Monica Rambeau

Monica Rambeau is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr., the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 (October 1982). Monica Rambeau gained her superpowers after being bombarded by extra-dimensional energy produced by an energy disruptor weapon. She later joined and eventually became leader of the Avengers for a time. She was also a member of Nextwave and the latest Ultimates team. The character has also been known as Captain Marvel, Photon, Pulsar, and Spectrum at various points in her history.

Monica Rambeau appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain Marvel (2019) and The Marvels (2023) as well as the television miniseries WandaVision (2021), portrayed by Akira Akbar as a child and Teyonah Parris as an adult.

Development

Concept and creation

Talking about the visual features of the character, John Romita Jr. noted that, originally, the character was intended to look like actress Pam Grier, but her appearance was changed before publication:

I just took some reference on Pam Grier, because I always loved her, and at the last moment somebody said that, "Well, we need to use this woman, here," because they thought maybe Pam Grier wasn't as good-looking as the model they found. It was fine, because by the time she got done by other artists, it ended up looking like the generic black character, anyway.

Publication history

Monica Rambeau debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 (October 1982), created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita.

Following her debut, the character appeared throughout the entirety of Stern's five-year run on The Avengers, ultimately becoming the team's leader, before making numerous appearances as a reserve member after her departure from active duty. Two one-shot titles, both written by Dwayne McDuffie and illustrated by Mark D. Bright, followed. She also starred in Avengers: Unplugged #5. She returned in The Avengers (vol. 3) with sporadic appearances between issues #1–59. During this run, she also appeared in Avengers: Infinity #1–4 (September–December 2000), Maximum Security #2–3 (both January 2001), Thor (vol. 2) #30 (January 2001) and the Avengers Annual in 2001.

Following a cameo in Great Lakes Avengers #1 and New Thunderbolts #8–9, she appeared in Order #5–6. She starred in Nextwave #1–12. Following the cancellation of that series, Rambeau was seen briefly in Civil War, She-Hulk, and as a main character in Marvel Divas #1–4 and Heralds #1–5. She appears Iron Age #1 (2011), Captain Marvel #7–8, Journey into Mystery #649, and Age of Ultron.

In 2009, Rambeau appeared in the limited series, Marvel Divas (partly inspired by Sex and the City). She was one of the main characters, alongside Black Cat, Hellcat, and Firestar.

Starting in September 2013, she appeared as one of the lead characters in the Marvel NOW! relaunch of Mighty Avengers, she acted as the team's field leader under the new codename Spectrum.

She was part of the 2015's Ultimates team, written by Al Ewing and drawn by Kenneth Rocafort, the team consisted of Monica Rambeau, Black Panther, Blue Marvel, Miss America, and Captain Marvel. In Marvel NOW! (2016), the Ultimates broke up but are later reunited and asked to become the heralds of Galactus, who is now the Lifebringer of Worlds. The second volume ended at a special #100 issue and it includes an appearance of the original Ultimates team.

She was a major character in the Avengers weekly story-arc Avengers: No Road Home, alongside Hawkeye, Hercules, Hulk, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Voyager and Rocket Raccoon. It was meant to be a spiritual successor to previous Avengers weekly story-arc, Avengers: No Surrender.

In December 2022, Marvel Comics released Monica Rambeau's first solo comic book series, Monica Rambeau: Photon.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Monica Rambeau was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Frank and Maria Rambeau. She was a lieutenant in the New Orleans harbor patrol, where she operated as a cargo ship captain. While trying to stop a dangerous weapon, Rambeau was exposed to extra-dimensional energy and became capable of converting her body to energy. After this event, the media dubbed her "Captain Marvel." Following a close call where her excess energy nearly made her a danger to others before that power was drained off by Iron Man and Spider-Man, she decided to use her powers to fight crime under that name. She was told by Ben Grimm that the name had originally been used by the late Kree hero Mar-Vell, but Grimm assured her that "[Marvel] wouldn't mind. I probably ain't the only 'Thing' in the world either."

