Captain Marvel (Khn'nr)

Khn'nris a character appearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byMarvel Comics.Created byPaul JenkinsandTom Raney,the character first appeared inCivil War:The Return(March2007). Khn'nr is aSkrullsleeper agent posing as theKreeCaptain Mar-Vell(also known asCaptain Marvel).

Captain Marvel
Cover toCaptain Marvel(vol. 6) #4
Art byEd McGuiness.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceCivil War:The Return
(March2007)
Created byPaul Jenkins(writer)
Tom Raney(artist)
In-story information
Full nameKhn'nr
SpeciesSkrull
Place of originSkrull Empire
Team affiliationsChurch of Hala
Skrull Empire
Notable aliasesMar-Vell
Abilities
  • Superhuman strength
  • Shapeshifting
  • Flight
  • Master unarmed combatant
  • Wields Skrull-made Nega-Bands
  • Extensive knowledge of technologically advanced Kree vehicles and devices

TheshapeshiftingSkrull Khn'nr is bonded with theDNAof Mar-Vell to lock his body into Mar-Vell's form and given technological replicas of the Kree Nega-Bands. However, his mental conditioning is botched, causing Khn'nr's personality to be erased and leaving the Mar-Vell persona dominant. Though part of theSkrull invasionofEarth,this Captain Marvel decides to fight against the invading Skrulls.

Publication history

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In 2007, Mar-Vell supposedly returned to theMarvel Universeduring Marvel'sCivil Warcrossover storyline. He made his appearance in the "Civil War: The Return"one-shot,written byPaul Jenkins.[1][2]It was later revealed that this was in fact a Skrull named Khn'nr during the 2008Captain Marvelmini-series, which spun out of the events of hisCivil Warappearance.[3][4][1][5]

Fictional character biography

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As part of the SkrullSecret Invasion,a shapeshifting Skrull called Khn'nr is locked into the shape ofMar-Vell,the firstCaptain Marveland given technological replicas of the Kree Nega-Bands to replicate Captain Marvel's powers. Khn'nr receives memory implants to turn him into a sleeper agent making him believe he is Captain Marvel supposedly up until the time of the invasion when a psychological trigger would be activated to return him to his Skrull persona.[citation needed]

The real Mar-Vell dies of cancer so to explain his comeback from death, a false memory is implanted in the Skrull Mar-Vell to make him believe he has encountered a wrinkle in space-time in the past, supposedly caused byTony Stark,Hank Pym,andReed Richards' construction of a prison within theNegative Zone,which Captain Marvel touches and is transported through time to the Negative Zone in the present day. Initially unsure of how to approach the situation, the Earth's heroes reveal Mar-Vell's history to him but also offer him a place in this new future as a warden for their prison, at least until, as theSentryimplicated, Mar-Vell would return to his past.[6]

He is later called in to help thepro-registration heroeswho revived him, at the end of the 2007 "Civil War"storyline;[7]however upon seeing the chaos they are causing, he departs, toFrance,where he spends all of his time observing a painting ofAlexander the Greatin theLouvreand contemplates Alexander's similarities to himself.[8]This painting is meant to be his psychological trigger, but due to an error in the methods of Skrull scientists, Mar-Vell retains his personality and memories prior to his Skrull captivity in their entirety. Most of Khn'nr's personality have accidentally been erased as a byproduct of the botched mental conditioning. Consequently, the Mar-Vell persona remains defiantly dominant.[citation needed]

When the Skrulls realize what happens, other Skrull agents posing as supervillainsCyclone,Cobalt Man,and a team of Kree soldiers[9]unsuccessfully attempt to capture Captain Marvel.[citation needed]

When he learns the truth and becomes fully aware of his true identity he decides to embrace Mar-Vell's memories and rebel against the Skrulls and protect Earth from their invasion.[10]However, at the same time that Skrull infiltrators strikeS.H.I.E.L.D.,S.W.O.R.D.,theBaxter Buildingand a number ofStark Enterprisesfacilities, Captain Marvel launches an attack onThunderbolt Mountain,[11]deciding that he can destroy some of the things he sees as problems in the world, like the Government sanctioned supervillains Thunderbolts, during the initial strike of the Skrulls' invasion.[12]He defeats the Thunderbolts,[13][14]leavingNorman Osbornto convince Khn'nr that only he can decide who he really is,[15][16]which leads Khn'nr to attack the Skrull armada. He destroys many of the fleet but is attacked by a Super-Skrull and it nearly kills him.[15]

Barely alive after his effort, he manages to crash back on Earth, crossingNoh-Varr's path, who briefly mistakes him for the original Mar-Vell. Before dying from his wounds, Khn'nr spurs Noh-Varr into continuing Mar-Vell's legacy as the protector of Earth, branding with his dying words the Skrulls as liars and traitors and asking that Noh-Varr defeat the Skrulls and take on the mantle of Captain Marvel, which Noh-Varr does, joining theDark Avengersunder that name.[5][17]

Powers and abilities

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Though a Skrull, Khn'nr has thememories,knowledge, and skills of the Kree, Mar-Vell;[5]presumably including Mar-Vell's Kree military training giving him mastery of all forms of Kree unarmed combat, as well as extensive knowledge of the technologically advanced vehicles and devices of the Kree Empire.[4]It is unknown if the botched mental conditioning has left Khn'nr any of his previous Skrull knowledge.[citation needed]

The Skrulls also developed technological replicas of the Kree Nega-Bands, though it is unknown if these work in the same fashion as the Kree version which converted Mar-Vell'spsionicenergy into strength, a high degree of imperviousness to harm, the ability to project force blasts, survive in space and the power to fly at faster-than-light speeds, though the bands do give him the exact same abilities. They are also fully compatible with the originals, as seen whenMs. Marvel,armed with the original Nega-Bands, is able to banish him in theNegative Zoneby clicking her wrist on his.[10]

