The Marvels introduces a new Captain Marvel-esque character wearing a red and white suit. Played by Lashana Lynch, she comes in as another Maria Rambeau variant called Binary. But who is she, and what are her powers? Here’s all you need to know.
Who is Binary in The Marvels?
Binary appears in The Marvels’ mid-credits scene in a parallel reality to MCU’s Earth-616. She is a Carol Danvers duplicate in the comics, but is a variant of Maria Rambeau in The Marvels’ alternate reality.
Towards the end of The Marvels, Monica Rambeau finds herself in a new reality. In the mid-credits scene, she wakes up in a hospital bed and finds a variant of her mother as Binary, dressed in red, white, and gold. Along with Monica, many casual Marvel fans are also left wondering who this “Binary” is.
The comics feature two versions of Binary. This alias was first created for Carol Danvers in 1982’s Uncanny X-Men #164. In it, Captain Marvel teamed up with the X-Men on a space mission, where she was experimented upon by The Brood. It transformed her into the cosmic hero “Binary,” giving her enhanced energy absorption abilities. We’ve already seen this version on screen with Carol Danvers glowing and going binary.
But the third Maria Rambeau variant of MCU that’s introduced in The Marvels is based on Kelly Thompson’s Captain Marvel run, where Binary is Carol Danvers’ doppelganger energy form. She was created by a mix of Carol Danvers’ energy, nourishment from the phoenix force on Vox Supreme’s planet, and a revitalization from Mar-Vell’s body. A cocktail of all that made Carol’s duplicate energy sentient, and she came to be called Binary.
But to toss out this complicated origin, the MCU makes her a Maria Rambeau variant in a parallel reality. On this Earth, the X-Men might be prominent instead of the Avengers, and they’re probably assisted by Binary, instead of Captain Marvel.
What are Binary’s powers and abilities?
Binary in the books is just a sentient doppelganger energy form of Carol Danvers created after she was evolved into the Binary state by the Brood. So, she possesses the same powers as Captain Marvel in her Binary Form.
In her Binary state, Carol Danvers possesses the following abilities:
- Enhanced energy absorption
- Energy manipulation
- Flight
- Superhuman Strength/Durability
- Cosmic Awareness
- Speed
- Heat generation
So, while glowing, the doppelganger Binary also possesses these abilities. Now, the MCU version of Binary in The Marvels is also expected to have similar powers, with one or two possible additions to make her different from Earth-616’s Carol and her Earth-838 variant.
