Captain Marvel is back and better than ever with the release of her second solo (or mostly solo) flick, The Marvels.
Fans are hanging high hopes on the action-packed film, after several years of uneven MCU releases. While a few recent flicks have done service to the franchise, they’re weighed down by the Multiverse of Madness and *shudder* Quantumanias of it all. Should The Marvels break this trend, however, we may be looking at an uptick in MCU quality. Many of us thought we were witnessing the beginning of the end when so many Marvel movies failed to match expectations, but the franchise might have a future, after all.
That future currently rides on the backs of a few vital characters. Jonathan Majors’ Kang is an absolutely vital piece of the equation — and one that’s causing quite the headache for Marvel — as are some of the heroes set to pit their might against that of the genius conqueror. Heroes like Carol Danvers, who just so happens to be one of the most powerful characters in the entire MCU.
Even more power may await her in the future, if the people at Marvel Studios follow stories put to page by Marvel Comics. We already knew Captain Marvel was a force to be reckoned with, but in a recent run of Captain Marvel comics she leveled up even more. Does Binary really count as a power-up, however, or is she something entirely different?
Who is Binary?
The name Binary originally belonged to Carol herself, who went by the moniker after she was subjected to a series of experiments that empowered her through a connection to a “white hole.” That connection granted Carol the ability to manipulate stellar energies, including heat, gravity, and the electromagnetic spectrum, along with extra powers like light speed and immunity to the vacuum of space (which Carol already boasts in the MCU).
Marvel’s newest iteration of Binary made her debut in a Dec. 2021 issue of Captain Marvel, spawned in a moment of dire need by Carol. Trapped by Vox Supreme, Carol created a duplicate of herself, made entirely of energy, to help her escape. This alternate earned the name Binary in honor of Carol’s former hero moniker, and — despite her re-absorption by Carol shortly after — was later re-spawned in order to once again lend her aid.
Binary was seemingly formed through the Phoenix Force, which explains her fiery appearance. It also explains her power levels, and how — eventually — she takes on a sentience all her own. I won’t go into too many details about her run in Captain Marvel comics here, in case you’d like to read for yourself, but she’s a thoroughly interesting alternate of the fan favorite character.
What does Carol look like as Binary?
As noted above, there are actually two different versions of Binary to consider, though the second shaped itself after the first, so they share plenty in common. During her days as Binary, Carol Danvers changed up her look significantly, trading out her patriotic costume for an all-white ensemble with two red stars on the chest — representing a binary star system. Her arms, legs, and hair all seem to be afire, apart from the small gloves and shoes attached to Carol’s hands and feet.
The Binary Carol spawned in her recent run of Captain Marvel comics takes on a similar form eventually, but — when its first summoned — it mostly looks like a fully on-fire version of Carol. It generally takes on her shape, but it isn’t until the second time the energy being is summoned that it takes on the Binary costume. Once it does, however, its nearly identical to Carol’s old look.
