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Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
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Captain Marvel is the name of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Most of these versions exist in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe.
Fictional character history Mar-Vell The first of these is an alien military officer, Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree Imperial Militia, who is sent to observe the planet Earth. Mar-Vell eventually wearies of his superiors' malign intent and allies himself with Earth as the Kree Empire brands him a traitor. From then on, Mar-Vell fights to protect Earth from all threats. Captain Mar-Vell was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Dec. 1967).
He would later be revamped by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. Having been exiled to the Negative Zone by the Supreme Intelligence, the only way Mar-Vell can temporarily escape is to exchange atoms with Rick Jones by means of special wristbands called Nega-Bands. He is also given superpowers and his Kree military uniform is replaced with a form fitting costume.
With the title's sales still fledgling, Marvel allowed Jim Starlin to conceptually revamp the character, although his appearance was little changed. Mar-Vell is freed from the Negative Zone and becomes a cosmic champion, the "Protector of the Universe" appointed by the cosmic entity Eon. Together, Mar-Vell and Rick continue to battle against evil, most notably battling the Death-worshipping Thanos. Mar-Vell became a close ally of the Titans, and one of their number, Elysius, became his lover.
However, his career was cut short when he developed inoperable cancer, the result of an earlier exposure to toxic nerve gas during a battle with Nitro. He died from this cancer on Titan in the presence of the Marvel Universe's superhero community, as chronicled in Marvel's first large-format graphic novel, The Death of Captain Marvel.
Young Avengers Mar-Vell In a flashback shown in the Young Avengers series, Captain Mar-Vell was captured together with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch by the Super-Skrull. However, the Skrull emperor's daughter, princess Anelle fell in love with him and together they conspired to overthrow the emperor and bring an end to the Kree-Skrull war.
They freed the Super-Skrull, whom the emperor had imprisoned for supposedly planning a coup. The Super-Skrull posed as Mar-Vell to allow him to escape. Princess Anelle was later killed when Galactus devoured her homeworld, but not before giving birth to the half-Kree/half-Skrull boy who would later be known as Teddy Altman, a.k.a. Hulkling.
Monica Rambeau The second Captain Marvel is Monica Rambeau, a Coast Guard lieutenant from New Orleans who possesses the power to transform herself into any form of energy. Her powers were briefly altered so that she can not transform to energy, but instead can generate a personal force field. Sometime later, the Stranger returned her energy transformation abilities. She is a member of the Avengers, at one point serves as their leader. She uses the name Photon for quite some time, until Genis-Vell adopts the same name. Genis-Vell and Monica discuss this and Monica decides on the name Pulsar.
Rambeau later joins H.A.T.E. (the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort) in the new series titled NEXTWAVE. In this series created by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, H.A.T.E. (a subsidiary of the Beyond Corporation©) forms a team to fight the Bizarre Weapons of Mass Destruction. Members include Monica Rambeau, a man known only as "The Captain", Boom Boom, Aaron Stack, and Elsa Bloodstone.
Genis-Vell The third Captain Marvel is Genis-Vell, the genetically-engineered son of Mar-Vell and his lover Elysius, created from the late Mar-Vell's cell samples and artificially aged to physical, if not emotional, maturity. Genis, like his father, wears the Nega-Bands, possesses Cosmic Awareness and is, for a time, bonded with Rick Jones. Although the pair do not get along at first, they eventually become good friends. However, Genis goes insane and threatens to destroy the universe.
After dying and resurrecting himself - with the secret aid of Baron Helmut Zemo - Genis-Vell joins the Thunderbolts under the name Photon. However, in accelerating his resurrection, Zemo links Genis to the ends of time, causing a degenerative effect on the universe. To prevent the inevitable destruction of all existence, Zemo scatters pieces of Genis-Vell's body through time and the Darkforce Dimension.
Phyla-Vell The fourth Captain Marvel is Phyla-Vell, Genis-Vell's younger sister. Her name is a taxonomical pun on the part of Peter David, who created the character. Phyla is created when Genis, an only child, recreates the universe and, in doing so, creates various anomalies which result in his mother being restored to life and his sister coming into existence. She is last seen romancing Moondragon.
