Marvel revisits Captain Marvel‘s origins and asks the question, “what would happen if Carol Danvers’ comic book early years were entirely different?” Carol Danvers isn’t the first hero to hold the Captain Marvel title, but she’s certainly the most famous and the most successful in the role. Carol has been leader of the Avengers and co-leader of the Imperial Guardians, just to name a few achievements.
Brie Larson’s live-action portrayal has cemented Carol Danvers as a Marvel powerhouse, both in terms of popularity and sheer power. The star of Marvel’s second $1 billion solo movie singlehandedly destroys Thanos’ ship in Avengers: Endgame and restarts Hala’s sun in The Marvels. While Captain Marvel isn’t confirmed to return in Avengers: Doomsday and her Avengers team is no more in the comics, Carol Danvers will continue to be a recurring character.
Carol Danvers stars in her own 2026 comic, Captain Marvel: Dark Past, which promises to rewrite major details about the hero’s history.
Captain Marvel Is Now A Skrull
Captain Marvel: Dark Past #2; Written by Paul Jenkins; Art by Lucas Werneck & Rod Fernandes; What If…? Variant Cover by Gurihiru
Marvel officially announced a line of What If…? variant covers for several titles, including The Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil, Iron Man, The Punisher, The Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Wolverine, and Captain Marvel: Dark Past. The latter, illustrated by Jeff the Land Shark artist Gurihiru, depicts Carol Danvers as a Skrull fighting Goose the Flerken in outer space. Considering Carol has three parallel scars on one eye, it’s safe to say that this What If…? scenario is inspired by the events of the MCU’s Captain Marvel and the way Nick Fury lost his eye.
Marvel’s What If…? variant covers are part of the Stormbreakers initiative that spotlights Marvel Comics’ rising artists, but it also serves as a test for each of the featured concepts. Ideas like “What If… The Spider-Man’s Greatest Foes, The Sinister Six, Were His Greatest Allies?” and “What If… Daredevil’s Accident Gave Him Hulk’s Powers?” could become full-length one-off comics that join Marvel’s growing list of multiversal adventures. “What If… Captain Marvel Was A Skrull?” would likely present the wildest origin change for Carol Danvers.
|
Comic |
What If…? Variant Cover |
Release Date |
|---|---|---|
|
Captain Marvel: Dark Past #2 |
“What If… Captain Marvel Was A Skrull?” |
May 6, 2026 |
|
Iron Man #5 |
“What If… Iron Man’s Extremis Was A Symbiote?” |
May 13, 2026 |
|
The Uncanny X-Men #28 |
“What If… Rogue Became The Sorcerer Supreme?” |
May 13, 2026 |
|
Wolverine #20 |
“What If… Wolverine Controlled His Adamantium Like Colossus?” |
May 13, 2026 |
|
The Amazing Spider-Man #29 |
“What If… The Spider-Man’s Greatest Foes, The Sinister Six, Were His Greatest Allies?” |
May 20, 2026 |
|
The Punisher #4 |
“What If… The Punisher Had Magik’s Eldritch Armor?” |
May 20, 2026 |
|
X-Men #30 |
“What If… The X-Men Were Heralds Of Galactus?” |
May 27, 2026 |
|
Daredevil #3 |
“What If… Daredevil’s Accident Gave Him Hulk’s Powers?” |
June 10, 2026 |
If Carol Danvers had been a Skrull from the very beginning, her career in the United States Air Force, her proximity to the original Mar-Vell, and her subsequent transformation into Ms. Marvel could have been calculated maneuvers by the Skrull Empire to place a high-level asset at the heart of Earth’s defense. This would also cast Carol’s tenure as the leader of the Avengers and her pivotal role in Civil War II in a chilling new light, as it would suggest that the human struggles she faced hid secret intentions.
Captain Marvel’s Early Years Are Her Weakest Point
Carol Danvers Could Use An Updated Origin Story
The primary hurdle for Carol Danvers as a character may be her convoluted origin story. Carol has been burdened by her Warbird era, which is remembered more often for her struggles with trauma than for Carol’s cosmic potential. While these stories added grit and realism, they often stalled Carol’s momentum, leaving her in the shadow of the original Mar-Vell. Carol Danvers’ transition to the Captain Marvel mantle in 2012 was a necessary evolution that finally gave her the gravitas she deserved, but it didn’t entirely resolve her early years.
To truly strengthen Carol Danvers’ Earth-616 history, Marvel could benefit from streamlining her backstory to emphasize her innate agency, much like her MCU counterpart. In the movies, Carol’s heroism is rooted in her independence and resilience since childhood, long before she ever touches alien energy. This doesn’t mean erasing Mar-Vell, however, as his role should still be that of a mentor or a peer whose legacy she honors.
New Captain Marvel Series Will Fill in Missing Scene From Carol’s Past
2026 just took a dramatic turn for Carol Danvers, as Marvel exposes “a dark family secret” from her past that will chance Captain Marvel’s future.
A streamlined history where her Kree physiology is an inherent biological trait or a result of her own tactical initiative during an interstellar mission could help strip away the baggage of her being a derivative hero. Making Carol Danvers a Skrull would be an overly drastic deviation. However, a slightly different early superhero career is worth the retcon.
Would you like Captain Marvel’s origins to be rewritten?
Captain Marvel: Dark Past #2 is available from Marvel Comics on May 6, 2026.
Captain Marvel: Dark Past #1 is now available from Marvel Comics.
- Alias
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Carol Danvers
- Created By
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Roy Thomas, Gene Colan
- Race
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Human/Kree hybrid