The title “Miss America” has a rich history dating back to the Golden Age of comics, belonging to two separate, heroic women. The original Miss America, Madeline Joyce Frank, first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 in November 1943. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Gabriele for Timely Comics (the precursor to Marvel), she was part of a wave of patriotic superheroes created during World War II. Her bright, star-spangled costume and optimistic determination were designed to boost morale and reflect the American wartime spirit. She was a key member of the home-front hero team, the liberty_legion, and had strong ties to other Golden Age heroes like the invaders. The second and current Miss America, America Chavez, is a much more recent creation, debuting in the Modern Age of comics in Vengeance #1 in September 2011. She was co-created by writer Joe Casey and artist Nick Dragotta. Casey and Dragotta envisioned a character who was unapologetically powerful, confident, and visually distinct. Her creation was part of a broader Marvel initiative to introduce new, diverse heroes that reflected a more modern readership. America Chavez quickly gained a dedicated fanbase for her unique powerset, brash personality, and significant role as a queer Latina superhero, culminating in her joining the critically acclaimed run of the young_avengers.
The background of America Chavez is complex, notable for having one of the most significant retcons in modern Marvel history. It is essential to distinguish between her original comic origin, her retconned comic origin, and her separate origin within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Original Origin: The Utopian Parallel Initially, America Chavez's origin was cosmic and otherworldly. She hailed from the Utopian Parallel, a pristine dimension existing outside the normal flow of time and space, within the presence of a cosmic entity known as the demiurge. This reality was populated entirely by women and was a paradise of peace and tranquility. America was raised by her two mothers, Amalia and Elena Chavez. When the Utopian Parallel was threatened by destruction, her mothers sacrificed themselves to save their reality, scattering its essence across the Multiverse. Believing her home was gone and wanting to honor her mothers' heroism, a six-year-old America absorbed some of the Demiurge's ambient energy and fled her dimension. She traveled across countless realities for years, acting as a vigilante and hero before eventually settling on Earth-616. This backstory established her as a seasoned, albeit young, traveler of the Multiverse with a deep-seated heroic instinct born from tragedy. The Retcon: Made in the USA In the 2021 miniseries America Chavez: Made in the USA, this entire origin was revealed to be a “memory palace”—an elaborate fantasy created by a young America to cope with immense trauma. The revised canon states that America Chavez was born on Earth-616. Her mothers, Amalia and Elena, were brilliant doctors who took their daughters, America and Catalina, to a private island facility owned by the billionaire Mr. Gales. This facility was supposedly for medical research, but was secretly a prison where Gales experimented on young girls with a rare genetic disorder called “Edges Syndrome” in an attempt to cure his own afflicted son. America and Catalina both suffered from this disease. The “Utopian Parallel” was a pocket dimension on the island that America's mothers created as a gateway for escape. When Gales discovered their plan, a confrontation ensued. Amalia and Elena sacrificed themselves to stop Gales and allow their daughters a chance to flee. In the ensuing chaos, America was thrown through the portal, but Catalina was left behind. The traumatic loss of her parents and sister, combined with her passage through the portal which cured her Edges Syndrome and activated her powers, caused America to suppress the truth. She subconsciously fabricated the story of the Utopian Parallel and her cosmic mothers to frame her tragedy in a heroic, manageable light. This retcon grounded her origin in a more personal, human tragedy and introduced a long-lost sister, Catalina, who would later become an antagonist.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, presents an origin for America Chavez (portrayed by Xochitl Gomez) that is much closer to her original comic book backstory, forgoing the later retcon entirely. In the MCU, America confirms that she is from a beautiful, idyllic reality known as the Utopian Parallel. She lived there peacefully with her two mothers. Her powers, the ability to punch open star-shaped portals to other universes, manifested for the first time when she was a child. Frightened by a bee, she reflexively opened a portal that tragically pulled her mothers through it, losing them to the vastness of the multiverse. Unable to control her incredible ability, America spent years uncontrollably falling from one universe to another, never able to find her way back home or locate her parents. Because her power is unique—no one else in the Multiverse is known to possess it naturally—she became the target of powerful beings who wished to steal it for themselves. This is what brings her into conflict with the Scarlet Witch of Earth-838, who, corrupted by the Darkhold, hunts America across realities to steal her power and reunite with her own children in another universe. This origin story frames her powers not as a tool of a confident hero, but as a dangerous, uncontrollable curse that has defined her life through loss and flight. Her journey in the film is about gaining control over her abilities with the help of Doctor Strange and finding a new home and purpose.
