Why Mar-Vell's Greatest Marvel Legacy is his Death

In the real world, death is a certainty, but in comics, it’s more of a revolving door. Superheroes die with alarming regularity, only to be restored through various contrivances a few months or a few years down the line. Even Superman, who was killed by Doomsday in 1992, rose from the dead, and as a result of his regeneration process, returned as strong as ever, but also sporting a mullet.

The impermanence of death in comics is such a well-worn trope, it even inspired an aphorism about the few characters who had managed to remain deceased for an extended period: “No one in comics stays dead, except for Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben.” And we all know how all that turned out. Bucky came back as the Winter Soldier. Jason Todd was officially resurrected when Superboy Prime sucker punched reality, and Uncle Ben is a clone of his nephew Peter Parker (or something like that).

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These days, the saying pretty much only applies to Mar-Vell, the Kree warrior who once bore the mantle now carried by Carol Danvers, and who was killed off by Jim Starlin in his classic 1982 graphic novel, The Death of Captain Marvel. In recent months, folks have begun speculating that the space-born superhero may come back from the grave, and last week, at the end of the Legacy #1 YouTube trailer, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Tom Brevoort that an iconic hero would be making a return. There are plenty of heroes who are dead, or missing in action, but there are some good reasons to suspect that Mar-Vell may be the one who will be coming back to life.

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How - and Why - Might Mar-Vell Come Back

Mar-Vell made his debut 50 years ago this fall in the pages of Marvel superheroes #12. This is the kind of milestone worth celebrating, even if he has been dead for the last thirty-five years. There are also rumours that he will play a part in the upcoming feature film starring Brie Larson as the current Captain Marvel. A leaked script allegedly makes reference to Mar-Vell being part of her origin story, just as in the comic books. That part of the film takes place in the 1990s suggests that Mar-Vell may be alive in the MCU’s past, even though he may be dead in the present.

If Mar-Vell does have a role in the upcoming film, it would make sense to introduce him to a new generation of readers. And speaking of Generations, the Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel issues have been left for last. With only two weeks separating these final one-shots and Legacy #1, will we see a twist like the one at the end of Generations: Thor? Could events in the Vanishing Point have implications for the space-born superhero within the wider context of the Marvel Universe, and thus setting up his return? Or was a potential combeback set up by the events of the recently concluded Secret Empire?

In the pages of Secret Empire # 1, we saw Rick Jones executed by firing squad. Those of you who know your Marvel history may remember that Mar-Vell and Jones were molecularly bonded for a good part of the 1970s. On his way back to Earth from the Kree Homeworld, Mar-Vell was sucked into the Negative Zone. The only way he could manifest himself in our universe was through a contrivance of Supremor. The Kree Supreme Intelligence telepathically guided the young Rick Jones to an abandoned Kree outpost on Earth and compelled him to put on the nega bands, a pair of wristlets that allowed the emerging folk singer to swap atoms with the warrior a few hours at a time, allowing the superhero to fight evil on Earth when necessary.

This arrangement came to an end for the first time at the beginning of Roy Thomas’s Kree-Skrull War storyline in The Mighty Avengers. Mar-Vell broke into the Baxter Building and used Reed Richards’ Negative Zone portal to break the youth free. But by the time the story had run its course, Rick and Mar-Vell found themselves on Hala, and Supremor activated Jones’ hidden mind powers to conjure up Earth’s Golden Age heroes to defeat Ronan the Accuser, who had usurped power. But the effort overwhelmed Jones, and left him near death. Mar-Vell revived the youth by jumping back into his body and re-bonding at the molecular level. The pair was back at square one.

Despite the quasi-mythical status he now enjoys in the Marvel Universe, the Kree warrior started off as a minor contrivance; a hastily cobbled together character designed to safeguard a trademark.

In 1941, DC Comics sued rival publisher Fawcett for copyright violation over its Captain Marvel character, whom it deemed to be a copy of Superman. The case dragged through the courts for over a decade, and in 1951 a judge agreed that the character was a direct rip-off of the Man of Steel, but also threw out the case because DC had not renewed its copyright on Superman. Two years later, facing declining sales, and a reading public that was increasingly indifferent to the adventures of costumed avengers, Fawcett settled out of court, and stopped publishing its superhero titles altogether.

