LEGACY: CAPTAIN MARVEL PART 1

Captain Marvel ~ Protector of the Universe

Heroes: Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, Wendell Vaughn, Genis-Vell, Phyla-Vell, and Carol Danvers.

Breakdown: If you were a super hero who lived on Earth 616 (the Earth in which all the comic book events of Marvel exist) who would be the hero you looked up to and hoped to emulate? Who is the hero of the heroes? For Carol Danvers and many many others it is a man by the name of Mar-Vell, a Kree Captain from the outer reaches of space. Due to a mispronunciation of his name on Earth he was known as Captain Marvel. Everyone in the Marvel Universe knows his name and what he did for Earth and the known galaxy. In the eyes of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man and all the others he became the greatest hero anyone had ever seen. Mar-Vell died but his legacy endured.

In the Marvel Universe there have been several people to hold the moniker of CAPTAIN MARVEL. The name has become synonymous with the highest caliber of hero and is a difficult legacy to live up to. Those who have dawned the name with direct connections to Mar-Vell are his son and daughter, Genis-Vell and Phyla-Vell, along with the woman who changed him forever, Carol Danvers. All three have set themselves apart and carved out a place in cosmic history.

Original Captain Marvel Statue by Bowen Designs

Mar-Vell was a captain in the Kree empire, a militaristic alien race in the furthest reaches of space. He was renown throughout the empire as the finest soldier the Kree had ever produced. He had fought numerous battles against the Skrulls, Brood, and Shi'Ar earning quite the reputation among the other races of the universe. His final orders for the empire was a reconnaissance mission on a backwater planet in the Sol star system.

Mar-Vell traveled to Earth under the command of Colonel Yon-Rogg, along with a small contingency of Kree soldiers and a medic, a woman named Una whom Mar-Vell was in love with. He went down to Earth and secretly infiltrated the Cape Canaveral military base in Florida. He disguised himself as government scientist Walter Lawson. His mission was to assess the technological level of humanity and threat level. With his information the Kree would begin a full scale invasion of Earth.

A Kree Lieutenant and The Supreme Intelligence

While in disguise the presence of the Kree attracted unwanted attention. Mar-Vell was forced to battle the Super-Skrull, the alien race the Aakon, and even the Kree's own Sentry 459. He found himself risking his life for Earth rather than preparing for domination. At the Cape he met the security chief, Carol Danvers. While investigating these strange occurances Danvers inadvertently found herself in harm's way. She was rescued by Mar-Vell numerous times and eventually the two began to mean something to each other. Because of her and his growing respect for humanity Mar-vell rebelled against the Kree to save the Earth rather than subjugate it.

Kree Sentry 459

The battle stretched into space where Mar-Vell was defeated by his fellow Kree Yon-Rogg and sent hurtling into space. During the battle Mar-Vell's beloved Una was killed. During this journey he encountered a being of vast power who bestowed upon him a portion of that power. Mar-Vell returned to Earth, avenged Una's death, and defeated Yon-Rogg. But he knew that the Kree would not stop. They would send more soldiers and weapons after him and Earth would not be safe. He traveled across the cosmos to the Kree homeworld where he fought Ronan the Accuser, the Super Sentry, and ultimately encountering the Supreme Intelligence itself.

Kree Super Sentry and the Supreme Intelligence

Unbeknownst to everyone another sought to take advantage of the chaos. Kree Minister Zarek plotted to destroy the Supreme Intelligence during the battle with Mar-Vell, Ronan, and the Super Sentry be setting off an explosion killing them all. His coup d'etat failed when Mar-Vell used his new powers to shield them all from the blast. His act of heroism was seen as an act of loyalty to the Kree empire and the Supreme Intelligence released of all charges. He was given a new uniform and released from duties to the empire.

