WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Captain Marvel #13 by Kelly Thompson, Lee Garbett, Tamra Bonvillain and Clayton Cowles, in stores now.

In Captain Marvel's latest storyline, "The Last Avenger," Carol Danvers has apparently turned evil. With a new black and red suit, Carol took Thor by surprise, resulting in a big super-powered fight between the two Avengers. But Carol's no-holds-barredstyle was enough for her to defeat the God of Thunder. The real shock came later, however, when Carol's mysterious benefactor was revealed to be Vox Supreme, to whom she presented Thor's severed head.

The implication was that Captain Marvel had killed Thor -- but fans knew there had to be more to this story. After all, there was no way the God of Thunder was truly dead, least of all at the hands of another Avenger. Well, Captain Marvel #13 finally reveals how Carol got hold of Thor's head.

It turns out the Avengers have been cloned... by S.H.I.E.L.D.

RELATED:An Inhumans Villain Makes a Surprise Return in Captain Marvel

In Captain Marvel #13, after taking care of Thor, Carol moves on to her next target: Iron Man. Like the God of Thunder, Carol takes him by surprise, and the fight is over rather quickly. It's after this however, through a series of flashbacks, that we learn more about the villain behind Carol's attacks. Vox Supreme, who is somehow a mix of the Inhuman villain Vox and the Kree Intelligence Supreme. The new suit Carol is wearing comes from him, and it monitors her actions and reports back directly to him.

While the flashbacks don't reveal exactly what Vox Supreme is after, we do know he has sent Carol to kill the Avengers, by showing her that if she doesn't do as he commands, he will destroy Earth's Kree refugee camps and kill everyone inside. Therefore, to protect the lives of the refugees, Carol has to kill the Avengers. But Vox also monitors her every move, which means that the fights have to look real. Only, when it's time for the killing blow, she sends her fellow Avengers into the pocket dimension inside Singularity where she can safely hide them.

RELATED:Iron Man 2020 #1 Trailer Launches the Robot Revolution

But what of the bodies, like Thor's head? Well, Carol apparently had a plan for that as well. In another flashback sequence taking place shortly before Captain Marvel's battle with Thor, she breaks into a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. compound housing Project Gemini. And there, we discover that the secret spy organization has cloned all of the current Avengers such as Thor, She-Hulk, Black Panther, Iron Man and more. All of the copies are being kept in stasis tubes, evidently simply waiting to be woken up.

What purpose could S.H.I.E.L.D. possibly have in cloning the Avengers? Are they building backups of the world's greatest superheroes in case the worst should happen, or is the clones' purpose more nefarious than that? For all we know, S.H.I.E.L.D. could program these doubles to obey their commands and their commands alone. And their first target could always end up being the real Avengers.

The revelation brings with it a lot more questions than answers. Somehow, Carol knew about this project. In fact, she says that when she first found out about Project Gemini, she told them to shut it down, or else she would burn it all down. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. clearly didn't listen. Sure, for now, it all works out for the best, because it means Carol can fool Vox Supreme.

But the implications of these Avengers clones are bigger than that -- it hints at a possibly larger story, one that could even lead to the Avengers' next big threat: themselves.

Captain Marvel #14 releases January 22, 2020.

KEEP READING:Captain Marvel Deleted Scene Reveals The Supreme Intelligence's Comic Book Form

Why Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Is Already Dividing Critics

Tags:captain marvel,feature

Follow this link:

The Avengers Have Been Cloned - By SHIELD?! | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources