The Death of Ms. Marvel, Part 1

Several Years Ago…[1]

On Interstate-95, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) suddenly stops traffic north of the Kennedy Space Center as a space shuttle makes an emergency landing on the road. She is assisted by Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell). After the ship lands, the people in traffic cheer them on. Carol takes a moment to consider how they are responding to them. She tells Mar-Vell that while they see her as a superhero, they revere Mar-Vell as something more.

Now

Members of the Church of Hala are watching Norman Osborn’s press conference where he has unveiled his team of Avengers.[2][3] One of the group includes a young man who has been dubbed Captain Marvel (Noh-Varr). They know that this isn’t the real Mar-Vell, leading them to wonder what they should do about this.

Meanwhile, at the National Security Agency headquarters in Maryland, Carol Danvers (aka Ms. Marvel), the agent (Rick Mason), and Michael Rossi are preparing to go after the terrorist Ghazi Rashid, who has gotten ahold of a powerful weapon called Ascension. Since they are all currently fugitives from the law, Rossi uses his NSA connections to set them up with fake IDs, with Carol adopting the identity of Catherine Donovan.[4] Once she has been given the passport, Carol insists that they all start referring to her by her alias. Meanwhile, Mason has been pouring over the data on Norman Osborn that was given to them by the Essential. However, it will take some time to parse everything that is there because the data dump is organized like a stream of consciousness and highly disorganized. He has, however, been able to confirm that when Osborn learns about Ascension and its ties to Carol, he intentionally gave it to Ghazi Rashid to get revenge against Ms. Marvel for refusing his offer to join his Avengers. As they try to puzzle out Osborn’s motivations, Rossi tells them that the process gives superhuman powers, but has a 78% mortality rate. Those who do manage to survive, end up going insane.

That’s when they notice a breaking news story about a massacre that happened in South Carolina. This turns out to be the members of the Church of Hala, who decided to commit mass suicide because their faith had been tainted by this new Captain Marvel. Carol decides to go and check things out, despite the objections from both Rossi and Mason, particularly because Carol’s doesn’t have her powers anymore.[5] However, Carol points out that not only did these people kill themselves in Mar-Vell’s name, but she spotted the new “Captain Marvel” among the people in the crowd watching police secure the church.

When Carol arrives she stakes out the place for 3 hours, but sees no sign of Noh-Varr. Deciding to get a closer look at the crime scene, she approaches on of the officers guarding the perimeter. She pretends to be a reporter and seduces him into letting her get a closer look. However, Carol bites off more than she can chew as the sight of all the body bags make her sick. She runs out of the crime scene to get fresh air. She cannot believe that people would do that in the name of Mar-Vell — and by extension her, since they shared the name Marvel. In an alley, she is confronted by Noh-Varr, and she attacks him for what he has unintentionally caused.

Noh-Varr eventually restrains her and tells her that the Church of Hala formed their religion around another impostor as the Mar-Vell they worship was actually a Skrull. Carol doesn’t believe this and Noh has to restrain her again. He tells her that he was there when the impostor died a heroes death and agreed to be a hero to this world in his stead. He doesn’t care that Carol doesn’t believe him and leaves, telling her that he never threw a single punch and that next time she won’t be so lucky. This gives Carol a lot to ponder about.

By the time she gets back to NSA HQ, she wonders if she needs to give up being Ms. Marvel as well since Osborn has his own version (Karla Sofen). That’s when Mason finally finds the location of Rashid in the data they got from the Essential.

Meanwhile, at a market in Islamabad, Pakistan, Rashid is out with Asif, one of his oldest friends. He tells Asif how he finally got Ascension from Norman Osborn and that it has made him a perfect man. Asif scoffs at the idea of using this power to go after the woman who slit his throat years earlier. Ghazi then clicks open his briefcase, setting off a bomb rigged inside, killing everyone around him. Rashid walks out of the flames unscathed, once again marveling at his perfection.[7]

Recurring Characters

Ms. Marvel, the Agent, Michael Rossi, Marvel Boy/”Captain Marvel”, Ghazi Rashid, (in flashback) Captain Marvel

Continuity Notes

1. According to the Marvel Chronology Project, the flashback in this story follows Carol’s appearance in Defenders #63. Comparing the publication of that issue (September, 1978) and this one (March, 2009) this places the flashback as happening during “Year Five” of the Modern Age while this story takes place during “Year Twelve”. As such this flashback happens roughly seven years prior to the main story.

2. This story takes place after Secret Invasion #8 where Norman Osborn became America’s top cop after killing the leader of a Skrull invasion. One of his first duties was setting up his own team of Avengers, which is primarily consisted of villains disguised as well known heroes. This press conference is taken from Dark Avengers #1.

3. The Church of Hala sprung up after its founder had an counter with a man she thought was the real Captain Marvel in Captain Marvel (vol. 6) #1. At the time, everyone thought this Mar-Vell was time displaced sometime prior to his death in Marvel Graphic Novel #1, as seen in Civil War: The Return #1. In reality, this was a Skrull infiltrator named Khn'nr, as we learned in Captain Marvel (vol. 6) #5. Despite his original mission, he ended up turning on the Skrull empire and died a hero in Secret Invasion #6.

4. Carol is wanted by Norman Osborn after she refused to join his Avengers, as seen in Dark Avengers #1.

5. Carol’s lack of powers was revealed last issue. This is because her powers have been on the blink since she had her Binary powers restored by Cru. See Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #1-3, 22-24, and 36 for more.

6. Back when she was an Air Force pilot, Carol was captured by Rashid and tortured. When she broke free, she slit his throat and left him for dead, as seen in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #32.

Topical References

• The space ship that Carol and Mar-Vell help land in the flashback is depicted as the type of NASA space shuttles that were used between 1981 and 2011. This flashback is depicted relative to the date of publication when NASA was still using these shuttles. However, as the Sliding Timescale bumps the Modern Age forward this will become increasingly impossible as the entire flee was retired. As such, their depiction here should be considered topical.

• The Chuch of Hala is depicted as having a CRT televisions. This should be considered topical as this is now an obsolete technology.