Who is Captain Marvel?

The answer depends on what comic publisher you’re talking about and what time period you’re talking about. Fawcett Comics published the first Captain Marvel during the Golden Age. This was teenager Billy Batson, whom a bolt of lightning transformed into a being with godlike powers (speed of Mercury, etc.) when he spoke the name of the ancient wizard “Shazam!” Publication of the original character ceased at some point.

In 1967, Marvel Comics took advantage of the lapsed trademark and created their own character named Captain Marvel. He was the Kree alien warrior Mar-Vell who battled the alien Skrulls. He was an ally of the Avengers and appeared in many Marvel cosmic stories. For a time, he was confined to the Negative Zone but by banging his Nega Bands together on his wrists, he could exchange places with Rick Jones, the former Hulk groupie, who would then take Mar-Vell’s place in the Negative Zone. This Captain Marvel succumbed to cancer in the early ‘80s.

Meanwhile, DC had bought the Fawcett characters and wanted to revive its Captain Marvel but Marvel’s use of the name prohibited this. Ever since, DC has been allowed to publish Captain Marvel as a character but cannot publish a book with the Captain Marvel name. Instead, all his adventures are under the title Shazam. (Contrary to popular belief, the character’s name was never Shazam; that is the name of the wizard Billy Batson invokes to transform. I believe DC has now given up and changed the character’s name to Shazam but this makes no sense because anytime Billy Batson says his alter ego’s name, lightning will strike him and transform him.)

For that reason, Marvel is compelled to constantly publish a character named Captain Marvel to hold onto the copyright of the name. That is why immediately after Mar-Vell died, Monica Rambeau claimed the name. She had nothing to do with the Kree but was a woman from New Orleans who could transform into any form of energy. The second Captain Marvel served the Avengers for years in the ‘80s and became team leader. She later took the code name Photon, then Pulsar. She is now known as Spectrum and is on an Avengers team.

For a few years, various Mar-Vell’s family members held the title Captain Marvel. That brings us to the current title holder, fan favorite Carol Danvers. She debuted in the late ‘60s as an Air Force officer who later edited Woman magazine. In the ‘70s, she received Kree DNA, which gave her strength, flight and a “seventh sense” for danger, and took the name Ms. Marvel, wearing a flashy costume with a lightning bolt and red sash. She starred in her own title and was an Avenger.

Ms. Marvel’s time with the team ended in a controversial story in Avengers #200. She had been abducted to another dimension and seduced by Marcus, the son of time-traveler Kang. Marcus impregnated Ms. Marvel, who went through pregnancy in a matter of days and gave birth to a being who was somehow Marcus himself, as a way for him to enter our dimension. Carol spent much of the story traumatized, not knowing how she got pregnant and unwilling to have a baby. Weird, right? Not as weird as how the Avengers reacted. Ms. Marvel ended up going to limbo with Marcus and appeared to live happily ever after with him. The Avengers let her go.

A few months later, Carol turned up on Earth in Avengers Annual #10. She had been attacked by Rogue in the latter’s short-lived villain days and Rogue had permanently absorbed Carol’s powers and memories. While working with Professor Xavier to repair the damage to her psyche, Carol told off the Avengers, reminding them that Marcus had raped her, impregnated her and brainwashed her into going with him — and the team questioned none of it. Chris Claremont apparently wrote that as a response when so many people were upset by Jim Shooter’s original story.

Xavier helped Carol recover her memories but she had no emotions attached to them so she could remember her parents but felt no love for them. The memory theft was also a kind of torture for Rogue, who was never sure which thoughts and memories were her own and which were Carol’s. The two had a memorable conflict when Carol returned to the X-Mansion, found Rogue joining the X-Men and punched her in the face, knocking Rogue into the stratosphere.

Carol spent much of the ‘80s running around in space with the Starjammers, extraterrestrial allies of the X-Men. Known as Binary, she had the ability to tap into the energies of a star. Over time, this power diminished and she got her memories back from Rogue. When the Avengers reorganized in the late ‘90s, she was an easy choice for membership, using the name Warbird.

However, it didn’t last long as Carol’s drinking (never before alluded to as far as I remember) got out of control. She botched a mission while drunk, endangering lives, and quit the team before the Avengers could court martial her. She sobered up and rejoined, and has since become a stalwart of the team. Along the way, she even faced down the demons of her ordeal with Marcus.

Giving Carol the title Captain Marvel was long overdue and giving her a movie is also a great move (just cast Katie Sackhoff now). She’s earned both those things.