Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #37
The Death of Ms. Marvel, Conclusion
Carol Danvers (aka Ms. Marvel) has finally tracked down Ghazi Rashid, a terrorist from her past that has been empowered by a drug called Ascension.[1] She has tracked him down with the aid of her former lover and NSA agent Michael Rossi, and the mercenary known as the Agent (Rick Mason). Attacking him at a lavish party in Hong Kong, Carol’s powers seize up leaving her vulnerable.[2] With Danvers at his mercy, Rashid reveals that his CIA contact all these years is none other than Michael Rossi!
Hearing this over coms, Rossi doesn’t know how Rashid knew his secret. Mason, on the other hand is racing to Carol’s location and trying to get Michael to explain what Rashid means, but gets no response. This is because Rossi has dropped everything and fled his vantage point.
Getting back to her feet, Carol thanks Ghazi for waking up long lost emotions that she has not been able to feel for years.[3] Being reminded of the torture she endured at his hands all those years ago has filled Danvers with a righteous anger. This anger had opened up a floodgate to all the other emotions she used to associate with her memories. As she mentions each one, she finds the strength to summon her powers and transform into Ms. Marvel for the first time since the end of the failed Skrull invasion of Earth. She refuses to lay down and die and let Rashid take those all away from him.
As Ghazi fights back, Carol admits to herself that she is talking big, but the reality is that she can feel her body falling apart from the inside due to her powers. Unaware of the full potential of Ascension, Carol finds that Ghazi can withstand her energy blasts, hit hard enough to hurt her, and fly. Eventually their brawl spills onto the streets of Hong Kong. With very little time left, Ms. Marvel tries unleashing a full blast of energy into Ghazi’s head at point blank range and then tosses him into the side of a building. That’s when her old Binary powers kick in painfully as her body begins absorbing all of the ambient energy into her body to the point where she is about to overload.[4]
Rashid then tries to attack her again and, knowing that she is about to die, Carol refuses to do so alone. She unleashes an even more powerful blast of energy. Although this is enough to sear Ghazi’s flesh and knock him out, he somehow still manages to survive. By this time, Rick Mason is by Carol’s side. She tells him how Rossi betrayed them, but when Rick offers to help her she says there is nothing he can do to save her. With her body reaching critical mass, Ms. Marvel flies high above the city and unleashes all of the power built up inside her in one powerful burst that disintegrates her body.[5]
Rossi then races up to the lookout where Michael Rossi was supposed to be keeping watch and discovers he fled. When searching his bag, Rick is shocked to see an bomb with just seconds left on the count down. As the bomb explodes, Rossi has gotten to where Ghazi Rashid, who is starting to come around. Rossi then knocks him out again with a single punch.
Three days later, Michael Rossi has fled to Rio De Janeiro where he gets in contact with Norman Osborn. He is annoyed that he hasn’t received payment for delivering Rashid to him, but Norman explains that he came to the realization that he didn’t need to pay Michael. That’s when Rick Mason reveals that he is in the room, as it turned out, Osborn hired the Agent to kill Rossi so Rick could avenge Carol. Rick then shoots Michael in the head and then puts a few more bullets in his body for good measure.[6] Rick then turns to the laptop Rossi was using to talk to Osborn and tells him that he’s the next on his list. He assures Norman that this isn’t a threat and tosses the laptop off the hotel room balcony, where it smashes on the ground below.
Unphased by this threat, Norman Osborn goes down the hall in Avengers Tower to the room of Karla Sofen. He tells her the good news, the original Ms. Marvel is now dead and she has sole claim to the title. As she suits up in her costume, he tells her to go out and do the name proud.[7]
Recurring Characters
Ms. Marvel (Danvers), the Agent, Michael Rossi, Ghazi Rashid, Norman Osborn, Ms. Marvel (Sofen)
Continuity Notes
This has all been chronicled over the last five issues, try to keep up. Norman Osborn gave Rashid Ascension to assassinate Carol after she refused his offer to join his team of Avengers in Dark Avengers #1.
Carol’s powers have been on the fritz since she was temporarily bonded to an alien warrior known as Cru. See Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #1-3 and 22-24. As we learned last issue, this has forced Carol to stop using her powers throughout this story arc as she came close to burning herself out during the Skrull invasion.
Years earlier, Ms. Marvel had her memories and powers stolen from her by the mutant known as Rogue, Although her memories were restored by Professor X, he couldn’t restore the emotions those memories had, making her disconnected from her past. See Avengers Annual #10.
Carol attained cosmic level powers after she was experimented upon by the Brood back in Uncanny X-Men #163. These powers eventually faded by Avengers (vol. 3) #4. They were restored by Cru in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #23, but it came at a price, as I explained in point 2 above.
I don’t need to tell you that Carol’s “death” doesn’t last very long. Rather, Carol’s body is split into two distinct entities that will eventually merge back together, as we’ll see in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #42-46.
As of this writing (June, 2024), Michael Rossi is still considered among the deceased. This is also the last mention of Ghazi Rashid, his subsequent fate after being turned over to Norman Osborn is unknown time of this writing.
Karla Sofen, aka Moonstone, was recruited by Osborn as part of his team of Avengers, which consists mostly of criminals who have co-opted the identities of known heroes. In Karla’s case, she has been masquerading as Ms. Marvel. See Dark Avengers #1.
