Test Your Comics Knowledge: Real Captain or Fake Captain?

Before I uncover the answers, instrumentality a infinitesimal to spot your bets: existent skipper oregon fake captain?

1. Captain America
2. Captain Britain
3. Captain Carrot
4. Captain Cold
5. Captain Boomerang
6. Captain Atom
7. Captain Universe
8. Captain Ultra
9. Captain Marvel/Shazam (DC)
10. Captain Marvel (Marvel)

Captain America

VERDICT: CLOSE ENOUGH

After the Super Soldier Serum successfully transformed Steve Rogers into the U.S. army’s eventual weapon, helium was fixed the rubric “Captain America”…but Steve Rogers was inactive conscionable a private. Did that marque him a backstage pretending to beryllium a captain, oregon a skipper pretending to beryllium a private? Add connected each the times he’s flounced retired of the army, been stripped of his rank, worked for different authorities organizations, and died, and I uncertainty adjacent Steve knows what fertile helium technically holds. But everyone treats him similar a skipper (albeit usually 1 with zero subject responsibilities…), truthful who americium I to gainsay them?

Captain Britain

VERDICT: FAKE CAPTAIN

Marvel leader Brain Braddock was a civilian who was granted his powers by the wizard Merlin, so…no. Although helium is beauteous posh, truthful I accidental it’s imaginable that he’s the skipper of, like, a polo squad oregon something. But astir apt not.

Captain Carrot

VERDICT: FAKE CAPTAIN

In his civilian identity, DC leader Rodney Rabbit is not a captain, but a comic publication writer-artist, who gains his powers by eating irradiated “cosmic carrots.” He’s besides a talking rabbit. You astir apt figured that portion retired already.

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Captain Cold

VERDICT: FAKE CAPTAIN

Len Snart is 1 of the champion Flash rogues retired there, and surely the 1 with the champion civilian name, but a skipper helium is not, successful immoderate consciousness of the word. He’s conscionable a gimmicky slope robber.

Captain Boomerang

VERDICT: FAKE CAPTAIN

Like his chap Flash rogue Captain Cold, Digger Harkness is conscionable a gimmicky slope robber (90% of Flash villains are gimmicky slope robbers; the remainder are Professor Zoom (not a existent professor) and a gorilla). His lad Owen, who concisely took implicit the role, is besides not a captain.

Captain Atom

VERDICT: REAL CAPTAIN

Finally, DC comes through! Air Force Captain Nathaniel Adam was tribunal martialed for a transgression helium didn’t perpetrate and, arsenic an alternate to execution, voluntold to enactment successful a risky experimentation involving an alien spaceship. The experimentation didn’t termination him, but it did quantum leap him respective decades into the aboriginal and assistance him superpowers. Since Nate had ne'er been pardoned for his (fake) treason, the Air Force past blackmailed him into serving arsenic their favored superhero, Captain Atom. Nate has beauteous overmuch ne'er had a bully clip successful his life, but helium is a existent captain.

Captain Universe

VERDICT: FAKE CAPTAIN, EXCEPT SOMETIMES NOT

This Marvel quality isn’t really 1 person, but the effect of an extra-dimensional unit called the Uni-Power possessing an individual, frankincense temporarily transforming them into Captain Universe. The archetypal quality Captain Universe was a existent captain, an astronaut named Ray Coffin, but the Uni-Power has besides empowered Spider-Man, a Doombot, a toddler, and a dog, truthful intelligibly whether oregon not its big is simply a skipper of immoderate benignant isn’t precisely a priority.

Captain Ultra

VERDICT: FAKE CAPTAIN

Captain Ultra was created arsenic a gag villain who, contempt a terrible fearfulness of fire, auditions for a accidental to combat the Fantastic Four. You know, the squad that includes a antheral who tin airy himself connected fire? Ultra isn’t precisely the brightest, is my constituent here. He is besides a plumber, truthful yeah, fake captain.

Captain Marvel/Shazam (DC)

VERDICT: FAKE CAPTAIN

The DC mentation of this hero, who present goes by Shazam, is successful world a kid named Billy Batson, who turns into an big superhero by shouting a magic word. I conjecture technically helium could beryllium the skipper of, like, his mediate school’s softball squad oregon something, but I’m putting this 1 down connected the fake side.

Captain Marvel (Marvel)

VERDICT: IT DEPENDS

Seven antithetic Marvel characters person utilized the codename “Captain Marvel,” but 2 of the astir important person been existent captains. The original, Mar-Vell, was a Kree who held that fertile connected his location planet. His contiguous successor, Monica Rambeau, was a cargo vessel skipper arsenic portion of her relation arsenic a lieutenant successful the New Orleans harbor patrol. The existent Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, was a colonel earlier she near the Air Force, truthful technically she outranks herself. The different 4 see an ensign, a confused Skrull spy, and 2 nepotism hires, truthful it’s benignant of a mixed container here.