The Nega-Bands, Explained

From the Kree warrior Mar-Vell to Carol Danvers, several Marvel heroes have carried the Captain Marvel mantle. In addition to sharing a name, many of them have also wielded one of Marvel's most powerful artifacts: the Nega-Bands. 

The Nega-Bands instantaneously transport their wearers across vast distances of space and into other dimensions, generating pure energy and unleashing vast amounts of power as they do so. From unlocking Captain Marvel's true potential to destroying one of the most powerful star systems in the universe, the Nega-Bands have changed the course of the Marvel Universe more than once.

Now, let's take a closer look at the Nega-Bands and how Marvel's heroes and villains have used them across the cosmos. We'll also break down the new wielder of the Nega-Bands, who unlocks their power in CAPTAIN MARVEL (2023) #1 by Alyssa Wong, Jan Bazaldua, Bryan Valenza, and VC's Ariana Maher.

WHAT ARE THE NEGA-BANDS?

The Nega-Bands were first used by Captain Mar-Vell—a Kree spy who swore to protect the people of Earth—and Rick Jones, the teenage ally of Avengers like Captain America and the Hulk, starting in CAPTAIN MARVEL (1968) #17 by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. Both heroes wore a set of Nega-Bands, and they could swap places by striking the bands together, frequently leaving one or the other floating through the desolate Negative Zone. 

With the ability to transform mental energy into physical power, the Nega-Bands give their wielders a broad set of superhuman abilities, including super-strength, super-speed, and the ability to travel through space, as well as the power to manipulate energy and some forms of matter and antimatter. 

Unlike most other Marvel artifacts, several pairs of Nega-Bands exist throughout the Marvel Universe. The Nega-Bands are an ancient relic of the cosmic Kree empire, created as an evolution of the Quantum Bands that empower Quasar. Along with the Kree Psyche-Magnitron machine, the Nega-Bands also helped unlock the latent abilities of Carol Danvers, a Kree-human hybrid. 

While the Nega-Bands are most frequently used by Mar-Vell, his children, and other members of his heroic lineage, characters like Hank Pym and Annihilus have also successfully built or found sets of Nega-Bands.

CAPTAIN MAR-VELL AND THE NEGA-BANDS

Captain Mar-Vell began using the Nega-Bands relatively early in his heroic career. After saving the Supreme Intelligence that once ruled the Kree Empire, Mar-Vell received a new costume that included the Nega-Bands—an ancient technology he thought forbidden—from the Kree leader in CAPTAIN MARVEL (1968) #16 by Archie Goodwin and Don Heck. 

After a blast of radiation trapped Mar-Vell in the Negative Zone, the Supreme Intelligence telepathically led Rick Jones to an old Kree base on Earth and instructed him to put on a pair of Nega-Bands in CAPTAIN MARVEL (1968) #17. By striking the Nega-Bands together, Jones could swap places with Mar-Vell in the Negative Zone for a brief time. Through the Nega-Bands, Mar-Vell and Jones were telepathically linked and could communicate with each other across dimensions. 

Together, Captain Mar-Vell and Rick Jones continued to swap places and operated as partners for some time, including the adventure where Carol Danvers' powers got activated. Although the pair found a way to coexist in the main Marvel Universe, Mar-Vell later re-bonded with Jones to save his partner's life following the KREE-SKRULL WAR. 

Later, Mar-Vell and Jones found another way to coexist in the same dimension by tricking the Super-Adaptoid—an android that can mimic the abilities of heroes—into copying the Nega-Bands and taking Jones' place in the Negative Zone in CAPTAIN MARVEL (1968) #50 by Scott Edelman and Al Milgrom. 

Eventually, Mar-Vell contracted terminal lung cancer after exposure to a nerve gas called Compound 13. While the Nega-Bands briefly suppressed his cancer, they also made his treatments ineffective, and Mar-Vell perished in THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (1982) #1 by Jim Starlin.

GENIS-VELL AND THE NEGA-BANDS

One of Mar-Vell's three children, Genis-Vell, inherited the Nega-Bands from his father. After Mar-Vell's death, his partner Elysius used some of his genetic material to create a child, Genis-Vell, who aged into adulthood at an accelerated rate on an isolated world. When he learned his father's identity, Genis received a set of Nega-Bands and decided to carry on his father's legacy as the hero Legacy in SILVER SURFER ANNUAL (1988) #6 by Ron Marz, Ron Lim, and Joe Phillips. 

After he took on his father's Captain Marvel identity, Genis was reluctantly bonded to Rick Jones in AVENGERS FOREVER (1998) #12 by Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, and Carlos Pacheco. Genis and Rick took turns staying in the Marvel Universe and the Microverse, respectively, and they switched places by striking the Nega-Bands together, just as Rick had done with Genis' father before him.

