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 using 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 her son, was created artificially. Elysius was created by the Titan computer ISAAC, which had been corrupted by
Thanos.
Avengers Forever (the Destiny War) .|right|180px|thumb When the Destiny Force resurfaces in
Rick Jones for a second time (the first time occurring during the
Kree-Skrull War), it triggers a time-spanning conflict known as the
Destiny War. A motley crew of Avengers are gathered. Among them is a future version of Genis, now known as Captain Marvel, eventually revealed to have been selected because of the role his interaction with Rick would play in shaping the final outcome of the battle. At the climax of the Destiny War and with Rick's life in jeopardy, Genis recreates the Nega-Band connection with Rick to save him. After the war, Rick returns to the current day and is inadvertently bound to Genis, triggering the latter's latent
cosmic awareness.
Bonded Rick and Genis spend a considerable time adventuring together, in an arrangement somewhat reminiscent of the one that existed between Genis' father,
Mar-Vell, and Rick years before. While they were bound, Mar-Vell and Rick exchanged places between the regular universe and the
Negative Zone and shared a telepathic bond. Genis-Vell and Rick, however, alternate between the regular universe and the
Microverse. In addition to their telepathic bond, the two can see each other in reflective surfaces or as red ghostly visions. Whereas Mar-Vell and Rick formed a strong friendship during their time together, Genis-Vell and Rick have a much harder time getting along. Genis' alien (and immature) perspective make him unfathomable to Rick's jaded-sidekick sensibilities. Their ability to see and hear what the other is experiencing lead to awkward situations with Rick's wife,
Marlo Chandler, and Genis' many amorous partners. Eventually, however, they become good friends.
Insanity Genis' inability to control his
cosmic awareness results in insanity. After a string of irrational adventures, Genis destroys the multiverse at the behest of Entropy and Epiphany. The multiverse is recreated with a
Last Thursdayism effect on the universe's population, although with several alterations including him still wearing the Kree uniform from a timeline that no longer exist and he has an adult sister named
Phyla-Vell. Although he swears to do good throughout the universe, a hallucination of Epiphany tells him that he is still insane.
Photon and the New Thunderbolts . Cover to
Thunderbolts #100. Art by
Tom Grummett. Genis travels to Earth and joins
MACH-IV's new team of
Thunderbolts. During this time, he develops an interest in
Songbird. The manipulations of the
Purple Man cause
Atlas to attack Genis in a rage, apparently killing him and throwing his body into the
Hudson River. Though Genis would have recovered on his own, former Thunderbolt
Baron Zemo uses a pair of alien
moonstones to form a cocoon of energy, feeding him energy from the beginning and end of the universe to speed his recovery. When he emerges, he has absorbed the Nega-Bands into his body. Genis' subsequent adoption of the name "Photon" causes him to quarrel with
Monica Rambeau, who had also called herself "Photon" and "Captain Marvel." In the end, Genis is allowed to use the name "Photon" and Monica decides to use the codename "Pulsar". However, Zemo realises that his mistake of siphoning energy from the beginning and end of time created a link between Genis and the universe that threatens to end existence. Zemo explores all future timelines with the moonstones, but fails to find a way to save both Genis and the universe: In every possible future timeline, Genis destroys the universe. Genis is aware of this, but keeps trying to tune his cosmic awareness in order to find a way to prevent this from happening. Finally, in a fight with Zemo, Genis is defeated. Zemo traps Genis in a moment in time. He then uses a combination of Blackout's
Darkforce powers and the moonstones to trap Genis in the Darkforce. In
Captain Marvel (vol. 10),
Carol Danvers and
Phyla-Vell free Genis from the Darkforce. == Powers and abilities ==