Captain Marvel: 10 things to know about Captain Marvel before her MCU debut

Brie Larson is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming Captain Marvel movie, but who is Captain Marvel, exactly?

Captain Marvel is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the MCU’s first female-led film on March 8, played by Brie Larson (Raising Dad, Room, Kong: Skull Island) in the 1992-set picture. 

She’s been a hero for many years, though Carol Danvers only took the mantle of Captain Marvel fairly recently, in 2012. So just who is Carol Danvers, and why is she so important to Marvel and the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Introduction to Carol Danvers

Carol Susan Jane Danvers was born in Boston, Massachusetts and joined the Air Force after high school. An accomplished pilot, she has worked in various high-level security positions within the Air Force, the CIA, NASA and the Department of Homeland Security.

She first gained her powers from a dying Kree alien named Mar-Vell during the explosion of a device called a “Psyche-Magnitron,” which was a Kree weapon that was essentially a wishing machine.

It was later retconned that her mother was Kree, and thus the Psyche-Magnitron only activated the latent alien genes within Carol’s DNA.

She has been a longtime, though off-and-on, member of the Avengers, and a close ally of the X-Men, in addition to having held membership roles within the Starjammers, the all-female A-Force, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Ultimates. She has also held a leadership position within the space version of Alpha Flight.

She was introduced as an Air Force officer in March 1968 in Marvel Super-Heroes No. 13, and gained her powers in November 1969 in Captain Marvel No. 18, receiving her own self-titled series for the first time in January 1977.

Carol has written several successful sci-fi novels loosely based on her adventures, and a nonfiction work on her time at NASA. She has also been kidnapped by aliens several times, and has even battled with alcoholism throughout the years.