“THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARVEL presents the origins of Carol Danvers and Captain Marvel in one place, and in a way we haven’t seen before,” said SVP and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort. “Margie Stohl’s pulled together all of the strands of Carol’s backstory to craft a tale that will no doubt become a seminal story about the character, and set her in place for her role in AVENGERS and elsewhere throughout the Marvel Universe.”
“It’s nothing you’ll expect and nothing you’ve seen happen but there will be parts of her life that change the context of what you’ve seen before, so it’s telling the other side of the story, of how she came to be,” Stohl said of Carol’s new story.
We’re excited to welcome comics veteran Carlos Pacheco to Captain Marvel’s legacy,” added series editor Sarah Brunstad. “Carlos draws powerful, expressive figures with incredible depth—he’s going to show us a different Carol Danvers, one who has to grapple with the choices that have brought her to this new point.”
Margaret Stohl spoke with ABC NEWS regarding THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARVEL and its cultural significance!
“This one is especially important to me,” Stohl told ABC News exclusively about the project. “I relate to Carol Danvers so personally. And I really wanted to be able to do this and go back in before her movie launches.”
The movie Stohl referenced is the highly-anticipated 2019 blockbuster starring Oscar winner Brie Larson in the title role. Details of that plot are still unannounced.
But according to the books, Danvers got her powers years ago after teaming up with a Kree warrior named Mar-Vell. After being caught in a blast of alien energies, she somehow became a hybrid of both alien Kree and human genes. At first, she went by the name Ms. Marvel before taking on the mantle of the Captain!
THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 (of 5)
Written by MARGARET STOHL
Art by CARLOS PACHECO
Cover by JULIAN TEDESCO
On Sale 7/4/18
Her powers include flight, super-human strength and much more, but it’s her leadership in supergroups like The Avengers and Alpha Flight that has captivated fans for years.
A (Wo)man’s World?
When Stohl joined Marvel a few years back to work on books for another iconic female superhero, Black Widow, she got a chance to work with acclaimed Marvel scribe and creator, Sana Amanat.
The duo hit the ground running and never looked back.
“We are both women in a man’s world mostly,” she said. “I’ve made video games and comic books my whole life, so I am really used to being a girl in a room of boys, although increasingly less so in the comics industry.”
Retelling Captain Marvel’s origin story will stem from “crippling anxiety attacks [that] put her on the sidelines in the middle of a fight,” according to the official Marvel tease of this first issue.
“Carol finds herself reliving memories of a life she thought was far behind her. You can’t outrun where you’re from — and sometimes, you HAVE to go home again. But there are skeletons in Captain Marvel’s closet — and what she discovers will change her entire world,” the synopsis continues.
Stohl said this book is “a chance to show a softer side to Carol” both in the copy and art.
“Carlos Pacheco’s panels are incredible,” Stohl remarked of the art. “He is so good at delivering emotion and getting the reader to connect with what’s on the page.”
A Retelling, Not a Reinvention
The Life of Captain Marvel #1 will not be a complete reinvention of Danvers and her past, but a “retelling,” Stohl said.
“You look through a different lens,” she said. “It’s nothing you’ll expect and nothing you’ve seen happen but there will be parts of her life that change the context of what you’ve seen before, so it’s telling the other side of the story, of how she came to be.”
This other side of her story could “change everything,” she added.
As for the arc of the upcoming movie, Stohl said it will obviously be similar but also “it’s own thing.”
“There’s so much narrative space in comics, we tell endless stories, we add personal details,” she said. “You know, things that the reader can experience with the hero. It’s super personal.”
The Kree angle and its alien culture will still be a major part as well.
“I really liked it. That’s probably all I can say,” she said with a laugh as though she may have given away too much.
A Marvel-ous Hero
Stohl said that while picking the brains of Marvel Comics legends like Joe Quesada and seeing Danvers’ impact in chat rooms and fan clubs, she saw the “widening circle of how much this character matters to people of all kinds.”
This kind of flag-pole hero both onscreen and in books makes the process of telling her origin story “more personal,” she noted.
“I thought it was going to be more of a girl’s story specifically and in some ways, it is, because it’s a female character and author,” Stohl said. “But really it’s a human story … I thought [Carol] would be telling me a daughter’s story and a girl’s story, but really she’s telling me a coming of age story and a family story.”
Stohl said her cohorts at Marvel, Amanat, and Quesada, always stress that fans relate to the human side of their superhero characters.
“This has been Carol at her most approachable and understandable,” she said. “Carol isn’t like that very often. She has a sense of humor and she is used to toughing out.”
The last few years in the comics have been one of great strife for Captain Marvel. After facing off against Iron Man and putting him in a coma, she was then forced to fight a war in space after being locked out of Earth by a Hydra-fronting Captain America. That’s a much longer story for another time.
The Time is Now
When asked how a female superhero fits specifically into movements like #MeToo, Stohl acknowledges the “hard time, a tumultuous time” that’s occurred not only over the last couple years and far beyond that.
“But I’ve never seen such power either,” she said. “I’ve never seen more empowered teens. I’ve never seen more empowered fans. I’ve never seen more empowered women!”
In fact, after taking on the mantle of writing for Danvers, Stohl said both fans and even former military women have reached out to her with praise for how much this character is a facet of their lives.
“I look at the ecosystem we’re moving in and I’ve never seen more girls, women, and teens speaking up and using their voices,” she said. “Just sort of being heroes.”
She continued, “It’s been the best of times and the worst of times. But I’ve definitely said to myself, ‘Aren’t we lucky enough to be alive right now?'”
The changes in culture include the success of the film “Black Panther,” which has now earned more than $700 million worldwide at the box office in less than two weeks since it was released.
“That was kind of a religious experience in pop culture this month,” she said. “That was a game changer but also life-changing for so many people. That was a victory for characters, but that was a victory for the audience and fandom, and the franchise. Everything is changing and it’s remarkable.”
The Life of Captain Marvel #1 is in stores July 4.
(SOURCE: ABC News and Marvel Comics are both parts of parent company Disney.)
Featuring an all-new story and all-new direction, THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 kicks off July 4!
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