to her intergalactic political prowess, here are the ways that
Captain Marvel could win the war against Thanos in Avengers 4.
Marvel-ous powers
In the comics, Captain Marvel is easily one of the heaviest hitters in the Marvel Universe.
During Infinity, one of the Thanos-centric storylines that served as an inspiration for
Avengers: Infinity War, Carol Danvers is part of the strike team of Avengers that attacks
Thanos and his Black Order on Earth.
That team includes Hulk, Thor, and Hyperion, who is basically Marvel's equivalent to Superman.
That's a powerful group, and Captain Marvel is as strong as any of them.
"Carol Danvers, aka, Captain Marvel, aka my favorite new Avenger."
Beyond her powers of super strength, flight, and energy blasts, she also has the ability
to absorb various forms of energy.
Like Chumbawumba, Captain Marvel gets knocked down, but gets back up again.
Thanos might be strong, but this will be the first time onscreen that he'll be fighting
someone who gets stronger the more power he throws at her.
Binary
One of Carol Danvers' key attributes is her status as a cosmic hero.
No matter what team she's a part of, her adventures very often take her to space.
In Uncanny X-Men #163, Carol and the X-Men were kidnapped by an alien race known as the
Brood, who performed experiments on her.
Their genetic meddling unlocked a new level of power for Danvers, giving her a new identity,
Binary, and a physical connection with the connective tissue of the universe.
Carol eventually burned out her new powers after restoring a dying sun to full health
and returned to her previous power levels — although when she overloads her absorption
powers, she's still able to tap into Binary form temporarily.
Thanos has no idea what he's in for.
Cinematic smackdown
Of course, the powers we previously mentioned are all from the comics.
Even if she's powerful in the comics, she can't possibly be more powerful than an Asgardian
god or the Sorcerer Supreme in the movies, right?
Wrong.
According to none other than Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige himself, Carol Danvers is
more formidable than anyone else we've seen in the MCU thus far.
In a talk with Vulture, Feige said:
"With Captain Marvel, she is as powerful a character as we've ever put in a movie.
Her powers are off the charts, and when she's introduced, she will be by far the strongest
character we've ever had."
There's a very good chance that the cinematic Carol Danvers can take down Thanos in a straight-up
fight, even without the help of the other Avengers.
Adapting Infinity Gauntlet
Infinity served as a major inspiration for some scenes in Infinity War, like the Wakanda
invasion and Thanos' Black Order helping him fight Earth's mightiest heroes.
But it wasn't the biggest influence on the film's plot.
That honor goes to Infinity Gauntlet, a miniseries that features Thanos assembling the Infinity
Gauntlet, destroying half of the universe in a single snap, capturing and torturing
his daughter Nebula, and fighting various Avengers with the power of his cosmically
powerful Gauntlet.
Sound familiar?
In Infinity Gauntlet, the remaining heroes who fight Thanos are led by a being with cosmic
awareness named Adam Warlock.
While Adam Warlock is due to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, it's been confirmed that
we won't see him in Avengers 4 — so it's much more likely that directors Joe and Anthony
Russo will sub in Captain Marvel.
Man with a plan
The reason that we're even talking about Captain Marvel's involvement in the upcoming Avengers
flick is due to Nick Fury dialing her up on a space pager at the end of Avengers: Infinity
War.
Fury has faked his death at least once onscreen, and the man's got a plan for everything.
It's not unlikely that he's anticipated an event on this scale, and worked out that plan
with Danvers before she left for space.
While Fury might be gone in Avengers 4, the massive network of SHIELD operatives should
still be around.
Well, half of them, anyway.
It makes sense that they would turn to the woman that's most experienced to take advantage
of it.
Military expertise
Aside from her powers, there's another aspect to Captain Marvel that might come into play
for Avengers 4: her military experience and role as a leader.
She was an Executive Director of SHIELD in the Ultimate Universe — and even in the
"regular" Marvel universe, she was a colonel in the Air Force.
Not to mention the many times she's led a team of heroes for interplanetary defense
or as the head of Alpha Flight.
While her superpowers and fighting prowess are arguably the flashiest aspects of the
character, it might just be her military leadership that helps her rally the Avengers to finally
stop Thanos.
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