This page is for Marvel’s first Captain Marvel. For the current Captain Marvel see Ms. Marvel. For other Captain Marvels see Pulsar, Genis-Vell, Phyla-Vell, Khn’nr and Noh-Varr. For the original Captain Marvel see Billy Batson.
Current Events
Most recently, the original Captain Marvel was revived by the Phoenix Force. More Phoenix than Mar-Vell, this new Dark Marvel wished to destroy Hala and all who stood in his way. In his final moments, Mar-Vell’s conscience broke free of the Phoenix’s influence and sacrificed himself to avert disaster.
Origin
A Kree Sentry was defeated on Earth by The Fantastic Four and subsequently so was Ronan the Accuser. Astonished by these events, the Kree sent a starship to monitor Earth and gather information on its advancements in missile and space technology. On the way to Earth, Mar-Vell was ordered to take a small crew and make contact with the missing Grand General Devros on a Brood infested planet. Captain Mar-Vell and Una barely escaped a now Brood infected Devros and the Brood Queen. They were rescued by the Shiar guard led by Deathbird, and re-united with their ship bound for Earth.
Mar-Vell was given orders to infiltrate Earth by his commander, Colonel Yon-Rogg, who was jealous of both Mar-Vellâs reputation as a warrior and his relationship with the shipâs medic, Una. One day while Mar-Vell was returning to the ship to renew his supply of breathing potions, Yon-Rogg tried to assassinate him by âaccidentallyâ firing the shipâs laser beams at him, but a small private plane came between the beams and Mar-Vell, and it was destroyed instead. Mar-Vell went to the aid of the plane, where he found the only occupant to be the now-deceased Dr. Walter Lawson, whom Yon-Rogg had just murdered–and who bore an astonishing resemblance to Mar-Vell himself. Lawson was an expert on missiles and robotics who had just been transferred to the nearby military base. Seeing this opportunity to infiltrate The Cape, Mar-Vell decided to assume Dr. Lawson’s identity and pose as him. Yon-Rogg would continue trying to assassinate Mar-Vell, and activated a dormant Kree Sentry in the hope of that it would kill him. Mar-Vell defeated Sentry #459 in his Kree uniform, and during the battle, bystanders misunderstood the Kree soldier, thinking he had called himself Captain âMarvel.” Thus a new super-hero was born.
“I just heard that masked guy say his name was Captain Marvel — and then WHAMMO!” – Anonymous Soldier, Captain Marvel #1 (1968)
Creation
Captain Marvel was created by writer Stan Lee and designed by artist Gene Colan. He first appeared in “The Coming of Captain Marvel” in Marvel Super-Heroes #12, December 1967, The success of his appearances in Marvel Super-Heroes soon led to an ongoing series. Captain Marvel’s powers were re-imagined in Captain Marvel #11 (Mar. 1969) by writer Arnold Drake. In Captain Marvel #16 (Sep. 1969) writer Archie Goodwin, artist Don Heck, and colorist Michele Robinson gave Captain Marvel his iconic red-and-black uniform, but with the black contrasted in blue (as was then standard procedure), which he would wear for the majority of his appearances.
Character Evolution
Mar-Vell continued to live on Earth, both under the identity of Dr. Walter Lawson and as Captain Marvel. During his stay, he began to appreciate the human spirit and loyalty. As Captain Marvel, he also became close to a United States Air Force Colonel, Carol Danvers, who was falling for him whilst, ironically, investigating his alter ego Walter Lawson, whom she suspected of treason. Mar-Vell’s and Carolâs closeness greatly troubled Una, who felt the man she loved was slipping away from her. Eventually, Una would fall victim to Yon-Roggâs hatred towards Mar-Vell and pay with her life as she was shot in an attempt to save him. By this time Mar-Vell had been branded a traitor to the Kree due to his repeated refusal to harm humans. In his quest to save Una, Marvel took her away in a stolen rocket from The Cape. However she eventually succumbed to her injuries and died on board.
After an unknown time of helplessly wandering through space, Mar-Vell met a being named Zo who apparently granted him incredible new powers. However, Zo was actually an illusion created by Zarek and Ronan in the hope of fooling Mar-Vell into destroying the Kree home world of Kree-Lar and overthrowing the Supreme Intelligence (“Supremor”). Their plans failed because the Supreme Intelligence was already aware of Zarek’s and Ronan’s plans and rescued Mar-Vell from execution at Ronan’s hands. Mar-Vell was rewarded for his bravery with a special uniform, and kept some of the powers given to him by Zo. The Supreme Intelligence, unfortunately for Mar-Vell, had not forgiven him for his loyalty to Earth, and it exiled Captain Mar-Vell to the Negative Zone, a “negative-matter” continuum alongside that of Earth. There he would remain trapped until he was able to lure Rick Jones to a pair of millennia-old “Nega-Bands” by using an apparition of Captain America. (Jones was attempting to replace James “Bucky” Barnes as the Captain’s partner, and was unaware at the time that the Captain’s greatest enemy, the Red Skull, had used a Cosmic Cube to cause himself and the Captain to switch bodies.) Once worn, the Nega-Bands could be used by Rick to exchange places with Captain Marvel and vice versa; they remained on Earth on the wrists of whichever of the two was on Earth at the time.