Mar-Vell decides to return to Earth, his new home, and deal with Yon-Rogg once and for all. On his way back to Earth he is pulled into the Negative Zone, an anti-matter parallel universe. He is trapped with no way out. There in this other dimension he discovers a Kree weapon called the Nega Bands, two golden wrist bands that allow the user to travel freely between the positive and negative universes. His only chance of survival however was within the sister Nega Bands. But they were hidden in a secret Kree bunker on Earth. If he were to be freed someone on Earth would have to find the Nega Bands and use them. As fate would have it a young twenty-something named Rick Jones happened upon the bunker. Guided by Mar-Vell through the power of the Nega Bands, Rick found the ancient weapons and placed them on his wrists. Rick clanged the bands together and suddenly found himself in the Negative Zone and Mar-Vell in his place on Earth. The two men could communicate through the Nega Bands and began a short period of duel existence. They would each share time on Earth.

Mar-Vell, Ms. Marvel, Death, and Thanos

Meanwhile Yon-Rogg, also trapped on Earth thanks to Mar-Vell, kidnaps the only person left in Mar-Vell's life that he truly cared for, Carol Danvers. The kidnapping was meant to lure Mar-Vell to the hidden Kree base where the Nega Bands were found. Inside the base lay an even greater weapon; the Pysche-Magnitron. Yon-Rogg sought to use the weapon against the Kree hero and finally slay his enemy. Mar-Vell arrives, defeats Yon-Rogg, and saves Carol. The Psyche-Magnitron was damaged in the battle and explodes as Mar-Vell and Carol flee from the base. The power alien radiation within the machine bathes them both. Mar-Vell attempts to shield Carol from the blast and saves her life but he could not stop the radiation from permeating her cellular structure.

Mar-Vell's life unfortunately is still tied to Rick Jones and the two have to co-exist with one-another. While one is on Earth the other is in Negative Zone Space. Rick, being human, is ill-equip to handle the creatures and atmosphere of the Negative Zone and Mar-Vell is forced to spend the majority their coexistence in the Negative Zone at the mercy of Rick. He cannot go see Carol nor can he start his life anew. All he can do is wait for Rick to switch places with him, and those instances grow fewer and fewer. While in the Negative Zone Mar-Vell discovers a portal to Earth, the other end of which lying within the Baxter Building, the home of the Fantastic Four. They switched places so Mar-Vell could operate the machine pull Rick out of the other universe. Now with both men on Earth they no longer had to coexist. The two men go their separate ways.

The First Kree Skrull War

Elsewhere on Earth the Kree have resumed their attack on Earth. Ronan the Accuser, in defiance of the Supreme Intelligence's orders to leave Earth alone, sets about to conquer our world. He is thwarted by the Avengers but inadvertently uncovers another mysterious plot; Skrull invasion! The alien Skrulls, little green alien shape-shifters, have long been at war with the Kree and the Kree have shown the stronger of the two races. The Skrulls, under the guise of Carol Danvers, lured Mar-Vell to a secluded area where they kidnapped him and returned to deep space. There they attempt to decode the Kree weapon called the Omni-Wave and use its power to destroy the Kree empire once an for all.

The Avengers and Rick Jones followed the Skrulls into space attempting to rescue Mar-Vell. The Avengers found themselves thrust into the midst of the raging war between the Skrulls and the Kree. The Supreme Intelligence sensed the oncoming threat from the Skrulls and then was blindsided when attacked by Ronan too. The Supreme Intelligence, using Kree science, unlocked the hidden powers that lie dormant within all human minds, inside of Rick Jones. Rick Jones used his newly unleashed powers to stop Ronan while at the same time Mar-Vell escaped the Skrulls and stopped their evil machinations too thus ending the Kree/Skrull War. The strain of Rick's new power proved too much for the young man's body and he laid dying on the Kree ship. Mar-Vell once again merged with Rick, entering once again into a coexistence between Earth and the Negative Zone, to save Rick's life.

Back on Earth however another plot was coming to fruition, that of the mad titan Thanos. Thanos sought the power of the Cosmic Cube, a weapon of near infinite power, to offer the entire universe to Mistress Death, a pledge of his undying love to her. Back on Earth Rick stumbled across Thanos's plot and pulled Mar-Vell back to Earth to save the day. Thanos's plans ran deep however as an armada of alien ships prepared to lay siege to Earth at Thanos's beckon call. The Avengers flew into action taking taking on the alien fleet and succeeded in stopping the annihilating force.

Mar-Vell & Carol Danvers Vs Thanos

Mar-Vell, knowing that they were dealing with a power far beyond anything the Earth had ever faced, traveled to Thanos's homeworld, the largest of Saturn's moons Titan. There he found the world in ruins and Thanos's own father and brother on the brink of death. Captain Marvel freed them and helped save Titan from destruction. There Mar-Vell learned about the mad titan's past and his ultimate goals. Mar-Vell, Mentor (Thanos's father), and Eros (a.k.a. Starfox, Thanos's brother) traveled back to Earth. Moondragon, once of Titan's greatest warriors, and Drax the Destroyer, a humanoid weapon from Titan (granted nigh limitless power by the god Kronos for the sole purpose of killing Thanos), along with the Avengers all banded together to stop Thanos from obtaining the Cosmic Cube.

However the heroes were too late! During the battle with the alien fleet in outer space and Mar-Vell's travels to Titan, Thanos obtained the Cosmic Cube. The mad titan used the Cube to become an all powerful god. At that instant Mar-Vell was pulled into an alternate dimension by some all powerful unknown force. The being revealed itself to be Eon, a cosmic being of vast power. This being had searched the known universe so someone worthy of being the Protector of the Universe. Eon deemed Mar-Vell worthy and granted him cosmic awareness, a super sixth sense that allowed to see threats and outcomes on a galactic scale. His powers of flight and super strength were also increased and he was given energy manipulation.

Mar-Vell returned to do battle with Thanos only to witness his ascension to godhood and becoming one with the universe. Mar-Vell goaded the mad titan to once again take on human form and battle them on equal plains, so Thanos could prove he was truly the dominant being both physically and as a god. Thanos took the bait. He defeated the Avengers. He defeated Moondragon's metaphysical and mind attacks and once again laid waste to his father and brother. All that remained were Drax and Mar-Vell. Drax's power proved too great for Thanos and the titan returned to his godlike form, becoming one with the universe. He then enacted his terrible plan of extinguishing all life in the universe. Mar-Vell only had seconds to act. All life in the universe shriveled and died around him. With Thanos being one with the universe he no longer possessed a physical form thereby leaving the Cosmic Cube unprotected. Mar-Vell dashed for the Cube with only seconds to live and shattered the weapon. Thanos's power was undone, his evil plans thwarted.

The many heroes and villains of Mar-Vell's past

Mar-Vell was now the Protector of the Universe and justified that esteemed title. He fought many more battles against the Kree, the Skrulls, and various villains. He fought alongside Drax again and eventually back to Titan. When Thanos appeared again, brandishing the might of the Infinity Gems in another attempt to kill the known universe, it was Mar-Vell, Adam Warlock, Moondragon, Drax, and the Avengers to once again put a stop to his diabolical threat, Adam Warlock dying himself and taking Thanos with him.

The protector of the universe returned to Titan. There he met a woman there by the name of Elysius. She was an enemy at first but eventually became his lover and wife. It was there on Titan that Mar-Vell learned he had contracted a cancerous disease slowly killing him, the result of a distantly remembered battle with the villain Nitro, a rather insignificant event that proved to be life altering. After much time spent soul searching, Mar-Vell found peace with his eventual end. He could have been saved from the horrible fate of death but rather than fight the inevitable, guided by his cosmic awareness, he chose to die. Dozens and dozens of heroes stood by him on his deathbed. As he teetered on the brink his old enemy Thanos appeared to help guide him on his journey to the otherside.

Mar-Vell's Grave Site

Thus the protector of the universe passed on. His actions had affected countless heroes and saved the lives of every living being in the universe. He became the standard all heroes strove for and a legend among the stars. But the universe needed another protector. Eon chose Wendell Vaughn to become Mar-Vell's successor as protector. Wendell went by the name Quasar and continued saving the galaxy in Mar-Vell's place.

Hero Ranking: 10 out of 10

If Mar-Vell Would Have Lived... Lord Mar-Vell of the Cancerverse

The Cosmic Marvel Universe by artist Ron Lim