Captain Marvel’s long-awaited entrance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe inches closer and closer with each passing day. As anticipation continues to rise, so does the craving to know more about the incredible Kree-human hybrid warrior. Carol Danvers has a rich comic book history that explores her wide range of abilities. If you find yourself with the means, that comic book history is a road that is worth every moment of your time. But, if you find yourself looking for a primer on the woman who’s about to save the MCU, we’ve got you covered. 

Like all superheroes, Carol Danvers has had a long list of iterations throughout her tenure in comics.

The Origin Of Carol Danvers, A.K.A. Captain Marvel

Danvers was first introduced back in 1968 and became a symbol of the feminist movement of the ‘70s. In 2012, she was reimagined by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, who evolved the character beyond her origins and shuttled her into the modern era. This evolution has resulted in her becoming one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, both cinematic and otherwise, as well as developing a loyal following of comic book readers, known as the Carol Corps.  

As you’d expect, that comes with a pretty stacked set of powers, both super and mundane. But, at the top of that list are Carol’s intelligence and ambition. In her origin, Carol Danvers joins the United States Air Force to prove her father wrong about what it is women should be doing with their time. After her time in the Air Force, she finds herself at NASA as their head of security where she falls in love with one Walter Lawson. You might know him a little better by his Kree name: Mar-Vell.  

After an unfortunate run-in with Ronan the Accuser and then-lackey Yon-Rogg, some of Mar-Vell’s alien DNA merged with Carol’s. The rest, as they say, is history. From that day forward, Carol Danvers would be imbued with the powers of the Kree race. Ronan might have made an attempt at the life of the man she loved, but Carol ought to send a thank you card for the list of superpowers she got out of it. Let’s take a look at just what those special abilities look like. 

What Are Captain Marvel’s Powers?

Captain Marvel’s superhuman strength and endurance are usually the first to come up on the power list, and for good reason. As mentioned above, she’s one of the most powerful members of Marvel’s universe, but that’s not solely reliant on her physical strength. If a matchup were based on physical prowess alone, Carol would get her butt handed to her by the likes of characters such as The Hulk. Thankfully, her strength is just one of the ingredients in the Captain Marvel cocktail. Other abilities in her offensive arsenal include the ability to shoot blasts from her hands and to absorb and redistribute attacks on an explosive scale. That redistribution basically means that whoever’s attacking her better hope they hit hard enough to stop her, because when she swings back it’s a whole lot harder than her opponent’s first strike.  

Captain Marvel packs a superpowered wallop

Captain Marvel packs a superpowered wallop

Sometimes, however, the best offense is a good defense, and even though it goes against her punch-first-ask-questions-later nature, Carol’s well covered in that area, as well. Along with her competency in flight (that’s both with and without a plane), she can survive in space if necessary. Those two abilities would be more than impressive on their own, but we’re still far from the end of Ms. Danvers’ long list of powers. If you’re going to try and kill Captain Marvel, try to avoid using poisons or air-based toxins. She’s immune to most of them, you see. Villains who have tried and failed with such archaic measures shouldn’t feel too terrible, though. In addition to everything just listed, she’s also gifted with a kind of precognitive sixth sense that isn’t quite on the level of Peter Parker’s Spider-sense but still makes it relatively difficult to off her no matter what you’re attacking with.  

She’s Even More Powerful As Binary

That list of abilities is enough to make even Thanos shake in his space boots with or without the Infinity Gauntlet, but we’re still not done. Captain Marvel isn’t Carol Danvers’ only alter ego, and if you thought the aforementioned was power stacked, just wait until you meet Binary. Where Captain Marvel has weaknesses and limitations (such as magic), there are currently no known limits to Binary’s powers. Yeah. There’s literally no cap on her potential. For real. 

Captain Marvel as Binary

Captain Marvel as Binary

“Limitless powers” is a pretty lofty phrase, but let’s look through some examples to help fully explain why the Marvel Cinematic Universe is putting the fate of the world’s greatest heroes in Carol Danvers’ hands. For starters, Binary can control white holes. For those unfamiliar with such a thing, a white hole is thought to be the point where one universe collapses inward on another. She uses this handy power to distort energies in the space/time continuum. Her ability to control white holes means that she could, theoretically, hold two alternate universes together for a brief period of time–such as our world, a world within an Infinity Stone, and/or the Quantum Realm. Do with that information what you will, Avengers 4 speculators!  

Those cosmic energies can also be used to throw blasts similar to her ability as Captain Marvel, but with the power of a star. If that’s not enough for you, she can manipulate a whole host of non-physical things, extending all the way to gravity. That ability to manipulate stellar energy and gravitational pulls gives her one final skill: the ability to fly at light speed.

Carol Danvers Is Still Super Skilled Even As A Human

This impressive set of abilities outlines the super portions of Captain Marvel’s life, but what about the human? It’s hard to compare with such a fantastic list of powers but, those powers removed, Carol Danvers is still one hell of a remarkable character. Danvers ran several undercover missions in her time at NASA, proving herself an experienced spy. Her training in the Air Force made her an exquisite pilot and fighter. The lady also speaks several languages, both of earthly and galactic origins and, to top it all off, she’s a talented journalist and magazine editor. 

Captain Marvel vs. Thanos

Captain Marvel vs. Thanos

All of this is to say, good luck, Thanos. Carol may be up against the Eternal (mostly) on her own after all that snapping business in Avengers: Infinity War, but if this list of powers is any indication, Nick Fury knew what he was doing in sending a distress signal straight to the boss of space before he, you know… disintegrated.   

 


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