Major Story Arcs
The Coming of Captain Marvel
Colonel Yon-Rogg, Commander of the Kree starship Helion, ordered Captain Mar-Vell to infiltrate The Cape military base on Earth alone while the rest of the crew monitored from the ship. Medic Una protested that this command was against protocol but Mar-Vell told his beloved that Yon-Rogg was trying to keep them apart as he lusted after her. After landing on Earth, Mar-Vell reached The Cape, where his presence was detected due to the radiation in his Kree battle suit. Soldiers were sent after him but Mar-Vell managed to escape using a combination of advanced Kree technology and the heightened physical abilities he gained due to Earthâs lower gravity compared to his home planet.
Shortly afterwards, Mar-Vell checked into a hotel in disguise. Whilst he was in his room, Yon-Rogg attached a wrist monitor on Mar-Vellâs arm, allowing his every move to be tracked. Mar-Vell then received a transmission from Kree Imperial Minister Zarek telling him that if he did not succeed, then he would die.
Mar-Vell then finished converting his Uni-Beam into a wrist blaster and headed back to the Helion. But on his way, Colonel Yon-Rogg attempted to assassinate his rival by appearing to âaccidentallyâ activate the shipâs laser beams. The beams instead struck a small private plane, and when Mar-Vell went to its aid, he found the dead pilot, whom Yon-Rogg had just murdered, to be the only one on board. The pilotâs identification showed his name to be Dr. Walter Lawson and identified him as a scientist who had just been reassigned to the nearby military base. Seeing this opportunity, Mar-Vell altered Lawsonâs ID and took his place in order to further his mission on Earth. Mar-Vell arrived at The Cape military base under the guise of Dr. Walter Lawson and began his new job on Earth. Head of Security Carol Danvers expressed her suspicions of Dr. Lawson as his credentials had not been fully cleared. Nonetheless The Capeâs Commander, General Bridges, showed Lawson a dormant Kree Sentry they had recovered after it was defeated by The Fantastic Four. Yon-Rogg saw Sentry #459 as the perfect weapon to eliminate his rival with and remotely activated it from his ship.
Out of The Holocaust⦠A Hero
On being reactivated by Yon-Rogg, Sentry #459 concluded that The Cape was a threat and had to be destroyed. The Sentry started attacking the base and personnel within, when Captain Mar-Vell arrived and announced his Kree military rank. However, based on its original orders, the Sentry refused to stand down and an explosive battle began. A nearby soldier thought he overheard the Man of Kree call himself Captain âMarvel,â and this became Mar-Vellâs super-hero name on Earth. During the battle, Yon-Rogg viewed the events from the Helion, sure his rival would be killed, allowing him to win Una to his lust. Meanwhile, Carol Danvers got trapped near the Sentry, forcing General Bridges to call off air support as Mar-Vell and Danvers were too close to the target. Following a lengthy battle Captain Marvel was ultimately victorious, but Yon-Rogg reported him as a traitor to Ronan for defending humans against a Kree Sentry. Ronan was displeased that the Colonel had jeopardized the mission for a personal vendetta and warned him not to do it again.
During his mission on Earth, Captain Marvel began growingly attached to humans and saw them as a flawed yet noble race. He would often contemplate how although humans are years behind Kree advancement, they possess characteristics such as emotions and affections â traits that are frowned upon by his own race. Mar-Vell would regularly battle foes in order to stop them from harming humans. He would usually disguise his actions and pretend they served his greater mission as a Kree spy, so as not to raise the suspicion of his superiors. However these actions did not go unnoticed by Yon-Rogg who regularly labelled Mar-Vell as a traitor. During an epic battle against Namor, The Sub-Mariner, Mar-Vell was ordered to allow a germ bomb to explode in New York harbour so the effects on humans can be studied. However Mar-Vell âinadvertentlyâ allowed Namor to disarm the bomb thus preventing a catastrophe. This directly led to Mar-Vell being put on trial by Ronan after Yon-Rogg accused him of treason. Ronan considers the evidence and says he is concerned and angered by some of Mar-Vellâs actions, however due to his previous record and future usefulness, decides to let the Captainâs future actions judge his destiny.
