Why didn't Marvel push Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel

[Gaastra]

Marvel removed her from the secret wars t-shirt along with the fantastic four and x-men as well! I still don't get why they removed her.

[Kevinroc]

Marvel removed her from the secret wars t-shirt along with the fantastic four and x-men as well! I still don't get why they removed her.

Maybe her film rights are tied up somewhere else because she debuted in a Spider-Man comic?

[Holt]

It's probably much simpler than rights issues, unfortunately. They probably didn't want a Captain Marvel who is not the one they're currently giving a massive push to appearing right up there with the rest of the heroes, who are primarily MCU characters (save She-Hulk).

[Iron Maiden]

How ironic that Stern WROTE some of Gruenwald's character John Walker, the US Agent, during his time as Captain America in the mini series, Captain America Corps years later.

I think it's more than just hearsay too. Roger Stern has gone on record as to being very frustrated about the situation with Monica. I recall reading an interview about it and I think it is even mentioned in Sean Howe's book, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. There is a lot of well researched stuff in there. It's a must read IMO.

Gruenwald's death sort of lionized him so you seldom see to much negative about him due to respect to his widow, who I believe still works for Marvel.

[XPac]

Monica never had a real claim on the title like the others. Carol was supporting cast for Mar-Vell. Genis and Phyla were Mar-Vell's kids. Monica was completely separate and was only given the name to keep the trademark. Yes the others were also to keep the trade-mark, but at least it made sense for them to be Captain Marvel story-wise. Yes, Monica is definitely a character that should be promoted more and she's even gonna be in the Ultimates soon alongside Carol, Black Panther, etc so that will help with recognition. But she won't go back to being Captain Marvel (especially with the movie), but if she's supported as Spectrum then Marvel will hopefully take notice and she'll be in more stuff. Though I have to admit it's pretty hilarious that she kept losing hero names to that running joke.

I kind of agree with that. Though I personally like Monica more than Carol, Carol due to her history makes for a better legacy character to Marv. To Monica it's just a random name Marvel Probably used for copy right reasons. But for Carol there's real history there.

[chamber-music]

Monica never had a real claim on the title like the others. Carol was supporting cast for Mar-Vell. Genis and Phyla were Mar-Vell's kids. Monica was completely separate and was only given the name to keep the trademark. Yes the others were also to keep the trade-mark, but at least it made sense for them to be Captain Marvel story-wise. Yes, Monica is definitely a character that should be promoted more and she's even gonna be in the Ultimates soon alongside Carol, Black Panther, etc so that will help with recognition. But she won't go back to being Captain Marvel (especially with the movie), but if she's supported as Spectrum then Marvel will hopefully take notice and she'll be in more stuff. Though I have to admit it's pretty hilarious that she kept losing hero names to that running joke.

I agree. Carol has the ties to the original Captain Marvel which makes her the more logical choice.

Monica's current identity as Spectrum is pretty good.

[weezer17]

I'd quite like to see the title of Captain Marvel become more of a Nova/Green Lantern thing.

You could have Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel, Genis as Captain Marvel, Teddy Altman as Captain Marvel. Make it a Corp. A team book all linked by the title Marvel.

So instead of having the Carol Corp, you have the Marvel Corp - this also lends itself to merchandise and means anyone can be a Captain Marvel. Kids would love it.

I love this idea, minus the merchandising. That would be a great way to honor everyone who's held the title, even Mar-Vell himself.

[Park Slope Pixie]

I agree. Carol has the ties to the original Captain Marvel which makes her the more logical choice.

Monica's current identity as Spectrum is pretty good.

current identity as a little-exposed c-lister is better than being a company masthead like Captain Marvel?

[aja_christopher]

Wasn't she an alt skin/costume for Carol in one of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games?

I "mained" Carol on the Alliance games and the only alternate I recall changing her appearance much is the "Binary" uniform (my costume of choice, naturally).

The newer versions might have something like that -- or possibly some DLC that I don't know about -- but I've never seen it.

Regardless, I'm sure most would agree that Monica deserves her own spot on the game roster -- though it will be great to see her and Carol working together in a title, it would be good to see them working together in a game as well (you could probably have a whole team of Captain Marvels and get an in-game bonus for it).

On a side note, I think it's interesting how both Storm (from the X-Books) and Monica (from the Avengers) went through similar circumstances regarding their promotion: strong leaders in the 80s basically relegated to the sidelines in the 90-00s and then slowly regaining status in the current incarnation of Marvel.

[basbash99]

Monica is a great character and would love to see her appear in MCU. Her powerset can be difficult, since she can fly at light speed (and somehow still see, hear, communicate in light-form but hey, comic books), can't easily be harmed and has massive offensive capabilities. The MCU could probably get around this by putting limits on how much energy she can expend before reverting to human form for awhile.

It would be nice to have an african-american woman in the MCU, particular as she does not play into sassy black woman sterotypes (neither did Storm but that's FOX). I mean I guess you had a one-shot of Akela Amador back in the 1st season of shield (the woman with the eye camera) but c'mon.

[Holt]

I "mained" Carol on the Alliance games and the only alternate I recall changing her appearance much is the "Binary" uniform (my costume of choice, naturally).

