Nobody is going to blame you if you don't know who Captain Marvel is when the movie rolls around. The name of Captain Marvel has been everywhere in the realm of comic books, from sidekicks to spin-off characters to even the universe of DC Comics! Ignoring everything else, I'm going to break down every Marvel Comic's character to use the name Captain Marvel. Well, every one that matters.
Mar-Vell (Cap of 1967)
The first character in comic history to use the name "Captain Marvel" was Fawcett Comic's Billy Batson in the 1940's-1950's, a character who would later be folded into the DC Comics Universe. When DC Comics forced Fawcett to cease the publication of that character due to copyright claims, Marvel Comics had an opening to quickly create and trademark their own Captain Marvel. This character was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan and originally had a green and white costume which Stan Lee voiced an initial dislike for. The character got a new costume and refined origin in his solo series circa 1969. Mar-Vell is a member of an alien race called The Kree who was sent to Earth as an observant spy for his people. On Earth he adopts a human identity, but dons his military uniform to protect humans. Upon hearing his name and rank, the public dubs him "Captain Marvel". Accused of treason by The Kree, Mar-Vell would spend the rest of his early history escaping his people and protecting Earth. Contrary to his many amazing adventures, Mar-Vell dies of cancer, surrounded by his friends and guided to the afterlife by his old enemy Thanos, who comes as friend rather than a foe.
Monica Rambeau (Cap of 1982)
Monica was created by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr., her origin tells us that she was a captain of a cargo ship for the New Orleans' harbor patrol. During the transport of a dangerous weapon, Monica attempts to shut the strange machine down and is pelted with extra-dimensional rays. This gives Monica the ability to covert her body into any form of energy. With these new powers, she becomes the hero Captain Marvel, since the name was available at the time. She is taught how to master her powers by The Avengers and becomes the first African-American woman to join their team, even leading them for a short time. Currently, Monica has taken the name Spectrum and has gone from the newest version of The Mighty Avengers to the newest version of The Ultimates.
Genis-Vell (Cap of 1999)
After the death of her husband Mar-Vell, Kree woman Elysius uses Mar-Vell's genetic material to impregnate herself and give birth to Genis-Vell. She then used alien technology to accelerate his age and implant false memories of a normal childhood into his brain, convincing him that his father was actually the brother of Thanos and former Avenger Starfox (who I did a bio on, remember!?). At first, he went by the name Legacy and fought cosmic evil in space. Later, Genis was cosmically bonded with a human named Rick Jones who had previous adventures with Captain Marvel. After learning the truth behind his birth and the power he shared with Rick Jones, Genis united with Rick to be the new Captain Marvel. Genis later split from Rick and lost his sanity, this forced Baron Zemo and The Thunderbolts to defeat Genis and split his body into separate parts and scatter them in another dimension, never to be reunited.
Phyla-Vell (Cap of 2003)
Created by Peter David and Paul Azaceta, Phyla-Vell was the result of Genis-Vell altering time and space as he began to lose sanity. Genis altered history to make his mother Elysius create Phyla under the same conditions as himself, only this time Elysius created Phyla because she considered her first engineered child-Genis-to be a success. As a result, Phyla lived her early life observing her brother's actions and when Genis began to break, Phyla insisted on taking the Captain Marvel mantle as she considered Mar-Vell to be her father too. After Genis was first defeated, Phyla took the name Captain Marvel and was established as the first woman-and possibly lesbian-to adopt the title. She later passed on the name and became Quasar during the event "Annihilation" and then took the name Martyr and united with The Guardians of The Galaxy for a time. Sadly, her life is the first taken during one of Thanos' recent rampages.
Noh-Varr (Cap of 2009)
Created by Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones, this character was one of many young Kree to be aboard the dimension-travelling ship called "The Marvel". During it's flight over Earth, "The Marvel" is shot down by a villain named Doctor Midas and Noh-Varr is the only survivor. After fighting a "sentient corporation" his ship releases when it crashed, Noh-Varr is captured by SHIELD and held in a super-prison where he swears destruction on the human race. He later visited by Marvel's Illuminati and told of the Captain Marvel family. Upon learning of an Earth hero of his own kind, Noh-Varr ceases his hatred of Earth. During "Civil War" he was brainwashed by SHIELD to be an agent, during "Secret Invasion" he encountered an impostor Captain Marvel, and during "Dark Reign" he was enlisted onto Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers as the new Captain Marvel. He joins The Avengers after as The Protector (the name is just as stupid as the costume) and took the name Marvel Boy when he joined The Young Avengers, which is where the character has last appeared.
Carol Danvers (Cap of 2012)
Created by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan all the way back in 1968, Carol Danvers was originally an officer of The United States Air Force who befriends the original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell. During one of Mar-Vell's adventures, Carol is caught in the explosion of a Kree weapon and gains superpowers after recovering from her injuries. The Kree weapon apparently melded Captain Marvel's cosmic powers with Carol, resulting in her becoming half-Kree. She took the name Ms Marvel and became a hero in her own right, even gaining more popularity than Captain Marvel. In the 70's she was an advocate of equal rights for females in the work place. For forty years, Carol has been included in SHIELD, The X-Men, multiple Avengers teams and in 2012 was promoted to being Captain Marvel, followed by multiple appearances in other comics and spin-off stories as well exclaiming her significance. Marvel Comics has given the character so much faith, Marvel Studios "Captain Marvel" film will feature Carol rather than the original hero, Mar-Vell.
Ignoring the short-cut, diversifying angle the Marvel films are taking on the name, the Captain Marvel history has always been some of the more obscure to me. The character is one of Marvel's classic cosmic characters, perhaps an early reply to DC's Green Lantern as well as a chance to cash in on a name that would otherwise confuse newish comic fans. I find it interesting that for a character who's name is "Marvel" it took Marvel Comics four decades to make the character one of their A-Listers. Not only does the name imply importance amongst the comic publisher's roster, but the fact that they've been maintaining the name for years and have only recently make it stand out-in comparison to the better known history of DC Comic's Shazam/Captain Marvel-makes it seem like Marvel Comics maintained the name just to spite DC Comics. It was kind of like going to the office and seeing a container of ice cream in the freezer in the back, but you can't take it because it has the name "Craig" written on it. "Craig" has left that icc cream there for four days and hasn't eaten it, but you can't eat in because even though he hasn't eaten it, you know you'll be judged by your coworkers if you eat his food. Now I'm angry and hungry. Must kill my future dinner!
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