Who is Captain Marvel? Part 1

The trailer for Captain Marvel just dropped, and it is creating quite a buzz among Marvel fanboys and girls alike. While I really loved Thor: Ragnarok and Dr. Strange, I haven't loved most of the movies in the MCU, but I do really like the series as a whole and am anxiously awaiting the sequel to Infinity War. With the final credit scene showing Nick Fury sending out an urgent signal in his final moments with the Captain Marvel insignia, we know she will play a big role in the next installment of the series. It makes sense then, that Marvel will give us a backstory for this lesser known but powerful hero before she has to save the universe from a fully Infinity Stoned Thanos. So who exactly is Captain Marvel, and where did this character come from?

Carol Danvers is one of the strongest heroes in the MCU, sort of equivalent to DC's Superman, who is the impetus for this character in the first place. Captain Marvel first appeared in the pages of Whiz Comics, from a publisher called Fawcett, to get in on the market share garnered by Superman. It was 1939, and a year before SUperman had taken the comic word by storm; Fawcett's response was the more-or-less Superman knockoff called Captain Marvel, who went on to outsell Superman for a decade. Eventually, DC sued for copyright infringement and Fawcett stopped making comic books. Though DC never actually won the copyright lawsuit, they kept threatening to take Fawcett to court over and over until the firm went bankrupt.

Then, in 1972, DC actually licensed the Captain Marvel character from Fawcett, eventually owning the character, but not the name! Two years later, Marvel comics sent DC a cease and desist letter over the right to use the word Marvel in DC marketing campaigns. After this, all Captain Marvel's books and merchandise used the name SHAZAM, though the character keeps the name inside the pages of the comics. Eventually DC dropped the Captain Marvel name altogether and the character is permanently christened 'Shazam", who has a movie of his own in the works.

Once the name 'Captain Marvel' was available, Marvel brought in a Kree soldier named Mar-Vell. Even though this new Captain Marvel didn't look like Superman anymore or have the same powers, there were other major similarities between the characters. Just like Supe, Mar-Vell is an alien who protects and loves Earth. DC did try suing Marvel for the title, but as long as Marvel continues to publish a comic under the Captain Marvel title, the rights are theirs. If they stop for a period of time then DC can claim it, so Marvel has kept the title going even though monthly sales are often short of the amount needed to keep any other title going. But we still haven't got to the origins of Carol Danvers, the current Captain Marvel, which dates back to Mar-Vell's original stories.

Next: Marvel's Marvels