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Marvel's Captain Mar-Vell Is Nothing Like DC's Captain Marvel

Although the Captain Marvel character was subject to copyright, his name was not, and Marvel snatched up the trademark to prevent a rival publisher—most notably DC—from using it to cannibalize sales by creating a false association with the company. Unlike a copyright, however, a trademark can only be maintained if it is used on a regular basis. In order to keep its claim on the name, Marvel must publish a Captain Marvel magazine on a regular basis. This is why a character bearing the mantle surfaces every few years.

It should be noted that in the 1970s, DC bought the rights to the characters it had previously forced Fawcett to retire, and began publishing new adventures of that first Captain Marvel. Although DC used the name inside the pages of these new comic books, the magazine itself, and the television show that followed, were titled SHAZAM!

Mar-Vell was another story. Originally attired in a cliched green and white uniform -- with a ringed planet symbol on his chest, and a finned helmet on his head -- he looked like a throwback to 1940s’ Flash Gordon serials. He was a Kree officer who had been sent to spy on Earth, but who eventually turned on his own people to save humanity from conquest.

Created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan (who subsequently explained that he played no part in the character’s conception), Mar-Vell’s early adventures were bog standard comic book fare. Upon arriving on Earth, the warrior took on the identity of the recently deceased Dr. Walter Lawson, and infiltrated a secret military base. He caught the eye of then-security chief Carol Danvers, who not only suspected something wasn’t quite right with the good doctor, but who also had a thing for the uniformed version of Mar-Vell.

Carol didn’t stand a chance. Mar-Vell had a thing for the Kree medic, Una, who was also favoured by his commanding officer, Yon-Rogg, a pointy-haired reprobate who did his best to break up the couple by sending his rival on increasingly dangerous missions. However, this status quo didn’t last for long.

In the October 1969 issue of Captain Marvel (#17), the team of Roy Thomas and Gil Kane revamped the character, giving him his iconic blue and black costume, putting him on trial for treason, and linking him at the molecular level with the Rick Jones. The title was cancelled four issues later (#21), but resumed publication after the conclusion of the Kree-Skrull War. But the real turning point for the character came when Jim Starlin took over the title with issue 25.

It was Starlin who pitted Mar-Vell against the Death-obsessed Titan, Thanos. It was also Starlin who gave the Captain his trademark cosmic awareness, and made him the first protector of the universe (a title subsequently borne by various Quasars). In the trippy pages of Captain Marvel #29, a cosmic entity known as Eon forced Mar-Vell to confront his warrior past, and his inner demons. Though a series of increasingly psychedelic trials, Starlin deconstructed Mar-Vell and put him back together as an emissary of peace—albeit one who was not averse to throwing punches.

During his all-too brief run, which concluded with issue #34, Starlin breathed new into Mar-Vell, but his greatest contribution to the hero’s mythos was killing him off. The Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel published in 1982, eight years after his last issue, and three years after the 1979 cancellation of the title.

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The Death of Captain Marvel

In some ways, the graphic novel was a direct sequel to the final issue in Starlin’s run, which saw Mar-Vell take on the exploding villain Nitro. Titled “Blown Away,” and sporting a cover that prophetically proclaimed, “The Man who Killed Captain Marvel,” the story concluded with Mar-Vell manually sealing a canister of Compound Thirteen, a deadly nerve gas the villain stole from the same base that the Captain had infiltrated in his earliest appearances. Mar-Vell survived his exposure to the deadly toxin, but years later, he discovered that the encounter had given him cancer, and that the progress of the disease had been slowed by the nega bands he had used to trade places with Rick.

Written and drawn by Starlin, The Death of Captain Marvel recounts the hero’s last days on Saturn’s moon, Titan, as the brightest minds of the hero community, and indeed the universe, struggle to find a cure for his affliction.

