Mighty Avengers #19 — Nick Peron

Jun 13

Jun 13 Mighty Avengers #19

Secret Invasion continues from Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #6...

Marvel Boy (Noh-Varr), an alien prisoner of war in the Cube maximum security prison, continues to sent out a distress call to the Kree of this reality.[2] His calls have gone unanswered, leaving him to wonder if his people have forsaken him. That’s when he sees that the Kree hero Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) has supposedly returned from the dead![3] This gives Noh-Varr a lot to think about. Is this a message from his people or some kind of human trick? No matter how hard he tries to puzzle over this he can’t make sense of it.

Soon, the alarms in the facility start going off as the Cube’s computers are infected with an alien virus. This frees all of the prisoners from their cells and they start rioting in the prison. Noh-Varr decides that this is his cue to leave.

Meanwhile, the man everyone thought was Captain Marvel has discovered that he is actually a Skrull sleeper agent sent ahead of their invasion of Earth.[3] However, as this Skrull — named Khn’nr — attacked Thunderbolts Mountain, he is struggling with a crisis of identity. While he now remembers who he really is, he finds himself in conflict with the implanted memories of Mar-Vell. The Kree hero’s memories are in direct conflict with his mission on Earth. This confusion makes him a target and his queen has sent a team of Super-Skrulls to eliminate him. Deciding to embrace the hero he was always posing as, Captain Marvel fights back and kills one of his would-be assassins. This causes the other to flee into space.

Khn’nr follows after him and when he sees the Skrull armada in Earth orbit he decides that there is only one thing he can do: Attack! However, Captain Marvel is outgunned and is fatally wounded and sent crashing back down to Earth. As he goes he sends a message out to the Kree empire telling them who he has become and what he has adopted by taking on the name Mar-Vell.[5]

Moments after crashing, Noh-Varr arrives on the scene and recovers Mar-Vell’s body and hears his dying words.

… Secret Invasion continues in War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #34.

Recurring Characters

Marvel Boy, “Captain Marvel”

Continuity Notes

This cover pays homage to Avengers #89.
Noh-Varr has been a prisoner on Earth since his capture following the events of Marvel Boy (vol. 2) #1-6. He took control of the Cube following Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #1-3. Here he states that he has come from another reality, which has since been designated Reality-200080 in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5.
The original Captain Marvel died of cancer back in Marvel Graphic Novel #1. At the time of this story, he was seemingly pulled forward in time in prior to his death in Civil War: The Return #1. It was later revealed in Captain Marvel (vol. 6) #4-5 that this is yet another Skrull infiltrator named Khn’nr.
This sequence of events expands on the events of Secret Invasion #5-6 and Thunderbolts #122-123.
Here we get a montage of the real Captain Marvel’s greatest hits, so to speak. They include:
- The time he and the Avengers fought the Super-Adaptoid in Captain Marvel #50.
- His bond with Rick Jones. The pair shared their existence from Captain Marvel #17 until Captain Marvel #50.
- Thanos and Death is a reference to Captain Marvel #33.
- And lastly the real Mar-Vell’s death from Marvel Graphic Novel #1.