Man of Kree
Captain Marvel once again finds himself defending humans when when he saves The Cape from being destroyed by SOLAM. An enraged Yon-Rogg reports this to Ronan and Mar-Vell is out on trial for the second time. Mar-Vell admits aiding the humans but denies his motives were to become a hero on Earth. He says he has successfully infiltrated The Cape and allowing it to be destroyed would be harmful to his mission of studying Earth. Ronan the Accuser decides Mar-Vell must destroy an entire Earth community to prove he isn’t a traitor.
A short time later Quasimodo attacks The Cape and Mar-Vell chases the villain to an amusement park re-enacting a town from the 1890âs where the inhabitants are actually robot mannequins. Quasimodo has taken over the town and is using the robots as an army. Mar-Vell finds his foe in the control centre and destroys it using his U-Beam. This causes the âtownsfolkâ to drop dead and simultaneously Mar-Vell appears to be carrying out his murderous orders. As he flies back the Man of Kree wonders how long can he keep up this game of double deceit â false hero to Earth and counterfeit crusader to his own people?
Rebirth
Mar-Vell would attain a new level of consciousness and be issued a new uniform as “Protector Of The Universe.” The Supreme Intelligence, or “Supremor,” the conscious collective of all the great Kree minds of years past that was the overall ruler of the Kree Empire, saw Mar-Vell as both a threat and a hero. Hence, it awarded Mar-Vell a new unique uniform and “allowed” him to keep him his new abilities, yet simultaneously exiled him to the Negative Zone, a “negative matter” continuum alongside that of Earth. His only chance of freedom proved to be for the Earth human Rick Jones to put on a pair of millenniums-old Kree “Nega-Bands” and strike them together above his head. He would appear in hologram illusions to lead Rick to the nega bands on Earth that would set Captain Marvel free. By striking the bands together, Mar-Vell aka Captain Marvel and Rick Jones would exchange places.
However, Mar-Vell remained his own unique character. About this time, Yon-Rogg kidnapped Carol Danvers, but was defeated by Mar-Vell, who got his revenge for the death of the medic Una, his first love. Using the Psyche-Magnetron, the warrior hero known as Mar-Vell, for the first time, showed signs of denying his killer side for his romantic one and having to balance the two. Mar-Vell, as much hatred as he felt for Yon-Rogg, as demonstrated in the beating he gave him, had to decide which life to save, that of his new love, Carol Danvers, or that of Yon-Rogg, The answer proved to be obvious, as Yon-Rogg died in the explosion from which Mar-Vell rescued Danvers. However, during this explosion, Mar-Vell’s DNA was absorbed into Carol’s body, thus eventually giving birth to Ms. Marvel.
After many adventures, Mar-Vell got the idea to use Mr. Fantastic‘s portal to the Negative Zone to bring Rick Jones out. This led to a brief battle with Annihilus. By doing this the two were both able to be side by side on Earth, which would later be an opportunity to explore the Mar-Vell character as his own separate entity. But due to the circumstances, this would not happen until later in their story. Shortly after, Rick Jones and Mar-Vell were stuck in the middle of the Kree/Skrull War alongside the Avengers. The Avengers searched for Captain Marvel and eventually located him. They broke into the Baxter Building and freed Rick Jones from the Negative Zone, then fought Annihilus. Mar-Vell ended up in the hospital, where the Kree Sentry paid him a visit. Aware that Captain Mar-Vell might be in such danger, The Vision, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch were there to attempt to protect him, but they failed. The Kree Sentry managed to teleport out of their reaches, with Mar-Vell as its prisoner.
Captain Marvel, Rick Jones would confront Ronan and the Kree Sentry on a remote island. When they come back home, the Alien Activities Commission is searching for aliens, the Avengers fearing Mar-Vell’s safety tell him and Carol Danvers to go into hiding. Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, and two Avengers are kidnapped by the Skrulls. Carol Danvers ends up being Super-Skrull who used his shape shifter abilities. Super Skrull is now holding Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Captain Marvel hostage and plans to deliver them to the Skrull Emperor, however not before destroying another obstacle in their way of domination: The Hidden City of the Inhumans. Although the Vision interferes with this attempt, the Hidden City has defenses that protect it from the Super Skrulls attack. Realizing that his powers are no match for the Super Skrull, the Vision leaves so as not to risk the lives of those he plans to save. Taken back to the Skrull home world, the Super Skrull arrives and fights his way to the throne room of the Emperor to deliver his prisoners. There they force Mar-Vell to agree to build an Omni-Wave device for them when they threaten to destroy Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Mar-Vell agrees and the two mutants are spared.
