Top 10 Worst Things Captain Marvel Has Ever Done
For this list, we'll be looking at the most disappointing, regrettable and downright awful things that Carol Danvers has ever done, both before and after she took on the name Captain Marvel. Alternate timelines will be considered, but the actions committed there will need to be extra bad to compete with events from the main continuity.
Being a superhero involves a lot of judgment calls. Sometimes… you make the wrong one. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Worst Things Captain Marvel Has Ever Done.
For this list, we’ll be looking at the most disappointing, regrettable and downright awful things that Carol Danvers has ever done, both before and after she took on the name Captain Marvel. Alternate timelines will be considered, but the actions committed there will need to be extra bad to compete with events from the main continuity.
#10: Arresting Arachne In Front of Her Daughter
Balancing superhero responsibilities with a personal life is never easy. Do you ever wonder why Batman doesn’t have many friends? Relationships tend to get strained in this line of work. During the events of Civil War, many friends and allies found themselves on opposite sides of the issue. Captain Marvel and Julia Carpenter, known as Arachne to her fellow heroes, both originally sided with Tony Stark in favor of the Superhuman Registry Act. But it was later revealed that Arachne was fundamentally opposed to it and used her position to help others avoid capture. When the truth came out, Captain Marvel chose duty over friendship, hunting down Arachne and eventually arresting her in front of her own young daughter, who was surely traumatized.
#9: She Nearly Killed Mystique
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Carol Danvers might be a hero, but she’s been known to give in to anger, and Mystique has a particular knack for making her see red. In the early ‘80s, Danvers, then going by the name Ms. Marvel, often teamed up with the X-Men. But in 1981, an encounter with a then-villainous Rogue, operating under Mystique’s orders, left Danvers without her powers and memories. When she and the X-Men later caught up with Mystique and Rogue, the team focused on the latter threat, while Danvers caught up with Mystique. Enraged by what the villain had taken from her, she not only bested Mystique in combat but seriously contemplated killing her while she was down. Worse yet, though she let Mystique live, Carol berated herself for not having “pulled the trigger”.
#8: Her Relationship With Dr. Michael Barnett
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As we said, Danvers doesn’t do so great in the relationships - platonic or romantic. Dating is hard, but you’re setting yourself up for failure when you start an affair with your psychiatrist. You see, after getting her powers from an accident involving a Kree device, Carol developed a split personality - that of her regular self and that of Ms. Marvel, a superpowered crimefighter. She sought professional help from Dr. Michael Barnett to deal with these blackouts, but their relationship moved beyond that of doctor and patient. Both parties should have known better, but it was Barnett who ultimately paid the price when he was killed by Mystique to get information on Carol.
#7: Supporting King Hyperion
Weapon X, as they appear in the pages of Exiles, are a group made up of individuals from numerous realities, jumping from one dimension to the next, fixing “problems” to get themselves to their respective homes. You’ll notice we’ve avoided using the term “hero” so far because the methods employed by these alternate reality versions of beloved characters are not heroic. Case in point, when we first meet this version of Carol Danvers, she’s crushing Bruce Banner’s skull. Then, amidst a whole bunch of carnage, she gets it on with King Hyperion. Who’s he you might ask? Just a megalomaniac and self-proclaimed God-Emperor of Earth in his reality. And this version of Ms. Marvel? She follows him without question, committing atrocities.
#6: Getting Harry Osborn Killed
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On Earth-1610, otherwise known as Marvel’s Ultimate universe, Carol Danvers never became Ms. Marvel, let alone Captain Marvel. Despite never acquiring superhuman abilities in this reality, that didn’t stop Carol Danvers from getting involved in the world of heroes and villains or becoming powerful - albeit in a different way. At various points, she served as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Chief of Staff to the U.S. president and director of S.H.I.E.L.D. during Fury’s absence. It was during her stint in the latter position that she used Harry Osborn as bait in a ploy to manipulate his father, the Green Goblin, a tactic that ultimately resulted in Harry’s death.
#5: Attacking a Repentant Rogue
As discussed earlier, when Rogue was first introduced to readers, it was not as the X-Men member we know and love today, but rather as a teammate in the Brotherhood of Evil. She was actually a runaway who was adopted by Mystique - who also trained her. As these things tend to go, however, Rogue eventually sought to turn over a new leaf at the Xavier school. Unfortunately, no one told Carol Danvers, who, upon arriving at the mansion, immediately attacks Rogue. We get why she was upset, what with Rogue having stolen her powers and memories, but there was nothing heroic about her actions here. It was an attack, plain and simple - and one driven by anger and a thirst for vengeance.
#4: Trying to Kill Every Alternate Reality Version of Rogue… AND Herself
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Not unlike fellow Avenger Tony Stark, Carol Danvers struggled with alcohol addiction. This was during the time that she was going by the name Warbird and it directly tied into her losing her powers. Though she managed to get sober in the main continuity, on Earth-7192, this particular reality’s version of the character was ultimately defeated by her alcoholism. Her choice to drink rather than help save the day resulted in the destruction of her earth, and so she began traveling to alternate realities, killing not just Rogue - who she blamed - but that earth’s version of Carol Danvers too. Her reason? In all other realities, Danvers forgave Rogue, and that disgusts her. Talk about going off the deep end.
#3: Getting War Machine Killed
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In the crossover event Civil War II, the Marvel Universe goes full “Minority Report”. And by that we mean that the heroes begin using the precognitive abilities of an Inhuman to predict crime before it happens, arresting/taking down the would-be evildoers before they can make those visions a reality. Captain Marvel is all too willing to use this ability to her advantage, while Iron Man is more hesitant. Carol uses this foreknowledge to take aim at one of Marvel’s most fearsome villains - Thanos. Under her leadership, War Machine is killed by the Mad Titan, She-Hulk just barely survives, and the foundations of the second Superhero Civil War are laid out.
#2: Letting Puppet Master Kill Himself & Lying About It
When you’re constantly facing off against murderers and all manner of horrible criminals, it can get tough to do the right thing. At a certain point, you just want to save yourself from a rematch by embracing more fatal solutions. But it’s a line that heroes generally refuse to cross, knowing that it’s not up to them to play judge, jury, and executioner. Well, when the villainous Puppet Master attempted a suicidal maneuver out of desperation, Carol did just that. Driven by her hatred for him, she lets him, knowing full well she could have saved his life. Worse yet, in a move that proves she knows her inaction was wrong, she lies to her teammates about it.
#1: Getting Bruce Banner Killed & Starting Civil War II
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We know, in an earlier entry, we talked about Carol Danvers crushing Bruce Banner’s skull. But that was alternate Carol in an alternate reality, so it carries less weight than this. You see, while Tony and Carol were immediately at odds over the whole precognition-based arrests thing, the two heroes were nonetheless trying to work it out peacefully. That all changed when Ulysses, the aforementioned Inhuman, had a vision of Hulk massacring the Avengers. When a massive group of heroes from both sides of the issue went to confront him, it ended with Clint Barton putting Banner down with an arrow through the eye. Hawkeye might have taken the shot, but it was Carol Danvers who put things in motion and defended Clint in court, ultimately leading to him be released and to the start of the second Civil War.
Trivia:
Who created the Marvel character Iron man?
Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jack Kirby (correct)
Jim Lee
Roy Thomas, Len Wein, John Romita Sr.
Stan Lee, Don Rico, Don Heck
Who wrote the Marvel crossover event Civil War II
Brian K. Vaughn
Mark Millar
Brian Michael Bendis (correct)
Kelly Sue DeConnick
The first Captain Marvel was a Kree superhero named Mar-Vell
(True)