Phyla-Vell appears in the Annihilation event, fighting alongside Nova's United Front in an effort to stop the destructive armies of Annihilus. She becomes the new Quasar after the original one is killed by Annihilus.
Phyla has superhuman strength. She can fire energy blasts, fly, and act like an "energy sponge", absorbing any energy attacks directed at her and returning them as energy blasts. Phyla also has cosmic awareness and is a proficient fighter.
Khn'nr The fifth Captain Marvel is Khn'nr, a Skrull sleeper agent who is binded with Mar-Vell's DNA to lock itself into Mar-Vell's form and given technological replicas of the Kree Nega-Bands. However, his mental conditioning was botched, causing Khn'nr's personality to be erased leaving the Mar-Vell persona dominant. Though part of the Secret Invasion, this Marvel decides to fight against the invading Skrulls.
Other versions Ultimate Captain Marvel The Ultimate Marvel miniseries Ultimate Secret introduces a renegade Kree who has been surgically altered to look human and sent to earth by his people to observe its destruction by the entity Gah Lak Tus, but defects to help the humans. He wears a specially designed combat suit that is activated by his wristwatch. The Kree technology in the suit gives Mahr Vehl increased strength and allows him to fly, create energy shields, turn invisible, view different fields of the light spectrum, and fire energy blasts through the totalkannon located on his lower arm.
His real name is Pluskommander (literal translation of +Commander) Geheneris Halason Mahr Vehl; a reference to both Mar-Vell and Genis-Vell. As with the Marvel Universe character of Mar-Vell, he assumes the identity of Dr. Philip Lawson, a scientist working on the space program. He is currently dating the Ultimate version of Carol Danvers. The name 'Captain Marvel' arises as a mispronunciation by General Nick Fury and Carol Danvers. Only the Falcon and Thor have bothered to learn how to pronounce his name correctly.
Ruins In the two issue Warren Ellis limited series Ruins (1995), Captain Marvel is one of the many Kree prisoners, in a Kree reservation in Nevada. The reservation was placed deliberately on top of a former nuclear test site. As a result of this the majority of the Kree are suffering from various forms of cancers and tumours including Mar-Vell who is the Kree's spokesperson. Mar-vell gives an interview to Daily Bugle reporter Phil Sheldon regarding the failed Kree invasion of Earth. Mar-vell recounts how his ship was made vulnerable to a nuclear strike when their cloaking and shielding was affected by cosmic radiation from a deceased Silver Surfer.
Fantastic Four: The End In the limited series, Fantastic Four: The End, the superheroine formerly known as Kismet (now under the name of Ayesha) has apparently taken over the Captain Marvel mantle in the not-too-distant future.
Bibliography of Captain Marvel titles (incomplete) Mar-Vell - Marvel Super-Heroes (1967) #12-13
- Captain Marvel (1968) #1-62
- Giant-Size Captain Marvel (1975) #1 (reprint book)
- Marvel Spotlight (1979) #1-4, #8
- Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) #1 (later reprinted in standard comic book format as The Death of Captain Marvel)
- The Life of Captain Marvel (1985) #1-5 (reprint series)
- Untold Legend of Captain Marvel (1997) #1-3
Monica Rambeau - Giant size Special Captain Marvel (1989) #1 (also referred to as Captain Marvel Special)
- Captain Marvel: Speaking Without Concern (1994) #1 (also referred to as Captain Marvel Special 2)
- Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. (2006) #5 (appears as Captain Marvel in flashback)
Genis-Vell - Secret Defenders (April, 1994) #14
- Cosmic Powers (1994) #3-6
- Captain Marvel (1995) #1-6
- Marvel - Shadows & Light (1997) #1-3
- Captain Marvel (2000) #0-35
- The Order (2002) #5-6
- Captain Marvel (2002) #1-25
- The New Thunderbolts (2004-2006) #1-18
- Thunderbolts (2006) #100 (death confirmed)
Khn'nr- Civil War: The Return (2007) #1
- Captain Marvel (2008) #1-5
- Secret Invasion:Who Do You Trust #1 (2008) #1-5
External links -
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- A history of the many Captain Marvels
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