This is where Skrull Princess Anelle would have an affair with Mar-Vell and Hulkling would be conceived. While he was building the Omni-Wave for the Skrulls. While working on the Omni-Wave, Mar-Vell was actually building a device to cast a holographic illusion of himself, and he begins fighting to free himself and his friends from the Skrulls. After being rescued by the Avengers they head over to the Kree Empire to save Rick Jones from Ronan.
The Supreme Intelligence released the potential that Rick Jones had in him. Using this power Jones was able to stop the war by himself. But due to this Rick Jones was dying and the only way to save him was for Mar-Vell and him to share the bond they once had. After a while, however, Jones lost his ability to contain this bond. It was to his advantage that he was involved, at the time, with the niece of Professor Dr. Benjamin Savannah, Ph.D., M.D., who was able to bombard Jones with a photonic energy to treat him, thereby saving his life. After this they were able to keep exchanging places, and moreover, Mar-Vell gained the power to absorb solar energy and use it for strength and for firing bolts of force from his hands.
Protector of the Universe
He would unite and lead a team consisting of The Avengers, Thing, Mentor, Eros, and Drax the Destroyer. ISAAC, the worldwide computer system of Titan, in its singular form, acknowledged that Mar-Vell would be the only one with any chance of defeating Thanos, estimating the possibility of his success at a mere .04% chance.
That was when the being known as Eon, who came to Mar-Vell and gave him a choice of which side of his future he would embrace in order to defeat Thanos, the protector or the warrior. Mar-Vell was then appointed The ” Protector of the Universe” and was granted his “cosmic awareness”, making him “one with the universe itself”. After this Mar-Vell became the driving force in stopping Thanos in the first Cosmic Cube saga, eventually defeating him by shattering the cosmic cube itself. Rick Jones and Mar-Vell were once again able to break the bond they share although they needed to do it every once in awhile to restore Mar-Vell’s powers to its fullest.
When Commander Zarek commanded the Lunatic Legion, he ordered Nitro, a criminal able to explode his body and reintegrate himself without harm to his own body, to steal a canister of a powerful nerve gas called Compound 13. Mar-Vell stopped Nitro and was able to close the canister before anyone else was exposed to the gas. Although he did not realize it at the time, Mar-Vell himself had been unable to avoid being exposed to the gas, which would later have grave consequences. Mar-Vell later would defeat the Lunatic Legion and went back to the Kree Homeworld to tell the Supreme Intelligence of their plans. The Supreme Intelligence once again knew of the enemy plots, and said that he had chosen Mar-Vell for his genetic make-up and Rick Jones for his psychic potential. This is when the Supreme Intelligence tried to absorb Jones’s and Mar-Vell’s brains, but Mar-Vell and Rick Jones were able to fight it and Mar-Vell left the Kree Empire for good. Mar-Vell would often team-up with the Avengers and Fantastic Four.
In Captain Marvel #50, after teaming up with, and leading The Avengers and defeating the Super-Adaptoid, a being who cloned all of the prominent Avengers’s powers and weapons, including Mar-Vell’s own nega bands, Mar-Vell would be able to free both himself and Rick Jones from the Negative Zone permanently so both would be able to be separate and free from switching atoms in Captain Marvel #50. He would team with Drax the Destroyer in this period.
Death of Captain Marvel
A plot hole was left open as Mar-Vell’s spirit form was separated from his body in Marvel Graphic Novel #1 “The Death of Captain Marvel”, this was made apparent just as Mar-Vell’s physical body on our realm of existence fell into coma. Marvel’s “The Death of Captain Marvel” is one of the more widely respected comics of it’s time. Despite a continued interest and mailing campaign by fans, only time will tell if Marvel will bring back the original Mar-Vell, Captain Marvel.
Marvel’s Legacy, Three Children
After Mar-Vell’s death, his lover, the Titian Elysius, would impregnate herself on two occasions. These would result with the birth of Genis-Vell and Phyla-Vell. During the Kree-Skrull War, Mar-Vell would have an affair with Skrull Princess Anelle, and fathered Hulkling.
The Return?
In February of 2007, Marvel would release a one shot issue called “The Return” in their Civil War story arc, with Captain Marvel’s symbol on the cover, this would sell 125, 707* comics being the #2 issue of the month, and an announced “Coming soon: Captain Marvel #1” teaser was put in the last page, in a book that had a Sentry story as well for whatever reason. For the character page of the Skrull-Sleeper agent see: Khn’nr. Mar-Vell would fight real evils of the world such as war, famine, death and the like, as opposed to “guys in silly costumes”. He would travel from America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the world over, all of which shown in only a few brief panels due to the “limited” series.
