Marvel's Captain Marvel is one of the strongest superheroes on Earth, and has a wide array of powers she uses to fight evil - but Carol Danvers has even more names. The hero in question has only been Captain Marvel for roughly a decade, taking the name from the original male Captain Marvel. Eagle-eyed fans of the character have quickly noticed a pattern when it comes to Carol Danvers: whenever she acquires new abilities (or loses them), she changes her name.
Originally a side character in Captain Marvel's own book, Carol Danvers quickly developed a name for herself as a superhero in her own right. Roy Thomas and Gene Colan created the character, who was later caught in the explosion of a Kree weapon, thus granting her powers and her first name: Ms. Marvel. As Ms. Marvel, Carol could fly, fire powerful energy blasts and possess superhuman strength and speed; taking place in the 70s, Carol's book was quite progressive for its time, even if the suit (a very revealing variation of Captain Marvel's own costume) left much to be desired.
Ms. Marvel obtained a new costume in the 80s, but this was the decade of one of her most memorable defeats. The mutant Rogue, an enemy of the Avengers at the time, absorbed Ms. Marvel's powers and left her near death. Carol eventually recovered - but obtained new powers along with a new name, Warbird. Around this time, she was also known for her "Binary" form: a Carol surrounded by excess energy and possessing glowing white-hot eyes. The Binary form was initially an entirely new name for Carol; after becoming Captain Marvel, the name stuck around as a super-powered form.
Captain Marvel's Suits Change Along With Her Powers
Carol Danvers would even go by Ms. Marvel again sporadically before finally becoming Captain Marvel in 2012 (although she became an illusory version in 2005 as part of the House of M event). She would wear her Captain Marvel suit uninterrupted save one instance in 2021 when she swapped it for a magical costume partially inspired by Doctor Strange (she was attempting to learn magic at the time to prevent a dystopian future). The red, blue and yellow suit represents Carol at her full power, and she seemingly found a name that finally stuck.
Carol Danvers has held plenty of superhero identities in the past, and each of them represented a stage in her life. Ms. Marvel represented her first steps into the world of superheroes (and she was still named after the male hero in her book), Warbird represented a struggling and perilous climb back up after a near-fatal fall, and Binary, sheer power unburdened by a tumultuous past. Now, the woman called Captain Marvel can finally settle in to a name and an identity that finally fits her as a character.