It begins with Mar-Vell dictating his biography as he travels to Thanos’ Ark with Mentor and Eros to retrieve the villain’s body, which has been frozen in stone after the villain’s final fight with Adam Warlock and the Avengers. When the group is ambushed by a group of zealots loyal to the Mad Titan, the trio fights them off, but Mar-Vell is exhausted by the effort, and falls to his knees coughing. Although the hero already suspects, Mentor and ISAAC -- the computer that runs everything on the hollowed-out moon -- confirm that Captain Marvel has cancer, which is called the inner decay on Titan, and the Blackend on the Kree homeworld.

The combined efforts of the greatest intellects in the galaxy are unable to yield a cure, so Mar-Vell starts to put his affairs in order. He travels to Earth and reveals his predicament to an angry Rick, who runs off and refuses to accept his former partner’s fate.

He also breaks the news to his lover Elysius, and the pair spends precious moments together reminiscing. Mar-Vell recalls that Adam Warlock welcomed death as a friend, but admits that he is not prepared to do the same. Later, as his body begins to wither and he is too thin to wear his iconic uniform, he rails against his fate. Wracked in pain, he smashes a computer console in his frustration. After all, he has fought some of the toughest foes in the universe, and he is angered and humiliated by the fact that he is being felled by an illness.

When it becomes obvious that there is nothing more to be done, the heroes begin making their way to Titan. Bedridden, and breathing through a tube in his nose, Mar-Vell greets friend after friend, including Rick, who has finally made peace with his partner’s impending death. The Kree Empire sends nobody but the Skrulls, Mar-Vell’s greatest foes, send a delegate to confer upon him the Royal Medal of Valor, for being the greatest warrior their species has ever encountered.

At the stroke of midnight, Mar-Vell starts to fade, and in his dying moments he dreams that Thanos has broken free of his stone prison to taunt him one last time. The Mad Titan shows Mar-Vell his failing heart. In a surreal montage that echoes the hero’s attainment of Cosmic Awareness in Captain Marvel #29, Mar-vell battles some of his greatest foes, until only Thanos remains. As Mar-Vell delivers a final blow, Thanos shatters into pieces of stone, and is revealed to be an illusion. This is an echo of Mar-Vell shattering the former version of himself as Eon granted him cosmic awareness.

All illusion cast aside, Mar-Vell embraces Death. As his heart counts down its final beats, he takes the hand of Thanos’s lover and walks toward the light. “She will lead us on our journey,” Thanos tells Mar-Vell. “She will show us that this is not the end…only the beginning.” As the trio walks into the light in Mar-Vell’s death dream, the hero flatlines. Mentor switches off the EKG and pulls a sheet over his head.

In a genre known for reboots, retcons and resurrections, Mar-Vell has yet to return from the dead -- and that’s a good thing. Starlin’s swan song for the hero is not your typical comic book slugfest. It is a poignant meditation on mortality and loss.

Every single one of us has lost, or will lose someone to cancer. Perhaps we will even find ourselves battling the illness. Science may be progressing in leaps and bounds (in recent days a new genetic therapy that provides customized treatments for sufferers of a particularly deadly form of leukaemia was announced), but many who are stricken with the disease will die, weakened and in pain like Mar-Vell.

For the most part, superhero stories are aspirational. We cannot fly, cast spells or fling bolts of energy, but we can aspire to fighting for justice, railing against oppression, and speaking truth to power. Fantasies about great power and great responsibility help us to cope with our daily struggles, but sometimes we need a dose of reality.

The Death of Captain Marvel is still shocking, even 35 years after its initial publication because it shows the frailty and finality of the human condition without providing the comfort of a reset switch. The final fight is a dream and a metaphor. The promise of a new beginning is the last wish of a dying man. Mar-Vell’s heart stops and he is gone. It is a sobering end.

This is why the greatest way to honor his legacy is to let Captain Marvel rest in peace. The gut-wrenching perfection of Starlin’s elegy to the hero will lose its impact if he is brought back to life. Mar-Vell’s greatest story—indeed one of the greatest stories in the superhero genre—will be rendered meaningless by his resurrection.

Perhaps it is best to leave his mantle to those who have carried it since: Monica Rambeau, his own son Genis-Vell, and currently, Carol Danvers. After all, the moral of his story is that death is the end of all, but we can all leave a lasting legacy.