Rogue Finally Rights a Massive Wrong and Captain Marvel’s Response Changes Everything

Rogue started off her career as a villain, working alongside her adoptive parents, Mystique and Destiny. Her first actions in comics made her one of the most hated characters, something that allowed her to enter into a redemption arc that turned her into one of the X-Men’s most beloved members. However, her worst moment stuck with her throughout the years, and it made her relationship with one of the Avengers’ most important members fractured, to say the least. That moment came when Rogue attacked Carol Danvers, who was operating as Ms. Marvel at the time, and stole her powers and memories to an extent that devastated both hero and villain.

In Captain Marvel #5 (2026) by Paul Jenkins and Lucas Werneck, Carol Danvers dealt with a lot of past trauma, and in the end, Rogue showed up. What happened next changed their relationship forever.

Rogue Gives Carol Danvers Something She Stole Years Ago

Rogue made her debut in Avengers Annual #10 (1981) by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden. In this issue, she attacked the Avengers with Mystique and Destiny, and it was Ms. Marvel that Rogue targeted. Rogue’s powers allow her to not only steal the powers from anyone she touches, but also to gain their memories. However, when she attacked Ms. Marvel, her powers reacted in an unexpected way. Rogue absorbed Carol’s alien-based powers and her memories and kept them permanently. Carol almost died, and Rogue’s psyche cracked. It gave Rogue immense powers of strength, flight, and invulnerability, but her mind struggled to recover.

Rogue went to the X-Men and asked for their help, and over time, she became a hero and began to make up for all her past sins. However, what she did to Carol Danvers was almost irredeemable, and it was something that she had never really come to terms with. That all seemed to change in this new issue of Captain Marvel. In this book, Carol still has some holes in her memory, and her worst memory involves her father telling her that he wished she had died rather than her brother, something that pushed Carol to try harder and become the hero she is today.

However, that isn’t what the memory really was. It was only what Carol had in her fractured memories after the Rogue attack years earlier. In this new story, Carol had her Seventh Sense return, and she ended up battling a relative of Carol’s called the Desecrator, who was raised in the DNVR “purity” compound. This villain’s only real sanctuary was Carol’s father, who fled the compound after his wife died. Carol offered to help the Desecrator, but his anger overwhelmed him, and Carol realized that her anger also came from a past that she didn’t completely remember.

Carol Danvers and Rogue Finally Come to Terms With the Past

By the end of the issue, Carol Danvers went to her father’s grave, still believing that he wished she had died rather than her brother. Carol was finally forgiving her dad for not treating her as well as her brother, and she refused to carry his sins anymore. That is when Rogue showed up at the gravesite with Emma Frost. This is when Rogue made a confession to Carol that she had been holding inside for years. Rogue explained that she never had a dad that she knew, and she would have loved to have one, even if he didn’t treat her as well as she would have liked. She dreamed of one day having a dad, even if he was a bad person.

However, this wasn’t Rogue delivering a lesson to Carol. She was there to make a confession and tell Carol that she gave back all of Carol’s memories, but then she kept one and held onto it for herself. Emma described this as a “core memory,” one that Rogue couldn’t let go of. Carol said it was okay, but Emma then connected the two and linked the memory back to Carol. After her dad said, “It should have been you,” there was more, and only Rogue knew the rest of the conversation. Her father told her how proud he was of her and that he mourned losing his son, but he always believed in her. He finished by saying, “I love you, bug. I’m sorry.”

Carol could have taken this badly, but Rogue said she wanted to give it back because it belonged to Carol. However, what happened next resolved their years of conflict. Carol said she didn’t want it. Carol said she didn’t need it because she had already experienced life and gotten to where she was. She said she didn’t need to forgive her dad anymore, but Rogue needed it because she needed a father figure who was proud of her. It all ended with Carol telling Rogue that they are good, and one of the most horrific events in Marvel Comics history is now forgiven between the only two people it mattered to.

Marvel’s What If Reveals the One Hero Team That Can Never Be Corrupted