Joining the Avengers

Rambeau sought out the Avengers for help in mastering her new powers and became a member-in-training, soon aiding them against Egghead. Befriended and mentored by Avengers veterans Captain America and the Wasp, Captain Marvel soon graduated to full membership after the battle against Plantman. She became their first African-American heroine.

She assisted Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch in battling Dracula.

Two of Rambeau's enemies are super-powered psychiatrist Moonstone (Karla Sofen), and Moonstone's powerful pawn Blackout (Marcus Daniels), who wields the Darkforce. Captain Marvel first encountered them when the Avengers opposed the duo's escape from incarceration in Project Pegasus. After that, Rambeau temporarily lost her ability to transform back to human form during a battle against Dr. Eric Paulson, in which she fought alongside Spider-Man and Starfox. She was with the team when the Beyonder abducted them and other Earth superheroes for the first Secret Wars saga.

Moonstone and Blackout returned as members of Helmut Zemo's Masters of Evil, participating in an occupation of Avengers Mansion and trapping Rambeau in the Darkforce dimension. With help from Cloak, Rambeau was able to escape in time to help retake the Mansion. During the battle, Moonstone became temporarily paralyzed and Blackout died. Another of Rambeau's major early foes was the murderous interstellar pirate Nebula, who shanghaied Rambeau into space for an extended period before she reunited with the Avengers.

Captain Marvel also took part in battles against the Beyonder, a confused Jean Grey, Kang the Conqueror, Attuma, and Grandmaster.

Leader of the Avengers

Rambeau later replaced the Wasp as leader of the Avengers, commanding them in battles against the X-Men, the Olympian Gods, and the Super-Adaptoid. She spent a lot of time refereeing squabbles between Hercules and the Sub-Mariner, and dealing with the duplicitous telepath Dr. Druid, who sought to supplant her as Avengers chairman and undermined her authority at every opportunity.

When honorary Avengers member and wife of the Sub-Mariner Marrina transformed into the gigantic sea monster Leviathan, Captain Marvel led the hunt for the creature. During the battle that followed, Rambeau transformed herself into a massive bolt of lightning to try and stop the beast. She made contact with the water and accidentally conducted herself across the surface of the ocean, dispersing her atoms so widely that she barely regained physical form. She reformed as a frail, withered husk of a woman devoid of super-powers.

Regaining her powers

After retiring from the team, Rambeau regained first her physical health, and eventually her powers, initially developing the ability to manipulate mechanical energy for various effects. She resumed crimefighting, facing foes such as Brazilian crime lord Kristina Ramos, Moonstone, and Powderkeg. At the same time, she served as a cargo ship captain in her friend Ron Morgan's shipping company before starting her own charter business.

Rambeau stayed connected with the Avengers and served as a reservist, sometimes assuming leadership duties in the absence of the current chair. She helped repel an Atlantean invasion of the surface world and assists in the Acts of Vengeance, which involved a concentrated, multi-villain attack on Earth's superheroes, or in the Terminus Factor. Rambeau led a reserve substitute roster during the team's first United Nations-backed reorganization. She took on another leadership role during the Kree-Shi'ar war and led an Avengers delegation to the Shi'ar Empire to petition for peace.

When a group of aliens calling themselves Starblasters tried to push the moon away from Earth, Quasar assembled a team with some of the most powerful heroes of the world, recruiting Rambeau, Carol Danvers, Black Bolt, Hyperion, Ikaris, Darkstar, Vanguard and Perun. During this adventure, her original powers gradually regenerated, fully returning when the alien Stranger accelerates the process.

When Genis-Vell became an adventurer, he was known as Captain Marvel like his father before him—which Rambeau resented. After she, Starfox and Genis teamed up to defeat the Controller, Genis tried to concede the Captain Marvel title to Rambeau since he felt she was more worthy of it. Rambeau declined out of respect for the Mar-Vell legacy and adopted the new alias Photon.