He would actually achieve a day in which there would be peace on Earth, as documented by journalist Nathan Freeman, not a single shot would be fired on Earth for 24 hours. Although this Mar-Vell would be revealed to be a Skrull, he would still rebel to fight against the invading Skrulls. Khn’nr proved to be just as inspirational as the original Mar-Vell, inspiring the Kree ensign Noh-Varr to carry on in his name. This added Noh-Varr to a list of characters including Monica Rambeau, Quasar, Genis-Vell, Carol Danvers, Marvin Ellwood, Captain Atlas, Phyla-Vell, Photon, and Pulsar as one of the many Captain Marvel successors.
Avengers vs. X-Men
During the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, Kree mystics appear to have resurrected Mar-Vell, using a piece of the M’Kraan Crystal in conjunction with the Phoenix Force. The resurrected Captain Marvel is deployed to act as a pawn against the Avengers and in defense of the Phoenix Force. He is shown collaborating with Ms. Marvel and Protector, announcing that they must “Destroy the Avengers”. Mar-Vell, Ms. Marvel, and the Protector battle the Avengers while under mental influence. The Vision begins to free members of the Kree by countering the mind control, but the Kree are executed. The Vision then freed Mar-Vell, Ms. Marvel and the Protector from control. It turns out that Mar-Vell had a blue-skinned Kree nephew who lived in disgrace due to the Mar-Vell name being disgraced by Mar-Vell siding with Earth against the Kree long ago. This nephew was named Minister Marvel and his son had the power to influence and control minds. Minister Marvel’s plan was to have the Phoenix evolve the Kree race and take credit for it thus redeeming the name Mar-Vell. Reviving Captain Mar-Vell was part of his plan as he needed a messianic figure to help rally and influence the Kree. Upon seeing his plan fail, Minister Marvel killed his son then killed himself in front of Mar-Vell. The Avengers then confront the Phoenix Force as it approaches the Kree homeworld. Thor and Ms. Marvel fail to stop it and even though Captain Britain was holding the Phoenix at bay, Mar-Vell sensed the truth of the situation. The Phoenix Force was coming to the Kree world to reclaim the Phoenix energy within Mar-Vell’s body that brought him back to life and put his cancer into stasis. He sends Captain Britain away and sacrifices himself to save the Kree race that shunned him by allowing the Phoenix Force to reclaim its energies. The process left Mar-Vell adrift in space and his lifeless body was later seen on the planet with plant life suddenly growing around it. Ms. Marvel reports all this in the Avengers log and decides that the name of Captain Marvel must continue.
Powers and Abilities
Mar-Vell is a warrior. The “best of the best” of the soldiers of the Kree Empire whose tyrannical rule spans many planets as recorded in Marvel Comics History. This means that Mar-Vell has the best in hand to hand combat skills and war strategy before the addition of any superpowers, as evidenced in the characters evolution through encounters with “Zo”, “Eon”, the “Nega-Bands”, or any of the character’s adventures or natural progression.
He had the ability to absorb solar energy. By doing this, he was able to greatly increase his strength. It also gave him the ability to fly and to fire blasts of energy from his body. Captain Marvel was “cosmically aware”, meaning that he was semi-omniscient. He could see an enemy’s weakness simply by thinking about it, thus having a superhuman insight coupled with his already proven warrior skill, leadership and intelligence. Mar-Vell had achieved a mental “nirvana” of sorts, the complexity of which being that he was both warrior and protector.
Thanks to the Nega-Bands, Mar-Vell became able to store much more solar energy and focus his photon blast. By hitting the Nega Bands together, Mar-Vell was able to switch places with Rick Jones, who resided in the Negative Zone.
Mar-Vell was a captain in the Kree Army. In the military, he received advanced training in hand-to-hand combat as well as armed combat with a multitude of weapons. He also had a firm understanding of warfare and was an apt tactician.
Mar-Vell can fly unaided in space at, or in excess of, light speeds, no longer needing food for sustenance. He appears to be stronger in the day when on Earth as to siphon solar energy.
Mar-Vell’s leadership is often an underrated category in his skillset, but is evidenced in his categorical role of leader when teaming with with Earth’s mightiest heroes, namely The Avengers (as evidenced in the first cosmic cube saga involving Thanos, which is chronicled in CM #25-#33) in any of his incarnations.
