Marvel Officially Announces Captain Marvel's New Power Level, Making Her 90% Weaker

Marvel just essentially rebooted Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel, massively reducing her power level in official lore. Formerly one of Marvel's heaviest hitters, Captain Marvel's abilities have been significantly reduced ahead of her starring role in Avengers' new era.

A half-human, half-kree hero, Carol Danvers has a unique biology which allows her to absorb exotic energy types. These grant her incredible strength, flight, invulnerability and photonic energy powers, with Carol even able to 'go Binary' and harness the power of a white hole.

Or at least, that's how things USED to work. Following the disastrous events of Avengers: Armageddon, Carol's powers are left in a very different state...

Captain Marvel Given Radically Lower Power Level

In today's Avengers: Assemble #5 - from Chip Zdarsky, Ario Anindito, Delio Diaz, Frank Alpizar, Cory Petit and Jesus Aburtov - America's heroes struggle to deal with the consequences of the Red Hulk's explosive death. While worldwide legislation is drafted against them and SHIELD is reborn as an anti-superhuman force on the global stage, Carol Danvers deals with a more personal reckoning.

Along with the Winter Soldier and David Colton's Miracleman, Captain Marvel was at the epicenter of Red Hulk's explosive demise. While Carol used her powers to absorb much of Red Hulk's energy output, innocents still died, and her abilities were overloaded by the blast.

In a scene with Reed Richards, the genius scientist informs Carol that her ability to absorb energy has been severely damaged, leaving her at around 10% of her prior power level. While she'll still have superstrength and be able to unleash photonic blasts, they'll be at a much lesser level.

Captain Marvel's New Powers Prepare Her For Avengers Volume 10

With Captain America in a coma, Iron Man stepping out of the public spotlight and other heroes traumatized or injured, November 4 will bring fans Avengers Volume 10. This new volume of the franchise will focus on a new, low-powered team, made up of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Captain Marvel and Miracleman.

One of the first fan reactions to this new roster was to note that they're relatively low-powered, with only Captain Marvel and Miracleman boasting powers beyond what's traditionally thought of as 'street level.' Now, it's revealed that Carol Danvers' abilities will be scaled down for this new era.

While Captain Marvel will still be an impressively heavy hitter for the roster, she won't have the godlike power that's defined her for years. The downscaling makes sense given her teammates and Marvel exploring newcomer Miracleman, and will likely pay off in a moment down the line where Carol reaches deep and restores her former powers.

Captain Marvel's Power Loss Is a Good Decision for the Character

Carol Danvers' new power level will undoubtedly be temporary in the grand scheme of things, but with Avengers Volume 10 and a new Captain Marvel series coming from G. Willow Wilson and Rachael Stott, it will seemingly be a number of years before that happens - Marvel clearly has big plans for Carol's new status quo.

Ultimately, the downgrade is a good move for the character. Captain Marvel has one of the most poorly-defined upper ceilings of Marvel's big-name characters - theoretically ultra-powerful, but too often falling short of her theoretical potential, leaving her feeling like a medium-sized fish in a pond defined by Hulks and Sentrys.

This downgrade revamps Carol for Avengers' new era, maintaining her status as one of the team's heaviest hitters, but this time in a far clearer context. Rather than gliding through space and blasting ill-defined energy blasts, Carol will now be leaping between skyscarpers and hurling cars.

Thanks to her heroic actions, Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel has been downgraded to 10% of her traditional power level, right in time to fit in with Marvel's new street-level Avengers revamp.

Avengers: Armageddon #5 is available now from Marvel Comics.