- "This isn't about fighting wars. It's about ending them."
- ―Mar-Vell[src]
Mar-Vell was a Kree scientist who used to live on Earth where she worked with the United States Air Force in the framework of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., using the name Wendy Lawson. Together with Carol Danvers and Maria Rambeau, Mar-Vell worked on harnessing the energy of the Tesseract to create a Light-Speed Engine which according to her, would help end the Kree-Skrull War. Despite being a Kree herself, Mar-Vell intended to offer the technology to the Skrulls so they could relocate far from the Kree. However, Mar-Vell's betrayal was discovered by the Kree Empire, so the Supreme Intelligence sent the Starforce on Earth to eliminate her. While putting the engine on trial, Mar-Vell and Danvers were attacked by the Starforce, which caused them to crash, and Mar-Vell was eventually shot and killed by Yon-Rogg while trying to destroy the engine so the Kree could not control it.
Biography
Kree-Skrull War
Developing the Light Speed Engine
Mar-Vell living on Earth with Goose
During the Kree-Skrull War, Mar-Vell decided to help the Skrulls in finding a new home away from the Kree's reach, after learning that her race unfairly treated theirs over the Skrulls' refusal to submit to the Kree's rules, leading to the latter bringing genocide upon the former's homeworld. Mar-Vell figured out a way to use the Space Stone's energy to develop a Light-Speed Engine. Learning that the Tesseract was on Earth, Mar-Vell took her pet Flerken, Goose, and arrived on Earth, disguising herself as "Wendy Lawson" and worked under Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., while also developing her own engine.
Lawson speaking to Carol Danvers
There she met Carol Danvers and Maria Rambeau who unknowingly tested the engine for her in test flights. Mar-Vell was impressed by Danvers and her skills, so she decided to take her under her wing.
Mar-Vell was able to create the engine and secretly took the Tesseract away from Earth, hiding it at her laboratory. She also was approached by Talos who was desperate to find a shelter for his wife, daughter, and the Skrull civilians and Mar-Vell allowed them to hide at her laboratory as well.[1]
Death
Lawson tells Carol Danvers to escape from Starforce
- "I spent half my life fighting a shameful war. Now skedaddle before you give me any more regrets. Just remember the coordinates, okay? You gotta save them without me."
- ―Mar-Vell to Carol Danvers[src]
While testing the Light-Speed Engine with Carol Danvers, Mar-Vell was found by Yon-Rogg and Minn-Erva from the Starforce who shot the plane out of the sky.
Mar-Vell is revealed to be a Kree
After crash-landing, Mar-Vell told Danvers the truth about who she was and her mission on Earth. She gave Danvers her Kree Pistol and insisted on destroying the energy core of the engine so that the Kree could not get it. Before she could do so, Yon-Rogg shot her in the chest, killing her.[1]
Legacy
Six years after Mar-Vell's death, Carol Danvers succeeded Mar-Vell's position on her mission of helping the Skrulls find a new place to live and help them get away from the Kree.[1]
Personality
As a loyal member of Kree, Mar-Vell used to fight their wars for half of her life. However, she was intelligent and sympathetic enough to eventually realize the atrocities the Kree committed against Skrulls, leading her to change sides and secretly help the Skrulls. After her change of heart, she started seeing the war she once fought as being shameful, and instead committed herself to help the remaining Skrull refugees to escape the Kree, to such an extent that she set up a laboratory in Earth's orbit and worked on Earth to use the Tesseract to develop her Light-Speed Engine, and even at the time of her death, she found a successor for herself by giving her protégé everything she needed to continue her mission of helping the Skrull refugees.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- "Your blood. It's blue."
- ―Carol Danvers to Mar-Vell[src]
- Kree Physiology: As a Kree, Mar-Vell possessed all of the natural attributes common among her species such as superhuman strength, durability, agility, and an efficient healing factor.
- Superhuman Strength: Like all Kree, Mar-Vell was superhumanly strong.
- Superhuman Durability: Mar-Vell's body was more resistant to physical damage than the body of a human being. However, Mar-Vell could be killed, as she was shot dead by Yon-Rogg.
- Superhuman Agility: Mar-Vell naturally had greater agility, dexterity, balance and body coordination than a normal human being.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: As with all Kree, Mar-Vell possessed a healing factor which allowed her to recover from injuries in a much shorter timespan than humans. However, she cannot recover from injuries powerful enough to kill her immediately, as she was shot dead by Yon-Rogg.
Abilities
- Genius-Level Intellect: Mar-Vell was incredibly intellectually bright by Earth standards. She developed the highly-advanced Light-Speed Engine, which was sought out by the Starforce to help end the Kree-Skrull War.
Equipment
Weapons
Mar-Vell draws her weapon to destroy the energy core
- Kree Pistol: After her plane was shot and crashed, she drew her Kree Pistol to destroy the Light-Speed Engine, only to be shot and killed by Yon-Rogg before she could do it.
Other Equipment
- Tesseract: While working at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., she used the energy of the Tesseract and the Space Stone within it to develop a Light-Speed Engine.
- Light-Speed Engine: Using the Tesseract, she developed an engine that enabled spacecraft to travel to anywhere at the speed of light instead of having to use the Universal Neural Teleportation Network to go to specific jump points, enabling the Skrulls to get out of the Kree's reach.
Vehicles
- Mar-Vell's Laboratory: Other than working on Earth at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., she also brought an orbital laboratory with her in Earth's orbit, in order to research the Tesseract. Later on, she housed a group of Skrull refugees in the laboratory but was assassinated before she could give the location of the laboratory to Talos.
Facilities
- Edwards Air Force Base: Test flights of the Light-Speed Engine were performed from this U.S. Air Force base, by her pupils Carol Danvers and Maria Rambeau.
- Joint NASA USAF Facility: Mar-Vell researched the Tesseract and developed the Light-Speed Engine in the facility, as it was the main site of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S..
Relationships
Allies
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Enemies
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Trivia
- In the comics, Mar-Vell was a Captain of the Imperial Army and the Kree war hero. Arriving at Earth, Mar-Vell disguised himself as Walter Lawson, researching the human race. Eventually, Mar-Vell turned against the Kree Empire and became the original Captain Marvel.
- Mar-Vell is the fourth character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be depicted as a different gender from their counterpart in the comics, following Jeri Hogarth, the Ancient One and Ghost, with the fifth being Morgan Stark and the sixth being Gabriella Rosetti.
Behind the Scenes
- Kevin Feige stated the decision to cast Annette Bening came very late, as they were still intending to cast a male actor shortly before filming began. Feige attributed Bening's casting to Anna Boden's decision to make the Supreme Intelligence take on Mar-Vell's appearance, stating "it was like, 'Oh, of course! That's perfect!' And we stopped looking for another actor."[2]
- The first scene Annette Bening shot for Captain Marvel was Mar-Vell's death scene, with director Ryan Fleck noting that Bening gave a good performance despite the fact that she had to spend one day without sleeping.[3]
- Elisabeth P. Carpenter and Ingrid Kleinig were stunt doubles for Annette Bening in the role of Mar-Vell.
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