Another misconception is that Mar-Vell needed the nega bands for the power of flight, which is erroneous journalism at best, as he was granted this and other powers (teleportation and illusion casting) by the being called “Zo” which ended up being a from for an internal conspiracy in the Kree Supreme Council.
Captain Marvel is said to have been 6’2″ tall, and around 240 lbs, and would have knowledge of most mechanical and war devices of the Kree Empire. He did have some degree of what could be referred to as superhuman intelligence, however this seems to be overlooked in the known rating systems. He was able to shoulder the burden of cosmic awareness in it’s fullest scope without going insane. The scope of Cosmic awareness does touch upon omniscience and as evidenced in his comics, this power grew in magnitude as the comic went on, actually using it to channel life force in CM #61 and to speak with animals, eventually becoming such an asset he could turn it inward for the use of medical scans as well as a communication tool without any movement of body (see Hulk #246).
Another aspect of Captain Marvel’s powers is that once he was separated from Rick Jones, he can create a portal to the negative zone by simply concentrating and clanging his bands together. (Captain Marvel #57)
Mar-Vell has been shown being able to dodge lasers at point blank range and anticipate an enemy’s method of attack before they do it themselves.
Mar-Vell ‘s original power assessment in the early works, was simply to turn the psionic energy into the physical energy, leaving a touch of ambiguity.. So the scope of Mar-Vell’s powers have never really been accurately described in printed form, at any of his various power enhancements, especially with Cosmic Awareness.
It is also of note, that the true gauge, or ‘scope’ as they say, of Marvel’s cosmic awareness has never been truly defined though it did grow and expand as the character progressed. It went from determining a villain’s weakness to out of body contact. Ex. Hulk #246 where Mar-Vell communicated with the Hulk at the most fierce point of his rage simply by touching him and again in Captain Marvel #60 where he managed to calm the beasts commanded by the alluring Elyisius and win her heart simultaneously.
Alternate realities
Ultimate Captain Marvel (Earth-1610)
Pluskommander Geheneris Halason Mahr Vehl of the Kree Void Navy was part of a unit sent to Earth on a mission of observation. While the rest of his unit remained off-world, he underwent extensive reconstructive surgery to appear as human and went undercover as Dr. Phillip Lawson. Their mission was to observe Earth being destroyed by the Gah Lak Tus entity, but Mahr-Vehl came to appreciate humanity. He inserted himself into the human’s Asis Project, which was to be a breakthrough in space travel via zero point energy. His plan was to contribute enough to accelerate the project and give human beings the capability to leave Earth when Gah Lak Tus came, sparing at least a fraction of the population.
Mahr Vehl’s commanding officer, Yahn Rgg, had more dire plans for the human race. Knowledge of the true nature of Gah Lak Tus drove him over the edge of sanity, and he wanted to make sure that no human could escape extinction. On the day of Asis’ completion, Yahn Rgg deployed a Kree Killform to destroy it. Mahr Vehl armored up and protected the key component of Asis as best he could, destroying the Killform in the process. The resulting explosion left him stunned and captured by S.H.I.E.L.D.
When he woke up, he was interrogated by Carol Danvers, head of security for the Asis Project and a human he had cultivated an amusing antagonistic relationship with. He had no choice but to tell the truth about himself, and when Nick Fury joined the discussion, he mentioned Gah Lak Tus. He knew that Fury already knew that name, because he was aware that S.H.I.E.L.D. had found the herald prior to this. Mahr Vehl told Fury that he was effectively defecting to help the human race.
After killing Yahn Rgg and acquiring the Kree data on Gah Lak Tus, Mahr Vehl allied with S.H.I.E.L.D., the Ultimates and the Fantastic Four to develop a means of defense against the entity. He helped them apprehend one of the Silver Surfers, the true heralds of Gah Lak Tus, for study and interrogation. It was Reed Richards who came up with the key to their defense, though, and his weapon managed to hurt Gah Lak Tus enough to drive the entity away.
Meanwhile, Mahr Vehl helped fight off an army of Moondragon clones seeking to stop their defense. He was injured during the fight and bound to a wheelchair for a month afterward. Mahr Vehl later died at the hands of Earth-616’s Galactus as he and his Earth-1610 counterpart consumed the Kree homeworld. His armor passed onto Rick Jones, who became the next Captain Marvel.
Earth-23099
In this universe Captain Mar-Vell was a wielder of the Power Cosmic and a member of the Illuminati. He perished at the hands of the Black Priests when they invaded Earth-23099 during the middle of an incursion with another universe they had already laid waste to.
Earth X (Earth-9997)
In this reality there are two Mar-Vell’s, one was born the child of Him and Her and traveled with Captain America to secure relics that would help the other Mar-Vell in the war against Death.
