Warning: contains spoilers for Captain Marvel #39!
After making the worst possible magical mistake, Carol Danvers might finally be replaced as Captain Marvel – all thanks to her own actions. Danvers has shown disdain for authority and her hot-temper often causes trouble, for friend and foe alike. But in Captain Marvel #39, her actions during a devastating battle with Ove, the son of the Enchantress, finally catch up with her during a magical trial held by Agatha Harkness and her enemies.
In 2021, Captain Marvel was temporarily thrown into a dystopian future, in which most of the world was destroyed and the remnants conquered by the child of Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Enchantress, Ove. Back in the present, Danvers made it her mission to learn magic for the sole purpose of stopping Ove from taking control. Rebuffed by Doctor Strange, she enlisted the help of the unwitting Enchantress and finally defeated Ove by stripping his ability to use magic in the first place. Unfortunately, this is considered a grave crime by the magical community…and Doctor Strange warned Carol that she would eventually be punished by the magic users of Earth.
In Captain Marvel #39, written by Kelly Thompson with art by Juan Frigeri & Alvaro Lopez, Carol wakes up in a black void. She’s restrained to a chair and sits before Agatha Harkness, the Enchantress, Doctor Voodoo, and the other magic users of the Marvel Universe (with the exception of Doctor Strange, who died in the recent Death of Doctor Strange event). The trial isn’t meant to determine Carol’s guilt, but her worth – and if she’s found lacking, the tribunal “…will remove [her] from the role…and find a suitable replacement.”
Even fans of Captain Marvel will understand the tribunal’s decision. Carol Danvers is constantly reckless in her actions and often justifies them with a “might makes right” mentality – a holdover from the Civil War II event. While the tribunal is testing Carol, Binary remains on Earth and can even replicate Carol’s likeness and costume. This could be the “replacement” intended by Agatha Harkness; Binary appears to be a far more logical being than Danvers, but she is also quite naive, and this could potentially have disastrous consequences.
Binary can be manipulated far easier than Carol Danvers. For all her headstrong faults, she almost always acts on her own accord, despises following orders and frequently ignores warnings (even from her friends like the Scarlet Witch). Carol Danvers may be replaced by Captain Marvel, but her prospective replacement may be little more than an unwitting puppet for Harkness and her tribunal.
