How Old Is Captain Marvel (Carol) in Each MCU Movie (& Comics)?

The MCU and the world of Marvel Comics have some characters that have been around for a long time, and this is quite understandable for the comic book world as the storylines of our favorite heroes have been around for decades. One such character who has been around for decades in both the MCU and the comics is Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel. But how old is Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel in the MCU and the comics?

Carol’s Kree powers and Kree physiology gave her longevity

Captain Marvel is currently one of the most popular characters in both the MCU and the comics, as she has a very human storyline despite the fact that her powers are literally beyond what normal humans are capable of. Of course, like many comic book heroes, Carol started as someone who didn’t have powers, although things are different between the comics and the MCU.

In the comics, Carol was born the daughter of a human male and a female Kree. This gave her the innate abilities of a Kree, such as superhuman strength, durability, and speed. However, her powers came later as obtaining cosmic abilities eventually made her more powerful than she originally was.

On the other hand, in the MCU, Carol was born a regular human being in 1965. She was set to live a perfectly normal lie until she got entangled with Mar-Vell, Yon-Rogg, and the Light-Speed Engine. Exposure to the energy expelled by the Light-Speed Engine after it exploded gave Carol powers as she eventually gained cosmic abilities that improved her longevity.

After that incident, Carol was taken to Hala, the capital of the Kree Empire, by Yon-Rogg because she had the powers of the Light-Speed Engine. She was given a blood transfusion by Yon-Rogg, turning her into a Kree hybrid. This was because she actually “died” after the Light-Speed Engine explosion. We all know that the Kree tend to live for hundreds of years as they age at a rate that’s so much slower than regular people, and this is the first reason why Carol doesn’t seem to age.

So, after becoming a human-Kree hybrid and gaining cosmic abilities, Carol’s body started to age much slower. Her Kree physiology and cosmic powers basically gave her the longevity of a godlike character. This explains why Carol Danvers looks like she hasn’t aged a day over 25 since she was exposed to the energy released by the Light-Speed Engine explosion.

Captain Marvel’s age in the MCU and the comics

In the MCU, of course, Carol Danvers was exposed to the explosion of the Light-Speed Engine when she was just 24 years old. This happened in 1989, and she supposedly died after the explosion. However, she was secretly taken to the Kree Empire, where she was given new memories and a different identity, as the Kree wanted to take advantage of her abilities. While she was with the Kree for around six years, her body didn’t age a single day.

Then, during the events of the ‘Captain Marvel’ movie, Danvers was around 30 years old in terms of chronological age because the movie takes place in 1995. However, due to her Kree physiology and cosmic powers, she didn’t age a single day after the accident that happened in 1989. She subsequently regained some of her memories and ultimately learned the truth behind what the Kree Empire had been doing.

Carol Danvers spent decades away from Earth so that she could defeat the Supreme Intelligence and help out the different people who were once oppressed by the Kree Empire. During the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ she returned to Earth just moments after Thanos’ Snap. She was around 53 years old at that time as 23 years went by since the events of ‘Captain Marvel’ and ‘Endgame.’ 

Five years went by after Thanos’ snap, as Carol returned to Earth as a 58-year-old intergalactic hero. However, it was clear that Captain Marvel didn’t age a day since the events of the Light-Speed Engine explosion, as this was due to the longevity that her physiology and powers gave her.

Then, during the events of ‘The Marvels,’ which takes place in 2025, Carol is around 60 years old. This proves that she doesn’t really age. Or even if she did age, she aged at a rate that was exponentially slower than ordinary humans, giving her the capability to live for hundreds or even thousands of years.

In the comics, however, Carol Danvers’ age was never quite specific. This is because time tends to pass quite differently in the world of comic books, even though decades have passed since Carol Danvers was first introduced. But it can be speculated that Carol is somewhere between her mid-30s and early 40s in the comics. Still, she did start as a pretty young woman in the comics.

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