The second Mar-Vell was the soul of the original, who had merged with Captain Universe in the Realm of the Dead to become the Marvel Universe entity, which helped guide his living counterpart to the relics during his journey.
During the war, Mar-Vell lead an army of dead heroes and villains against Thanos and Death. Mar-Vell convinces Thanos to use the Ultimate Nullifier on Death.
With Death gone, Mar-Vell creates a Paradise in the Negative Zone for the dead. People find that they are unable to die. Mar-Vell, after realizing that now no one could die, in hospitals suffering, restores Death itself after defeating it.
It is noteworthy that Mar-Vell himself remains alive in our physical realm at the story’s climax in Paradise X, the third in the Earth X trilogy and when asked where he is going, he ambiguously replies “Someplace better.”
Earth-58163
In the House of M reality, Captain Marvel died during the Kree/Skrull war while fighting alongside Magneto and Earth’s heroes. This sacrifice forged an alliance between the kree and Earth. In his memory Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel, much like many characters throughout the MU, has taken up his name.
Cancerverse
Lord Mar-Vell, as he is known, is the ruler of The Cancerverse and the voice of The Many-Angled Ones. In his reality, The Many-Angled Ones had already begun encroaching upon their universe but could not enter until a rift in the firmament could be promptly torn open.
A rift, which turned out to be none other than Captain Mar-Vell, a Kree hero who was dying of Cancer or “The Black Death” as it was known on their world. As Mar-Vell slipped further and further into Death’s hands and the empathic distress of all who loved and worshiped him grew, something dark, twisted and foul called out to Mar-Vell from the abyss.
It appealed to Mar-Vell’s desire to live and showed him a simple truth, “Even Death May Die”. Too weak to realize that he was being fooled, Mar-Vell listened to the entities words as if they were gospel from above and learned of a ritual called The Necropsy. Mar-Vell was transfigured by these words and by those who spoke to him from the never-there and, on his deathbed, asked those who had come to see him one last time to join hands with him.
The Many-Angled Ones had their victory, by touching Mar-Vell’s hands, all of his allies were transfigured into that which should never be just as Mar-Vell himself had been in secret. With their combined might they captured Thanos and performed The Necropsy, thus destroying Death and allowing The Many-Angled Ones to pour into The Cancerverse uncontested.
He was first seen being greeted by Adam Magus and Vaughn, The Cancerverse equivalent of Quasar, on The Eternal Sin, the flagship of The Universal Church of Truth’s military forces. When Mar-Vell learned that Adam had failed to perform The Necropsy on Earth-616 he murdered Adam for failing to do as he was told. Upon doing so though, Mar-Vell expressed concern over being in a Universe where things could still die, and would require some time to get used to it.
Putting aside his own personal feelings, Lord Mar-Vell then ordered Vaughn go back home and assemble their elite fighting force, The Revengers, in preparation for their inevitable confrontation with Thanos and many other factions who seek to stop The Many-Angled Ones from conquering Earth-616. Lord Mar-Vell was later seen stopping Major Victory from escaping, after Iron Man and Ms. Marvel had failed to keep him in their grasp.
After learning that the Major was an anomaly, Lord Mar-Vell took a closer look but discovered that, like his other prisoners (including Namorita Prentiss), Major Victory was nothing more than a temporal anomaly and had him thrown in the same cell where the other temporal anomalies were being kept.
It was also learned that Lord Mar-Vell and his Revengers had abandoned The Eternal Sin for another ship, namely Thanos’ old starcruiser: The Sanctuary, which was where The Necropsy had been performed in The Cancerverse. Lord Mar-Vell was again seen speaking with Vaughn, who had brought Mar-Vell details of what had happened to his Earth-616 counterpart. The Scarlet Witch arrived with news of The Defenders of The Realms destruction and, at the behest of Ms. Marvel, sent The Revengers back to The Cancerverse to investigate the incident.
Lord Mar-Vell’s Revengers were betrayed by Scarlet Witch, who had been part of the resistance the whole time. Angry at them for hurting her love Vision, she unleashed a powerful blast that knocked all of the Revengers out for the time being. It was later revealed that Lord Mar-Vell brutally killed Wanda after her betrayal. Lord Mar-Vell then led the Revengers to intercept Thanos and Star-Lord. Thanos and Mar-Vell went head on but despite Thanos’ superior abilities, he gave himself over to Mar-Vell in the hopes of joining death in the afterlife.