Despite Rick's guidance, Genis became overwhelmed by his cosmic awareness abilities and was driven insane by that omnipotent power. Under the influence of the cosmic being Entropy, Genis destroyed the universe, but recreated it at Rick's urging. Baron Zemo ultimately killed Genis and sent his remains into the Darkforce Dimension to stop him from destroying the universe again. 

However, Genis was eventually resurrected by the Kree villain Vox Supreme, only to be rescued by his alternate reality sister and Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers). When Genis began having trouble with his powers and Rick started fading out of reality, the two used the Nega-Bands to bond with each other again in GENIS-VELL: CAPTAIN MARVEL (2022) #5 by Peter David and Juanan Ramirez.

CAPTAIN MAR-VELL'S LEGACY

Mar-Vell's other children used the Nega-Bands in their own ways, too. When Genis-Vell rebuilt the universe, he gave himself a sister, Phyla-Vell, in CAPTAIN MARVEL (2002) #16 by Peter David and Paul Azaceta. With her set of Nega-Bands, Phyla helped stop the insane Genis and protected Rick's girlfriend, Marlo Chandler, during her brief stint as Captain Marvel. Phyla also partnered up with Moondragon, who she soon began dating. 

During ANNIHILATION (2006), Phyla partnered with Nova and Star-Lord to take down Annihilus. However, she lost her Nega-Bands when she put on Quasar's Quantum Bands, which absorbed them in ANNIHILATION (2006) #6 by Keith Giffen and Andrea DiVito. After becoming the new Quasar, Phyla helped found the modern-day Guardians of the Galaxy. Thanos ultimately killed her, but her counterpart from another dimension took her place in the Marvel Universe.

Shortly after the Young Avengers assembled for the first time, Hulkling learned he was the child of Mar-Vell and the Skrull Princess Anelle. He later embraced his destiny by uniting his parents' rival empires under the Kree/Skrull Alliance. When he married Wiccan (Billy Kaplan), Hulkling used a pair of rings forged from the ore of his father's Nega-Bands, as revealed in LAST ANNIHILATION: WICCAN AND HULKLING (2021) #1 by Anthony Oliveiria and Jan Bazaldua. Like the Nega-Bands, these rings allow Hulkling and Wiccan to swap places through teleportation.

NEGA-BANDS VS. THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

Although the Nega-Bands are usually wielded by heroes, a handful of villains have used these cosmic artifacts, too. After Mar-Vell's death, the Supreme Intelligence transformed a set of his Nega-Bands into the Nega-Bomb, which destroyed the Kree homeworld Hala and much of the surrounding star system during the OPERATION: GALACTIC STORM crossover in AVENGERS (1963) #347 by Bob Harris and Steve Epting. 

In the lead-up to SECRET INVASION, the Skrulls also manufactured a set of Nega-Bands and gave them to a Skrull posing as Mar-Vell. However, the Mar-Vell Skrull, Khn'nr, turned against the Skrulls and died helping Earth's heroes fight them. 

Robbie Rider, a former Nova and the brother of Nova (Richard Rider), also wielded a set of Nega-Bands after he was brainwashed into serving a group of cosmic zealots called the Fraternity of Raptors. To open a portal to Null Space and free the other True Raptors, Talon-R took a pair of Nega-Bands from Star-Lord in ALL-NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2017) #8 by Gerry Duggan and Marcus To.

After accepting the Raptors' invitation to become Dark Starhawk in the INFINITY COUNTDOWN crossover, Robbie tried to hunt down the Infinity Stones to rewrite his family's tragic history and used the Nega-Bands to teleport to parts unknown after going up against Wolverine and Loki.

CAPTAIN MARVEL AND THE NEGA-BANDS

Now, Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) has found herself bound to the Nega-Bands in CAPTAIN MARVEL (2023) #1, where a thief named Yuna Yang and a mysterious energy-absorbing villain called the Omen both tried to steal the Nega-Bands from Rick Jones' apartment at the same time. While fighting Genis, the Omen used her claws to cut off both of Genis's hands, releasing the Nega-Bands. Before she could claim them, though, Yuna put them on and bonded with them. 

When she struck the Nega-Bands together, Yuna sent herself to the Negative Zone and transported Captain Marvel back to her location. She also established a telepathic link with Carol, much like the one Rick shared with Mar-Vell and Genis. 

Although they can swap places through the Nega-Bands, Captain Marvel feels drawn into the Negative Zone with every iota of energy she emits, and either she or Yuna must stay in the Negative Zone while the other walks the Earth. The fates of this thief and this Avenger will remain bound together until they can free themselves from the Nega-Bands.

See Yuna Yang entangle herself with Carol Danvers in CAPTAIN MARVEL #1, on sale now!

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