America Chavez is consistently depicted as one of the most powerful young heroes in the Marvel Universe, a physical powerhouse with a unique, reality-bending ability.
The MCU's version of America is significantly younger and less experienced than her comic book counterpart at the time of her introduction. Her abilities are broadly the same, but her mastery over them is the central point of her character arc.
Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's run on Young Avengers is the character-defining story for America Chavez. It's where she was truly fleshed out from a minor character into a fan favorite. The story sees her join a new roster of the team to stop Kid Loki's parasitic “Mother” from consuming their reality. Her role was that of the stoic, experienced powerhouse who slowly opens up to her new friends, especially Kate Bishop. The series is celebrated for its stylish art, witty dialogue, and heartfelt exploration of young adulthood, with America's unwavering strength and loyalty at its core.
Written by Al Ewing, The Ultimates elevated America Chavez to the cosmic stage. The series saw her working alongside some of Marvel's most intelligent and powerful heroes to tackle “impossible” problems. Their first mission was to permanently “fix” Galactus, transforming him from the Devourer of Worlds into the Lifebringer. This storyline demonstrated the sheer scale of America's powers and her importance in the cosmic architecture of the Marvel Universe, proving she could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the heaviest hitters.
This miniseries is pivotal for its dramatic retcon of America's origin. The story forces America to confront a past she never knew she had. When a mysterious new threat begins interfering with her powers, she is forced to dig into her true lineage, uncovering the secrets of the medical facility, her parents' real sacrifice, and the existence of her long-lost sister. While controversial among some fans for replacing her cosmic origin with a more grounded, trauma-based one, this storyline added new layers of psychological depth and personal stakes to her character.
This film marks America Chavez's debut in the massively popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her role is central to the plot, as her uncontrollable power to traverse the Multiverse makes her the “key” sought by the film's villain, the Scarlet Witch. The story is a frantic chase across multiple realities, with Doctor Strange acting as her protector. Her arc is one of survival and self-discovery, culminating in her finally gaining control over her powers out of a desire to save her new friends, rather than out of fear. The film ends with her beginning her training in the mystical arts at Kamar-Taj, securing her future in the MCU.
The original Miss America, Madeline Joyce, was a prominent superhero during the 1940s. She gained her powers—flight and superhuman strength—after a laboratory accident involving an electrical discharge. As Miss America, she was a key member of the WWII-era superhero teams the Liberty Legion and the All-Winners Squad. She fought alongside heroes like Captain America and Bucky Barnes. She later married fellow Golden Age hero Robert Frank (the Whizzer) and briefly, due to cosmic manipulation, was believed to be the mother of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Though she has been deceased in the main continuity for many years, her legacy as a patriotic wartime hero established the “Miss America” mantle.
In the final days of the Ultimate Universe, before its destruction in the Secret Wars event, a version of America Chavez was a member of the U.S.-sponsored superhero team, The Ultimates. This version was largely similar in powers and attitude to her Earth-616 counterpart.
America Chavez is a popular and powerful playable character in several Marvel mobile games. In these appearances, she is depicted as she was in the comics during her Ultimates era: a confident, dimension-punching brawler. For many international fans, these games served as their first introduction to the character, highlighting her impressive powers and cool demeanor.