The Death of Captain Marvel is one Marvel’s most endearing stories of all time. It is a story that has been referenced and discussed countless times since its release and for good reason. It tells a story of how one of the mightiest heroes of all time fell. It tells a story of how no one is spared from the soft kiss of Mistress Death. But most importantly it tells a story of how not even Death herself can truly hold sway as long as the legacy one leaves behind is one of honor and integrity. The Death of Captain Marvel remains one of the finest stories Marvel Comics has ever told because of its flawless emotional impact on the world of comics.
Released in 1982 as Marvel Graphic Novel #1 – The Death of Captain Marvel (by Jim Starlin), the story is a culmination of events that spanned several issues across Captain Marvel #34 (by Starlin and Steve Englehart), Marvel Spotlight #1 and #2 (by Doug Moench, Pat Broderick, and Bruce Patterson). An ill-fated battle with the villain Nitro exposed Captain Marvel to a caustic nerve gas that gave him cancer, an illness he wouldn’t detect until it was far too late.
Captain Marvel’s Death Was An Event Long In The Making
The Death of Captain Marvel begins with Captain Marvel suffering a terrible cough and weakness leading to him undergoing a thorough medical examination. His worst suspicions are confirmed when Mentor, the leader of the Eternals, informs him that he is developing cancer. The grim irony of the situation is that Captain Marvel’s nega-bands, the very equipment that protects him and grants him vast power, renders all attempts at treating his sickness ineffective.
As Captain Marvel becomes bed-ridden heroes and even villains from all across the universe come to pay their respects to him. Surrounded by his closest allies and friends, Captain Marvel slips into a dream state where his arch enemy, Thanos, The Mad Titan, becomes reanimated. Assaulted by enemies from beyond the veil of death, Captain Marvel fights bravely, yet in vain, as Mistress Death awaits him in the end. As he accepts his fate, Thanos guides Captain Marvel to the realm beyond, more a friend and guide than the enemy he once was. For the heroes standing beside his bed, they witness the passing of one the universe’s greatest heroes.
As has been discussed many times before, The Death of Captain Marvel is significant because it is one of the few deaths in Marvel Comics that has never been reversed. There have been brief moments where Mar-Vell has been “resurrected”, but he has never returned fully to the world of the living. Captain Marvel is a super hero. Super heroes, while facing adversity in all of their adventures, can’t lose, right? If they all lost there would be no stories to tell. But Mar-Vell’s death has never been reversed and it exists as a solemn and poignant reminder that even the greatest of heroes may fall.
Captain Marvel Proved That A Hero’s Legacy Grants Them True Immortality
It isn’t simply the fact that Mar-Vell died and has stayed dead that gives The Death of Captain Marvel its importance, but the respect and maturity in which it handles his death. There was no explosive or gory finale to his tenure as a hero; there was no sudden dark revelation of his past to sully his legacy; and there was no trite retconning to undo the emotional impact of his death. Mar-Vell succumbed to sickness, surrounded by those that loved him. He was respected by his enemies, his accomplishments undeniable even to those he defeated. His death was a celebration of his life.Modern character deaths are generally treated as cheap dramatic cash grabs, moments of meaningless shock that mean nothing. Characters die in graphic and gruesome ways only to come back through convenient deus ex machina’s, thus stripping the idea of death of all of its gravity. There is nothing trite or cheap about death. The death of an innocent person is enough to haunt a superhero.
The death of a superhero is a moment that entire worlds grieve. And as a story written by Starlin as a means of coping with his father’s death, the gravity of the tale resonates that much more. Marvel has told many excellent stories over the decades and will tell many more, but The Death of Captain Marvel will always remain as one of its greatest. It is a heartfelt and emotional examination of the limits of what it means to be a superhero. It is a mature and noble swansong for an archetype that typically doesn’t experience such loss. The Death of Captain Marvel remains not just as a grim reminder that even our heroes may pass, but that it is their legacies that cement their status as heroes. It ensures that us that our lives of positivity, of pursuing honor and justice, and of dedicating ourselves to helping others, will never truly end as long as we are remembered.
