How to Defeat Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel’s cosmic powers make her an immensely powerful superhero, but she is vulnerable to a very specific force. A vulnerability that can teach us a valuable lesson.
Captain Marvel has singlehandedly taken down a Kree warship. She blasts energy from her hands. She has the ability to heal and travel through space. In Avengers Endgame, she takes on Thanos in a fist fight. In the comic books, she holds her own against Vision and Rogue. She even has enough power to restart the sun (although it took everything she had).
Carol Danvers might not be vulnerable to the colour yellow (really Green Lantern?) or pieces of glowing green rocks (don’t buy Superman emeralds, he might take it the wrong way). However, she is vulnerable to one very significant force within the Marvel universe and when she tells Doctor Strange, his reaction might surprise you.
Carol Danvers was initially introduced with the original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell. During a battle between Mar-Vell and You-Rogg, both alien warriors, Carol Danvers is caught in an explosion. It’s a classic accidental-explosion-gives-you-superpowers origin. If it sounds familiar that’s because the Flash, the Hulk, She-Hulk and Swamp Thing have a similar origin.
For Captain Marvel, the presence of aliens is important to her origin, making the source of her abilities a combination of technology and cosmic power. While Carol Danvers changes her name a couple of times (Ms. Marvel, Binary and Warbird before sticking with Captain Marvel) and loses her powers a couple of times, the scope of her abilities are consistently focused on flight, power blasts, power absorption and super-strength.
When Captain Marvel is pulled into a dystopian future she encounters a force that render all of her powers useless. The future is cold and barren. Two wars with unknown invaders have laid waste to the plant and killed most of the heroes of Earth. The surface is inhospitable and only a handful of super-powered individuals can survive. Captain Marvel helps battle pre-historic monsters and demons, until an old friend, Luke Cage, arrives with an invitation to visit New Atlantis.
New Atlantis is a Utopia ruled by Ove and his mother, the Asgardian sorcerer, Enchantress. Captain Marvel is suspicious and soon discovers that Ove has enslaved super-powered individuals to act as power source and security for his settlement. Captain Marvel then discovers that Ove plans to use Captain Marvel’s power to travel to her present and enslave the past.
Against Ove’s combination of Asgardian and Atlantean magic, Captain Marvel is powerless. The combined efforts of the super-powered individuals (including Thor’s daughter Bridget) save the day and release Captain Marvel, but she cannot stop Ove from travelling into the past.
Aware that she is vulnerable to magic, Captain Marvel visits Doctor Strange and tells him about the tyranny of Ove. Strange is concerned by the possible future, but when Captain Marvel asks Strange to teach her magic, he says he won’t.
Doctor Strange suggests that learning magic will takes decades and is difficult for someone who already has magical abilities. Captain Marvel does not have any magical ability.
What Doctor Strange says next might surprise you, Strange tells Captain Marvel that she is an extremely powerful superhero and it might be good for her to have vulnerabilities.
Captain Marvel does not agree.
In order to stop Ove and Enchantress, Captain Marvel has to rely on her determination and intelligence. She gets out an energy blast or two, blasts Enchantress into a mountain and lands a few punches on Ove. However, the magic of Ove and Enchantress is a powerful force that renders all of Captain Marvel’s comic abilities ineffective.
Lessons from Captain Marvel’s weakness
The lesson we can learn is, you can’t be good at everything. You can wield amazing powers, but everyone has a limit. Everyone is vulnerable, often to lots of things. In certain situation we are powerless. We find ourselves at the mercy of others and not because we failed.
What does Captain Marvel do? She picks herself up and looks for a solution. She asks for help, which isn’t always forthcoming or possible. Doctor Strange attempts to help Captain Marvel, but in the end he can’t (or won’t) teach her magic. What does Captain Marvel do then? She keeps trying.
Against the magic of Ove and Enchantress, Captain Marvel doesn’t stand a chance. But she doesn’t give up. Between determination (which often looks like stubbornness) and intelligence, Captain Marvel finds a way to get through.
At first, Captain Marvel elicits the help of Enchantress from her time (Captain Marvel doesn’t mention needing help defeating Enchantress’s future son). When things don’t go to plan, Captain Marvel improvises. She does not dwell on her weaknesses, she uses her strengths and identifies the weaknesses of others.
It’s not pretty and it’s not exactly heroic, but Captain Marvel gets through.
What should we remember?
1. Know you have weaknesses and if you have weaknesses, so do other people.
2. When you fail (everyone does), get back up and try a different approach.
If you want to learn how Captain Marvel overcomes the threat of Ove and Enchantress, check out Captain Marvel: The New World and Captain Marvel: Strange Magic. (this is not paid affiliate link, it’s just a suggestion).