Spoilers for Captain Marvel #14
Thus far in her solo series, Captain Marvel has been on a tear, killing her Avengers teammates (or making it look that way). But in Captain Marvel #14 the tides have changed thanks to an attack Carol did not see coming. She may have the power to take down most of the Avengers, but this weapon might spell the end of her dark mission.
“The Last Avenger” storyline by Kelly Thompson and Lee Garbett has proven twice over that the Avengers’ greatest enemies might come from within. Blackmailed by Vox Supreme, Carol has been systematically “killing” her teammates in order to save countless human lives. The remaining Avengers are not too pleased with Carol, and some are particularly angry about her anti-Avenger spree (there’s nothing like murderous in-fighting to turn even the best team against each other). What they don’t know… is that Carol is playing a hidden game in the hopes of saving both her teammates and thousands of innocent civilians. Unfortunately for Carol, her latest attack sees her outmatched by someone who doesn’t really do explanations.
When Captain Marvel sets her sights on Black Panther, Wakanda’s latest secret weapon (or should it be ally?) is ready to step in and defend “panther man” from the “bad lady.” She-Hulk has spent a lot of time in Wakanda recently in an attempt to recover from her run-in with the Celestials. While She-Hulk was attempting to contain her new powers through “psychoactive calisthenics,” T’Challa, Jennifer Walters, and the greatest minds of Wakanda were also working on a more immediate (and weaponized) way to control her powers. And Captain Marvel just got to test out their results personally.
The result of that groundbreaking science is She-Hulk’s formidable new gamma armor (which might be Wakanda’s actual secret weapon). The bond that she has clearly gained with T’Challa means that she is not about to let Captain Marvel take a shot at her new friend. The anger of the Hulks is legendary, but She-Hulk shows Captain Marvel and fans alike that power of a Hulk’s loyalty might be even more dangerous.
She-Hulk did not even have to tap into her battle armor’s ability to shoot concentrated gamma blasts to deliver a blow that shuts down Captain Marvel’s plans. Though in her defense, Carol almost gets it right before She-Hulk knocks her silly. When she initially found herself up against Black Panther, her mind was actually focused on armor – just not the right Avenger. While she attempts to keep her identity hidden with her own new threads, she prioritizes taking out T’Challa’s best weapon, his Black Panther armor. Carol clearly disabled the wrong suit, though, because if She-Hulk can pretty much take her out with a punch, there is no telling what a very angry Hulk and her new favorite weapon could do to her.
Captain Marvel knew she would have to face the Green Giantess eventually - a She-Hulk clone can be glimpsed in the Singularity - but that does not mean had Carol already figured out what to do. In fact, knowing about She-Hulk and Blank Panther’s connection, Captain Marvel may have been relying on getting T’Challa to the Singularity in order to use his insight to take on her most formidable teammate. Carol just was not counting on her biggest problem being her next target’s back-up. Even worse for Captain Marvel, She-Hulk has been in flux between her savage nature and her sensational intellect recently. It seems that Carol’s only hope is laying out her case for Jennifer Walters before She-Hulk decides to skip due process and declare Captain Marvel punishable by death.
Captain Marvel #14 is available now in your local comic book shop.
More: CAPTAIN MARVEL: THE END Preview with Writer Kelly Thompson
