Captain Marvel is a name that several characters have used (even ones from different publishers). One of the most famous Captains was Mar-Vell. In 1982, we saw the epic and touching story, THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL. The story is held in high regards by many. Despite the popularity of the character, many fans demand that Mar-Vell remain dead.
There have been other Captain Marvels. We even saw the apparent return of Mar-Vell in 2007, which turned out to be a sleeper Skrull agent during the SECRET INVASION.
Marvel has just released a teaser proclaiming the return of Captain Marvel in July 2012. Speculation has already been running wild with who this Captain will be.
The chances are Mar-Vell won't be returning from the dead. We know that pretty much no one is truly dead when it comes to comic book deaths but because of the impact of the story and the 2007 (fake) return, Marvel probably wouldn't go there again. There are Mar-Vell's kids, Genis-Vell and Phyla-Vell along with Hulkling or Noh-Var as possible candidates.
The one person that deserves to take the role is Carol Danvers, also known as Ms. Marvel.
== TEASER ==This is a rumor that surfaced after the teaser was released. It's a rumor that I hope turns out to be true.
Ms. Marvel has long since shown her place as one of the mightiest Avengers. Her origins are closely tied to Mar-Vell's as well. When Carol first appeared, she had overcome the boundary of equality by doing many jobs considered to be a man's job. Not only had she been a fighter pilot and CIA Agent, she also led her her own SHIELD strikeforce team (Operation: Lightning Storm) as well the Mighty Avengers.
When she was working with Mar-Vell (before the world knew who he was), she was exposed to radiation from a Kree device. Mar-Vell tried to shield her with his body and the result was her gaining powers similar to his. Her original costume even sported the same symbol as Mar-Vell's.
Besides her long career as a hero, she recently accomplished another amazing feat. Her 2006 series lasted 50 issues. For a series driven by a female character, that's incredibly impressive these days. It was extremely unfortunate when her series ended and many readers were left wondering why Marvel canceled it.
It's time for Carol to step back into the spotlight. For all her strengths, it's a waste to have her sit in the back of comic panels with nothing really to do. Even when Tony Stark gave her leadership of the Avengers in MIGHTY AVENGERS, she didn't get to do a whole lot. As part of the New Avengers, she's barely featured in the stories and you can easily forget she's even part of the team. Let's see her get a promotion from "Ms." to "Captain." Changing the name might even make her more appealing to those few that struggle with purchasing comics solely based on a female lead.
With AVENGERS VS. X-MEN coming up along with the return of the Phoenix Force, it appears that Carol will somehow be using the powers she had when she went by Binary and was part of the Starjammers. Perhaps she will be undergoing some power increase which would make her even more worthy to graduate up to Captain. She's proven she can carry her own title before and let's see her evolve into an even more powerful character.