Using the Infinity Gauntlet to summon a ceremonial sword of sacrifice, Mar-Vell called forth his amalgamated masters to witness the Necropsy Ritual which would destroy Death on Earth-616, unfortunately for Mar-Vell it all turned out to be a ruse on Thanos’ part, who had brought Mistress Death with him to the Cancerverse in order to restore death to the realm. Mar-Vell died by her touch and with her went the Cancerverse itself but shortly after her return to Earth-616, the Cancerverse began to reconstruct itself and brought Mar-Vell back from the dead.
Mar-Vell and his Revengers continued to battle Star-Lord, Thanos, Nova and a newly-reformed Drax until Nova utilized the Cosmic Cube in Star-Lord’s possession to become a gateway back to Earth-616 for the others native to his universe. Lord Mar-Vell and his Revengers remained trapped in the Cancerverse until it was annihilated during the cataclysmic incursions that brought about the death of the Multiverse.
In Other Media
Television
The Super Hero Squad Show (2009-2011)
Captain Marvel appears in the episode “Another Order of Evil” Pt. 1. He is voiced by Ty Burrell.
The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2010-2012)
Captain Mar-Vell appears in episode “459”, voiced by Roger Craig Smith. He is portrayed as being closer to his “Ultimate” counterpart; a blue-skinned Kree rather than his traditional pink Kree appearance, with advanced shape-shifting Kree weaponry at his disposal rather than his conventional Nega-Bands. He was apparently sent to Earth as an advanced reconnaissance scout to determine if humans had the “potential” to exist separately from the Kree Empire. While on Earth, he uses the alias “Philip Lawson,” until his cover is blown and he states his true designation as “Geheneris Halason Mahr Vehl, Pluskommander in the Kree Void Science Navy,” a rank he states is analogous of a Captain in Earth terminology. He is stationed at a SHIELD observatory along with Carol Danvers when he hears word of a Kree Sentry crash landing in the middle of the nearby forest. From this point on, he helps the Avengers save Earth from a Kree Sentry as it is sent to purge the planet of all human life so the Kree can use it as a base and for resources in their war against the Skrulls. He is initially distrusted by the team, particularly Wasp, due to him being an alien, but after pleading with his commander Yahn Rgg, and nearly sacrificing himself by carrying the Sentry’s fail-safe Nega-Bomb into space, Mar-Vell earns the respect of the Avengers. In the end he leaves to plead with the Kree Supreme Intelligence to spare Earth, and states that ultimately the Kree will try to take Earth again. Just after he leaves, however, Carol Danvers begins to float off of her hospital bed, realizes that she has been given super-powers after being exposed to Mar-Vell’s Kree technology.
Film
Captain Marvel (2019)
Mar-Vell appears in the 2019 Captain Marvel movie, portrayed by Annette Bening. In a departure from the comics, this version of the character is a woman. However, her secret identity as a human scientist is kept (albeit with her name changed from “Walter Lawson” to “Wendy Lawson.”) It is revealed that Mar-Vell fled from the Kree home world after growing disillusioned with her people’s war against the Skrulls, and sought to find a way to bring an end to the conflict. While posing as Dr. Lawson, Mar-Vel began working with the Tesseract in order to create an engine capable of taking the Skrull refugees beyond the reaches of the Kree. However, Yon-Rogg attempted to steal the engine for the Kree, and mortally wounded Mar-Vell in the process. Before dying, Mar-Vell was able to instruct an Air Force pilot named Carol Danvers to destroy the engine, and the resulting explosion transformed Carol and gave her incredible superpowers.
After an amnesiac Carol is brought to the Kree home world and tricked into becoming part of their military, the Supreme Intelligence briefly takes Mar-Vell’s form when communing with her.
Video Games
- Captain Marvel is a playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.
- Captain Marvel is a playable character in the PSP version of Marvel Ultimate Alliance. He does not appear in any of the console versions.
- Captain Marvel is playable in Marvel Heroes as an enhanced costume for Carol Danvers.
Merchandise
- Bowen Designs released a Captain Marvel statue.
- Diamond Select released a Captain Marvel figure of the character in his original Kree uniform for the Marvel Select line.
- Diamond Select also released a figure of Captain Marvel in his iconic red outfit.
- Toy Biz released a Captain Marvel figure for the Marvel Legends M.O.D.O.K. Build-a-Figure wave.
- Hasbro released a Captain Marvel figure for the Super Hero Squad line as part of a two-pack with Thanos.
- Hasbro released a Captain Marvel figure for the Marvel Universe line.
- Hasbro released a Mar-Vell figure of the character in his original Kree uniform as part of a two-pack with the Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel.
- Mar-Vell was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line as part of the Abomination Build-a-Figure wave.