Captain Marvel: Who is Maria Rambeau?

Lashana Lynch portrays Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel, but who is she?

In the upcoming movie Captain Marvel, headed by Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, the titular character. Maria Rambeau appears to be her friend and fellow pilot in the air force before Carol gets her powers.

We will see her on the big screen on Mar. 8, but what are the filmmakers pulling from, what was she like in the comics?

Maria Rambeau is a very obscure character in the Marvel Universe, the only thing she is known for is being the mother to Monica Rambeau, the second Captain Marvel.

She first appeared in Avengers No. 246 in August 1984.

With only 10 appearances in Marvel Comics, nine of which were in Avengers books with the other sole appearance being in the first issue of her daughters solo series, Captain Marvel, in 1989. Being nothing more than a motherly figure and providing support for her daughter.

While Maria may be unknown to most comic book fans, her daughter Monica is more widely known.

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Monica Rambeau first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 16 in October 1982, predating her mothers first appearance by almost two years.

Her powers come from when she was a child, where an energy disruption bombarded her with extra-dimensional energy. Her powers are practically limitless as she had become a being of complete energy after the accident.

She can control the appearance her body takes, with its base form being just energy, as well as fly, and turn invisible. Her energy-based powers allow her to absorb, duplicate and blast energy. These powers also make her practically immortal as energy cannot be created or destroyed, meaning she will never age.

Monica joined the Avengers in No. 231 of the series, becoming a mainstay on the team throughout the ’80s and ’90s, even leading them for a short time during the Avengers: Infinity miniseries.

She has gone by multiple different superhero names through the years, being known as Captain Marvel, Photon, Pulsar and most recently Spectrum. She gave away her title as Captain Marvel when the original Captain Marvel’s son appeared, believing it to be disrespectful to have taken the name after his father’s death.

Monica rejoined the Avengers in 2013 when she became a member of Luke Cage’s Mighty Avengers. While with that team she Adam Brasher a hero known as Blue Marvel.

Monica and Adam recently joined with the Ultimates after the Mighty Avengers disbanded. The Ultimates are a group of Marvel heroes that deal with threats that threaten the universe on a cosmic level. The team consists of Spectrum and Blue Marvel along with Black Panther, Carol Danvers and America Chavez.

While on the Ultimates Monica and Adam grew closer together and started a relationship, confiding in each other about their shared immortality that leads to problems connecting with regular humans.

Monica Rambeau has had a long and storied history that has gone on for decades, and all of that is because of her mother, Maria, while she might not have a big part to play in the comics she looks to have a much bigger role in the MCU.