Captain Marvel: Dark Past is Giving an Iconic Hero a New History (And an Epic New Variant Cover, Too) (Exclusive)

Carol Danvers is one of Marvel’s most powerful heroes, but she’s also a character who is no stranger to change. Since her debut in 1968, she’s a character who has seen a number of evolutions, from officer in the U.S. Air Force to becoming the first Ms. Marvel and serving as Binary and Warbird before taking the Captain Marvel mantle. But this April, Carol’s history is going to be getting another look with a brand-new five-issue series that will see her past catch up to her and have impact on her future — and we have a first look at the exciting new variant cover from the first issue.

Arriving on store shelves on April 1st, Captain Marvel: Dark Past #1 comes from writer Paul Jenkins and artist Lucas Werneck. The series is set to see Carol dealing with a dark aspect of her family history as well as some lost memories that are coming back to the surface from her days as Ms. Marvel. It’s an exciting premise and it’s one that this new, variant cover for the first issue from artist J. Scott Campbell highlights with a great piece of art featuring Carol in her Ms. Marvel costume. You can check it out for yourself below.

Read Next

16 Years On, DC Just Set Up The Return of A Criminally Underrated Team

Carol’s Past Could Be Key to Her Future

What makes Captain Marvel: Dark Past such an exciting story is that it is set to take a character who is powerful on a cosmic level and bring them back down to earth, metaphorically, by forcing a hard look at everything she though she knew. It’s an interesting way to not only connect with the character’s rich history but introduce a sort of weakness that even the mightiest of heroes can’t outrun: their past selves. And for someone like Carol Danvers, that might just end up being the biggest challenge she’s ever faced.

Here’s how Marvel describes Captain Marvel: Dark Past #1: “The Legacy of Ms. Marvel! As a cosmic level being, Captain Marvel has saved universes, thwarted alien invasions and even defeated a god or two. But when an attack on New York — bolstered by a mysterious group called DNVR — exposes a dark part of Carol’s family history, she’s forced to question everything she thought she knew about the Danvers name! Carol suspects that answers lie in an investigation she was forced to drop when she was a journalist, and as lost memories from her past as Ms. Marvel resurface, she’s faced with her toughest battle yet. Paul Jenkins (The Sentry, Wolverine: Origin) and Lucas Werneck (Storm, Immortal X-Men) join forces for a journey through Carol’s Past and present.

“True Believers, I’m thrilled to be doing not one but two books back at the House of Ideas,” Jenkins said. “Captain Marvel is such a great character who has also appeared as Ms. Marvel, Warbird, and even Binary. With such a rich and complex past, under the guidance of so many amazing and talented writers, there is a ton of material for me to mine. I hope to bring my brand of characterization and storytelling to this great character, to examine what makes Carol who she is, and perhaps even bring out a new wrinkle or two.”

Captain Marvel: Dark Past #1 goes on sale April 1st, from Marvel Comics.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!