The first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for 2019 is arriving in March, and it will serve as a new franchise storyline prequel tying into the ongoing arc that will culminate in “Avengers: Endgame†just the month after. This is “Captain Marvel†starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, a human air force pilot who receives alien super-powers and becomes a cosmic champion bearing the name of the comic-book label.
While in the adaptation of the character into the MCU makes her the first character to be styled as “Captain Marvel,†in the original Marvel Comics the name becomes a legacy title, with multiple characters having assumed it since the original – a male alien – appeared in Marvel Comics on 1967. In anticipation for the release of “Captain Marvel†on the MCU, we’ll list the various Captains that have appeared in the main Marvel comic-book timeline:
Captains Marvel
- Mar-Vell (1967) – an actual militia captain of the extraterrestrial Kree Empire, he original went to Earth on a mission to assess its space programs and determine if they would threaten Kree galactic interests; his disillusionment with his superiors cause him to defect and become protector of Earth; notable for his storyline ending in 1980 when the character died of cancer; he knew Carol Danvers from his Earthling cover identity; despite studio secrecy, fans theorize that Jude Law’s character in the movie his Mar-Vell
- Monica Rambeau (1982) – a New Orleans police officer (harbor patrol) that gained powers from exposure to an extra-dimensional weapon’s energy discharge; she is actually the first female Captain Marvel in the comics and was also a member/leader of the Avengers
- Genis-Vell (1993) – a clone son of Mar-Vell engineered through gene material of him and his lover Elysius; like his father he died, but was later resurrected and then “killed†again
- Phylla-Vell (2004) – willed into existence by one instance of Genis-Vell altering the main Marvel universe; presented as Genis’ “sister†created in the same manner as him; as the fourth Captain Marvel (and the second female, comics-wise) she was a member of the comic-book Guardians of the Galaxy and was later killed by Thanos
- Khn’nr (2007) – actually an infiltration agent of the Skrull Empire, locked into the appearance and (imitation) powers of Mar-Vell; he explains himself as having come to be through hi-jinks in the spacetime continuum from when the original Mar-Vell was alive; later embraced his implanted memories as the real ones and fought against his fellow Skrulls during the Secret Invasion, and was killed
- Noh-Varr (2000) – a Kree space sailor from an alternate dimension that was stranded in the main Marvel universe; alternately ally then enemy of Earth, he is inspired by a dying Khn’nr to become its protector and assume the Captain Marvel identity
- Carol Danvers (1968) – a human and US Air Force officer first introduced as the security chief of a classified missile base; she becomes Mar-Vell’s major Earth ally and accidentally gets her genetic structure melded with his in the explosion of an alien “psyche-magnetron†device; with her super-powers she becomes the first Ms. Marvel, carrying that identity for most of her career until deciding to style herself as Captain Marvel in a 2012 Marvel Comics storyline
“Captain Marvel†premieres March 8.
