Genis-Vell is a superhero turned supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Ron Marz and Ron Lim, the character first appeared in Silver Surfer vol. 3 Annual #6 (1993). He is depicted as the son of Mar-Vell of the extraterrestrial Kree Empire. The character has also been known as Legacy, Captain Marvel, and Photon at various points in his history. Publication history Genis-Vell first appeared in Silver Surfer vol. 3 Annual #6 (1993) using the codename of "Legacy." He appears in various Marvel titles in 1994 and 1995, primarily Silver Surfer and the Cosmic Powers miniseries. He starred in Captain Marvel vol. 3 by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Ed Benes with an initial publication date of Dec. 1995. The series was abruptly canceled after only six issues; the unpublished issues #7-12 were later summarised by Nicieza in a fill-in issue (#14) of the next Captain Marvel (vol. 4) series in 2000. Legacy appeared in Avengers Unplugged #5 (June 1996). After a single appearance in Silver Surfer later that year Genis-Vell would not appear for another two years, when he was included in a new Warlock title for four issues. An appearance in the Avengers Forever miniseries led to a second Captain Marvel series featuring Genis-Vell debuting in late 1999. The series would last for 35 issues, until October 2002. In 2002 Marvel launched the U-Decide campaign in an attempt to bolster sales on several comics. Captain Marvel was canceled, with a new series relaunched with a new debut issue, with Peter David, continuing as writer, taking the book's storyline in a new direction. Captain Marvel vol. 5 was canceled with issue #25 in 2004 due to low sales. Genis-Vell joined the Thunderbolts in issue #82 and was killed by Baron Helmut Zemo in issue #100 (May 2006). Fictional character biography Birth and early life After the death of Mar-Vell (Captain Marvel), his lover Elysius decides to have a son. As one of the Eternals living on Titan, she uses the advanced technology of her race to impregnate herself with some of Mar-Vell's genetic material. Elysius seeks to protect her new son, Genis-Vell, from Mar-Vell's powerful enemies by taking him to a distant planet. There, she artificially ages him and implants false memories in his brain, making him believe that he had a natural childhood and that he is the son of Starfox. Elysius like