Carol Danvers will star in a new miniseries by Paul Jenkins and Lucas Werneck this April, titled Captain Marvel: Dark Past. The five-issue book will see her revisit her time as a journalist in the late ’70s, around the same time she made her superhero debut as Ms. Marvel, after a terrible secret emerges about the Danvers family.
As a cosmic level being, Captain Marvel has saved universes, thwarted alien invasions and even defeated a god or two. But when an attack on New York — bolstered by a mysterious group called DNVR — exposes a dark part of Carol’s family history, she’s forced to question everything she thought she knew about the Danvers name! Carol suspects that answers lie in an investigation she was forced to drop when she was a journalist, and as lost memories from her past as Ms. Marvel resurface, she’s faced with her toughest battle yet.
The book marks the second new Marvel series by Jenkins to be announced in as many days, following The Sentry relaunch coming in March. He says, “Captain Marvel is such a great character who has also appeared as Ms. Marvel, Warbird and even Binary. With such a rich and complex past, under the guidance of so many amazing and talented writers, there is a ton of material for me to mine. I hope to bring my brand of characterization and storytelling to this great character, to examine what makes Carol who she is, and perhaps even to bring out a new wrinkle or two.”
Werneck adds, “I’m very excited to be working on this project. First of all, Carol is an incredible and powerful character, with many layers and conflicts, which always presents a good challenge. Also, I’m very excited to be working with Paul Jenkins. The conversations we’ve had about the comics, the story, and Carol’s conflicts for this project have made me very enthusiastic about everything that’s to come.”
“Dark past” is a loaded phrase when it comes to Carol’s history, given the disturbing and infamous events of 1980’s Avengers #200. However, the premise seems to imply this book will be something of a spiritual successor to 2018’s miniseries The Life of Captain Marvel, in which creators Margaret Stohl, Carlos Pacheco, and Marguerite Sauvage revealed Carol’s late mother, Marie Danvers, was actually a Kree warrior named Mari-Ell. Carol’s human family included her estranged, alcoholic father Joe; her half-brother Steve; and her still-living half-brother Joe Danvers Jr.
The first issue will be released on April 1, with a main cover by Werneck, and a variant by Ejikure, which you can check out below. In the meantime, Captain Marvel will co-star in the new Imperial Guardians series by Dan Abnett and Marcelo Ferreira, launching March 11.
I miss Carol’s black leotard costume. I really do not like her current costume.
Interesting, given it nods to it by not having arm sleeves under the jacket, and using black instead of blue.