Warning: contains spoilers for Captain Marvel #48The ongoing war between Captain Marvel against the parasitic Brood aliens takes a dark and tragic turn in Captain Marvel #48, with Carol Danvers entering into the final stage of her powers – first seen in 2020s Captain Marvel: The End – to get justice for the death of Binary.
The ongoing Revenge of the Brood arc has seen several factions of the Xenomorph-like Brood aliens break away from King Broo’s control, assaulting various planets in the universe, before capturing Rogue, Carol, and Binary, the sentient energy creature recently created by Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel #48 – from writer Kelly Thompson and artists Sergio Fernandez Davila and Sean Parsons – sees the newly sentient Binary sacrifice her brief life to save Carol from the control of the Brood Queen, which pushes Captain Marvel to enter into a new “Super Nova” energy state, a being of pure energy first seen in Kelly Thompson’s 2020 one-shot Captain Marvel: The End.
Captain Marvel Goes Super Nova
Carol’s “The End” tale saw her protecting the cosmos in the year 2051, with an impressively powerful new energy form, which she has finally just achieved in the current timeline in Captain Marvel #48. In “The End” the Earth was seemingly devoid of life after a nuclear holocaust, however Carol eventually gets a signal from Earth, and emotionally travels to the destroyed planet before discovering that some humans did survive, including Emma Frost, her best friend Jessica Drew, and the children of many iconic heroes. Captain Marvel uses her powers to restart the Earth’s sun, giving humankind another chance to survive. The Carol of the present has since visited this future, witnessing its heroes’ continued battle after her future-self’s sacrifice.
Captain Marvel Takes Another Step Towards Her Final Sacrifice
It seems as though Captain Marvel #48 may have finally revealed what happened to cause Carol Danvers’ abilities to upgrade in such a powerful way, and sadly it was the death of her friend and “twin” Binary that pushed her to a new level. Captain Marvel is obviously livid and devastated by the death of Binary, who in some ways felt like a daughter to her, and Carol will clearly do almost anything to get vengeance on the Brood and the Brood Queen for what they did to Binary, as well as the torture they put her through. Over in the X-Men series, Cyclops has decided that they must commit genocide against the Brood, putting an end to their parasitic species once and for all – a move which is vehemently opposed by Jean Grey and some others. However, it is not clear whether Carol will support Scott Summers in his decision to destroy the Brood.
The Brood Cause Yet Another Carol Danvers Evolution
Ironically, the Brood were also behind Carol’s initial transformation into Binary, torturing the hero back in 1982s Uncanny X-Men in an attempt to draw out her full latent potential, which manifested as her being able to draw on the power of a limitless “white hole,” renaming herself Binary. Now, the Brood have done it again, pushing Carol past her previously known limits through torture and grief, causing her to unlock a level of strength and power that will cause a true reckoning for their entire species.
Carol Danvers has been kidnaped, tortured, and experimented on by the horrifying Brood aliens repeatedly, and their latest attempts at harnessing her power has caused Captain Marvel to transform into the ultra-powerful cosmic goddess first seen in Captain Marvel: The End, which she will use to get justice for the death of her friend Binary.
Captain Marvel #48 from Marvel Comics is available now in stores.
