15 Captain Marvel comics you need to read before seeing the movie

A-Force #1 (Cover image via Marvel)

8. A-Force #1

Though it was only published from May 2015 to October 2016, A-Force is definitely one of those superhero team-ups that you have to read. Marvel claimed poor sales as a reason for the series cancellation, but don’t let that fool you. A-Force received excellent reviews over its run and has a distinctly feminist tone, thanks in part to its almost exclusively female character roster.

The series was first published as part of the Secret Wars crossover event helmed by Marvel. It calls back to the original Secret Wars miniseries of 1984-1985, though it remains pretty distinct. In the 2015 series, all of the various realities in the Marvel universe, from Ultimate Marvel to Marvel 1602 and beyond, are mashed together into one reality. Said reality is named “Battleworld,” a humongous planet where the various storylines are relegated to their own “pocket universes.”

It gets, frankly, pretty weird and complicated, even for the world of comics. Essentially, all you need to know is that all of the different versions of characters can potentially meet up, with the exception of a few cut-off realms on Battleworld.

A-Force emerges as the team set to defend Arcadia, a matriarchal realm established on Battleworld. Carol Danvers actually doesn’t show up until after the conclusion of Secret Wars. She joins the team when the mysterious Singularity wakes up in the primary reality and is saved by Danvers as Captain Marvel. Eventually, Marvel joins the teams thanks to her newfound connection with the Singularity. This A-Force includes Captain Marvel, the Inhumans’ Medusa, She-Hulk, Dazzler, “Dazzler Thor,” and Nico Minoru.