Summary

• Carol Danvers is established as the strongest and best Captain Marvel, defeating Genis-Vell even with her limited power.
• Genis-Vell, the third Captain Marvel, is resurrected as a zombie under the control of Omen and forced to fight Carol.
• Carol proves her strength by easily fending off Genis-Vell with just kicks and punches, showing that she would be victorious if she could access her full power.

Warning: Spoilers for Captain Marvel #2!There have been many to don the Captain Marvel mantle, but Carol Danvers may be the strongest of them all. Despite being the most famous character to use the Captain Marvel alias, Carol Danvers is the seventh person to hold the mantle, the latest in a long line. This has left fans to contemplate who ranks among the strongest iterations of Captain Marvel, but now, readers know who is the strongest between the seventh and the third Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel #2 by Alyssa Wong, Jan Bazaloua, Bryan Valenza, and VC's Ariana Maher makes it clear that Carol Danvers is stronger than Genis-Vell. Genis-Vell is the third character in Marvel lore to carry the Captain Marvel name, adopting it from his father and original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, and his mother, Elysius.

After being presumed dead, a newly zombified version of Genis-Vell is back from the dead and under the magic control of Omen, who forces him into a fight with the current Captain Marvel. In a fight pitting Captain Marvel against Captain Marvel, it's Carol Danvers who comes out on top in a battle, establishing just how powerful she truly is even when her power level is stunted.

Captain Marvel vs. Captain Marvel

Under the influence of Omen, driven by a desire to retrieve the Nega-Bands, Genis-Vell tracks them down to Empire State University, where Carol's new sidekick Yuna Yang is a student. Genis-Vell starts attacking the college in search of the Nega-Bands, compelling Yuna to use the Nega-Bands to summon Carol Danvers from the Negative Zone. Due to the nature of the Nega-Bands, Carol can't use her full power too soon, as the more power she uses, the faster she'd be expelled from the real world and back to the Negative Zone.

As a result, she has to fight off Genis-Vell using mostly kicks and punches. Surprisingly, though, she's able to take him down using only kicks and punches for the most part. She manages to fend him off pretty easily during the battle, suggesting that if she was able to access her full power without the limitations she has now, Genis-Vell would be no match for Carol Danvers. It isn't until Omen gets involved and it becomes a two-on-one fight that Carol starts to struggle, and even then, it's more so because she can't use too much power without risking switching out with Yuna at an inopportune time for the human.

Why Carol Danvers is the Best Captain Marvel

However, in a one-on-one scenario, Carol Danvers is proven to be the strongest of the two and, ergo, the best Captain Marvel. Carol isn't the best Captain Marvel just because she defeated a former Captain Marvel, but because she proves to be so powerful at limited power. Even when she's forced to face two people at once, Carol knows she can take on them both at the same time, but she also knows that if she uses too much power at once, Yuna would be swapped into her place, risking her life. If Carol was under different circumstances, the fight between the two Captain Marvels would end much sooner in Carol Danvers' favor.

Captain Marvel #2 is on sale now from Marvel.