Reception

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Accolades

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  • In 2017,Den of Geekranked Khn'nr 3rd in their "Guardians of the Galaxy 3: 50 Marvel Characters We Want to See" list.[18]
  • In 2018,CBRranked Khn'nr 12th in their "Every Captain Marvel Ever" list.[19]
  • In 2019,CBRranked Khn'nr 9th in their "Every Version Of Captain Marvel" list[20]and 8th in their "All The Captain Marvels, Ranked" list.[21]

Literary reception

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Volumes

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Captain Marvel- 2007

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According toDiamond Comic Distributors,Captain Marvel#1 was the 49th best selling comic book in November 2007.[22][23]Captain Marvel#2 was the 68th best selling comic book in December 2007.[24][25]

Jesse Schedeen ofIGNgaveCaptain Marvel#1 a grade of 8.6 out of 10, writing, "Brian Reed and Lee Weeks wouldn't have topped my list for a killerCaptain Marvelteam (no pun intended), but they certainly make a case for themselves. Reed is increasingly proving that he can easily survive without his frequent writing partner Brian Michael Bendis. Reed's own voice shines through in this issue, particularly with some well-written narration by Mar-Vell. Weeks, despite not qualifying as a very traditional superhero artist, is a near-perfect fit for this mini-series. In many ways Weeks evokes memories ofJim Starlin's work onThe Death of Captain Marvel.If this series is eliciting favorable comparisons to that classic story already, I think we're in for a marvelously good time (har har). "[26]Jesse Schedeen ofIGNgaveCaptain Marvel#2 a grade of 8.7 out of 10, saying, "Lee Weeks is a name that hasn't graced many Marvel covers lately, but I hope that will change after this mini-series. Weeks is one of many similarly-accomplished noir artists at Marvel. His stark, realistic pencils aren't what I would have initially expected from this book, but his style wound up being a perfect fit. I highly recommend giving this series a look if you're still on the fence. I just don't think any supposed connection toSecret Invasionshould be a motivating factor. "[27]

Collected editions

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Title Material collected Publication date ISBN
Captain Marvel: Secret Invasion Captain Marvel(vol. 6) #1-5,Civil War: The Return August 13, 2008 ISBN978-0-7851-3303-2

References

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  1. ^abShiach, Kieran (June 29, 2016)."The Replacements: Mar-Vell And The Legacy Of Captain Marvel".ComicsAlliance.Archived fromthe originalon October 14, 2017.RetrievedJune 17,2019.
  2. ^Webber, Tim (July 22, 2018)."Every Captain Marvel Ever, Officially Ranked - 12".Comic Book Resources.Archived fromthe originalon July 23, 2018.RetrievedJune 17,2019.
  3. ^Diaz, Eric (March 14, 2019)."The Comics History of All 9 CAPTAIN MARVELS".Nerdist.Archived fromthe originalon March 30, 2019.RetrievedJune 17,2019.
  4. ^abDapul, Motzie (October 31, 2018)."Captain Marvel: 12 Major Characters From The Comics You Need To Know - 11. Khn'nr".Whatculture.Archived fromthe originalon November 22, 2018.RetrievedJune 17,2019.
  5. ^abcBlumberg, Arnold T. (April 6, 2019)."Know Your Captain Marvel from Your Captain Mar-Vell".IGN.Archived fromthe originalon April 8, 2019.RetrievedJune 17,2019.
  6. ^Civil War: The Return(March 2007). Marvel Comics.
  7. ^Civil War#7 (January 2007). Marvel Comics.
  8. ^Captain Marvelvol. 6 #1 (January 2008). Marvel Comics.
  9. ^Captain Marvelvol. 7 #3 (March 2008). Marvel Comics.
  10. ^abCaptain Marvelvol. 6 #5 (June 2008). Marvel Comics.
  11. ^Secret Invasion#1 (June 2008). Marvel Comics.
  12. ^Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust?(June 2008). Marvel Comics.
  13. ^Secret Invasion#3 (August 2008)
  14. ^Thunderbolts#122 (September 2008). Marvel Comics.
  15. ^abSecret Invasion#5 (October 2008). Marvel Comics.
  16. ^Thunderbolts#123 (October 2008). Marvel Comics.
  17. ^Secret Invasion#6 (November 2008). Marvel Comics.
  18. ^jbindeck2015 (2017-05-19)."Guardians of the Galaxy 3: 50 Marvel Characters We Want to See".Den of Geek.Retrieved2022-10-08.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^Webber, Tim (2018-07-22)."Every Captain Marvel Ever, Officially Ranked".CBR.Retrieved2022-10-08.
  20. ^Lealos, Shawn S. (2019-03-30)."Ranked: Every Version Of Captain Marvel".CBR.Retrieved2022-10-08.
  21. ^Gramuglia, Anthony (2019-01-14)."All The Captain Marvels, Ranked".CBR.Retrieved2022-10-08.
  22. ^"Comichron: November 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".comichron.Retrieved2022-10-08.
  23. ^"Top 300 Comics Actual--November 2007".icv2.Retrieved2022-10-08.
  24. ^"Comichron: December 2007 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".comichron.Retrieved2022-10-08.
  25. ^"Top 300 Comics Actual--December 2007".icv2.Retrieved2022-10-08.
  26. ^Schedeen, Jesse (2007-11-15)."Captain Marvel #1 Review".IGN.Retrieved2022-10-08.
  27. ^Schedeen, Jesse (2007-12-28)."Captain Marvel #2 Review".IGN.Retrieved2022-10-08.
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