The MCU Needs Its Cosmic Hero Back to Get This Mutant’s Powers Right

Published Oct 11, 2026, 9:45 AM EDT

Nicholas Raymond is an author and journalist based out of Alabama, where he proudly roots for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. A graduate of the University of Montevallo, he has a degree in mass communication with a concentration in journalism.

Just a few years ago, Captain Marvel was deemed crucial to the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, she's nowhere in sight, and though it's theoretically possible that she's a part of the plan for Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, she clearly isn't at the forefront of what Marvel is currently building. However, a comeback would be appropriate, especially in light of the MCU's upcoming shift toward the X-Men.

For the time being, it's unclear if Marvel Studios has any attention to bring back Brie Larson as Carol Danvers. The Marvels was a box office disaster for Disney, so a change in strategy is hardly surprising. Even so, that's not to say Marvel will completely sideline the three characters that were the collective driving force of the 2023 film. Any of them - particularly Captain Marvel - could reemerge, even if it's not in the same capacity that may have been envisioned for these heroes in the beginning.

Captain Marvel, for her part, could be relevant to what Marvel Studios has in store for the X-Men. She's not a mutant, but her history in Marvel Comics is closely aligned with the group in more ways than one. Several of these intersections between Carol and the X-Men could be carried over to the MCU, but one greatly outweighs the others in terms of its importance. After all, Marvel needs Captain Marvel if it's going to do justice to Rogue.

3 Why Captain Marvel Is Vital To Rogue's Story In Marvel Comics

While Rogue will always be remembered first and foremost as one of the pillars of the X-Men's corner of the Marvel Universe, it shouldn't be forgotten that she was actually introduced in an Avengers comic. Specifically, she utilized as a villain sent by Mystique to user her power-stealing abilities to defeat the individual members of the Avengers. One of the heroes she fought was Carol Danvers (then known as Ms. Marvel).

Rather than just copy Carol's abilities, Rogue permanently absorbed them into her body, leaving Carol powerless and comatose. Naturally, this opened up a new, tragic chapter in Carol Danvers' story. But apart from what this meant for her and her future, it also provided a foundation for Rogue's character, not only in the comics but how she is perceived outside them as well.

Both in the comics and cartoons like X-Men: The Animated Series, Rogue is depicted as a physical powerhouse - and it's all due to Carol Danvers. Different continuities have offered their own takes on what happened, but the underlying idea - that Rogue absorbed her abilities and managed to keep them - has been largely consistent. Rogue walloping her opponents with incredible brute force and flying through the air are both aspects of her image that are forever rooted in that one moment in Avengers Annual #10.

In addition to how it shaped the way Rogue tackles problems, it opened all sorts of doors for emotional storytelling as well. Carol had to reckon with how it negatively impacted her life and her superhero career, whereas Rogue had to come to terms with the pain she inflicted on an innocent person.

2 Captain Marvel Could Return For A Comic Accurate Rogue Story

It's not implausible that the MCU finds a way to recreate Carol's battle with Rogue in Avengers Annual #10 within the context of the MCU's X-Men reboot in 2028. Brie Larson's Carol Danvers operates on a cosmic level, but she's returned to Earth before and could easily do so again.

Even a brief stay could be long enough to draw her into the X-Men's orbit. A super-powered threat in her vicinity on Earth - whether it's Rogue herself or a mutant villain Rogue is fighting - could prompt a confrontation between the two. Such a fight could be the basis of Rogue acquiring her comic-accurate powerset, while also offering the MCU a working explanation for Captain Marvel sitting out any future challenges that come the Earth's way going forward.

Heading in this direction would make sense, as a supporting role for Captain Marvel would allow the 2028 movie to feel innately connected to the wider MCU, rather than come across as a more self-contained story that only includes X-Men characters. After so many Fox X-Men movies that had no choice but to take this route, an X-Men film free to include guest appearances from heroes and villains outside their world would be quite refreshing, particularly since this sort of overlap is exactly how it worked in the comic books.

1 Captain Marvel Can Set Up Other Stories For The X-Men Too

There's also the matter of the new horizons she can lay out for the X-Men if she appears. The X-Men have shared countless cosmic adventures and cultivated connections to many extraterrestrial forces. Even the X-Men's most iconic storyline, the Dark Phoenix Saga, stems from something that occurred in outer space. Through Captain Marvel, the MCU can begin to plot a similar journey for its iteration of the X-Men.

Some of these stories could even involve Carol Danvers directly. One that the X-Men may make room for is the introduction of the Starjammers, a team of heroic space pirates led by none other than Cyclops' father, Corsair. Not unlike Carol, Corsair a.k.a. Christopher Summers was an Air Force pilot who eventually found himself patrolling the galaxies as a superhero. The comics didn't ignore this commonality and even made them allies on the Starjammers team, a decision that the MCU could one day take inspiration from.

Much of what Carol did in the comic books pertained to the X-Men in one way or another. Her adventures alongside Corsair and the Starjammers, her transformation into "Binary," stint with the X-Men spinoff team known as Excalibur, and various other run-ins with Professor Xavier's superhero squad go to show the level of potential the MCU will have at its disposal if it opts to bring her back for 2028's X-Men movie.

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  Jean Grey

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  Rogue / Anna Marie

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  Scott Summers / Cyclops

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  Samara Weaving

  Emma Frost