The newer versions might have something like that -- or possibly some DLC that I don't know about -- but I've never seen it.

Regardless, I'm sure most would agree that Monica deserves her own spot on the game roster -- though it will be great to see her and Carol working together in a title, it would be good to see them working together in a game as well (you could probably have a whole team of Captain Marvels and get an in-game bonus for it).

On a side note, I think it's interesting how both Storm (from the X-Books) and Monica (from the Avengers) went through similar circumstances regarding their promotion: strong leaders in the 80s basically relegated to the sidelines in the 90-00s and then slowly regaining status in the current incarnation of Marvel.

Storm was still pretty prominent in the 90's. It was the 2000's or so that hit her hard, I think.

[aja_christopher]

Storm was still pretty prominent in the 90's. It was the 2000's or so that hit her hard, I think.

Probably just the result of Claremont leaving the main book -- seems like it's more about the writer's favorites than any consistent editorial mandate... though I'm sure the influence of the movie universe is probably a big factor as well these days.

Monica is a great character and would love to see her appear in MCU. Her powerset can be difficult, since she can fly at light speed (and somehow still see, hear, communicate in light-form but hey, comic books), can't easily be harmed and has massive offensive capabilities. The MCU could probably get around this by putting limits on how much energy she can expend before reverting to human form for awhile.

That's something else Claremont did a lot of as well -- Storm's most popular period might have been when she lost her powers.

That was also when she beat Cyclops to take over leadership of the X-Men.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Racism, ultimately.

[Panic]

Probably just the result of Claremont leaving the main book -- seems like it's more about the writer's favorites than any consistent editorial mandate... though I'm sure the influence of the movie universe is probably a big factor as well these days.



That's something else Claremont did a lot of as well -- Storm's most popular period might have been when she lost her powers.

That was also when she beat Cyclops to take over leadership of the X-Men.

This probably plays a big part in why Storm has been out-of-favour with many writers on X-Men - guys in their 40's such as myself who had grown up with Cyclops being this great leader, hand-to-hand combatant, and tactician, really felt Scott got jobbed in that fight to sell Storm as the new leader. Claremont was favouring Storm in the book, building her up, and for fans of Cyclops it was a bit of a kick in the teeth to watch him fail while Storm suddenly displayed the combat prowess and tactical skills that Cyclops seemed suddenly to have lost. When one writer builds one character up while throwing another under a bus there is usually a counter-reaction down the line.

At some point I expect a backlash against Cyclops for hogging centre-stage for so long at the expense of others. It's just a matter of time before the pro-Cyclops writers move on and you get a creative team who resent him and seek to redress the balance. It's a cycle.

[aja_christopher]

This probably plays a big part in why Storm has been out-of-favour with many writers on X-Men - guys in their 40's such as myself who had grown up with Cyclops being this great leader, hand-to-hand combatant, and tactician, really felt Scott got jobbed in that fight to sell Storm as the new leader. Claremont was favouring Storm in the book, building her up, and for fans of Cyclops it was a bit of a kick in the teeth to watch him fail while Storm suddenly displayed the combat prowess and tactical skills that Cyclops seemed suddenly to have lost. When one writer builds one character up while throwing another under a bus there is usually a counter-reaction down the line.

At some point I expect a backlash against Cyclops for hogging centre-stage for so long at the expense of others. It's just a matter of time before the pro-Cyclops writers move on and you get a creative team who resent him and seek to redress the balance. It's a cycle.

I can understand that, but Claremont made it a pretty reasonable takedown -- the Danger room was programmed with environments for Storm to hide in, Scott was distracted by his problems with his wife, and he wasn't focused on the task at hand because he was being forced by her to choose between his life with her or as an X-Man.

Storm knew his weakness was his visor and she acted accordingly -- it was a surprise victory (to everyone but maybe Storm and Wolverine) but it made sense and it also helped move the story forward.

Things like that make for good storytelling. A lot of people complain about Rachel gunning for Storm's position but I like that as well -- leadership has to be maintained, and respect has to be earned, not once, but consistently. I'm not saying we need "Illuminati" scale infighting, but there's nothing wrong with showing that kind of dramatic conflict between "super" human individuals, especially those gifted with immense power. At least Storm did it with an official challenge, and for respectable reasons.

Anyway, I never saw that fight as "pro" or "anti" anyone -- I saw Cyclops realize he was being a terrible husband and father and both Storm and his wife pointing out that he needed to make a choice between his wife and child or the X-Men. Storm ran away from her leadership position and Callisto forced her back into it -- I didn't see that as making her any worse of a character, even if she had refused to remain leader. If anything it added depth to her character, and showed that the responsibility of leadership wasn't easy as it looked.

I understand being a fan of a character, but I don't see why a favorite character has to be the "leader" to maintain that favor, or why any challenge to said position should be a personal affront. Cyclops got the old team back together (X-Factor), hooked up with Emma Frost (New X-Men), outlived his rival (Wolverine), had his worst enemy kneel to him (Magneto) and even got away with killing his mentor (Xavier) -- I'd say he did okay for himself, regardless.

Storm got what... a broken marriage and a fling with Wolverine?

(Anyway, I'll save any further comment on that for the X-threads if you want to continue the discussion.)