Some years ago, Elysius, the genetically engineered woman beloved by the late Mar-vell (Captain Marvel), conceived a son, Genis-Vell, from Mar-Vell’s D.N.A. and artificially accelerated him to young adulthood with implanted memories of growing up on Titan. After Elysius was slain by the Negative Zone denizen Lord Syphonn, Genis took the identity and heroic mission of Captain Marvel as his own, eventually helping the cosmic entities Entropy and Epiphany re-create the universe. In the process, a future action of Genis’s, the resurrection of Elysius, was realigned into contemporary reality so that, as far as recent history was concerned, Elysius had been resurrected shortly after she had died, or possibly had never died at all. In this altered reality, Elysius again underwent artificial pregnancy and bore a daughter, Phyla-Vell, whom she similarly aged to young adulthood with implanted memories. However, because Genis’s cosmic awareness had overwhelmed him during the reality crisis, his memories were only altered on a subconscious level, so on some level he still believed his mother had perished and he was an only child.

Driven mad by his cosmic awareness, Genis rampaged across the universe. Elysius and her longtime friend Starfox pursued him to Titan, where Phyla, feeling Genis had disgraced the name of Captain Marvel, now claimed the title as her own. Upon arriving, Genis, already questioning his perceptions of reality, grew more confused as he fought a sister whom he remembered, yet felt had never existed. When Elysius and Starfox intervened, Genis opened a portal to Nth Space, a dimension which existed primarily in potentiality alone, and forced the three into it, but Phyla pulled him along. As Genis underwent a bizarre illusion scenario, Elysius and Starfox were able to overcome his insanity, and all four Titanians returned to Titan.

Phyla remained convinced she should bear the name Captain Marvel, but an argument with Genis on the subject was interrupted by an attacking alternate future version of Marlo Jones, wife of Genis’s friend Rick. Genis investigated the timeline that had resulted in the attack, trusting Phyla to protect the contemporary Marlo, whom she rescued from an abduction attempt by the Magus, ally of the alternate Marlo and Ely-Vell, Genis’s son of that future era. Phyla then brought Marlo to Titan to better protect her, but her departure from Earth left Marlo’s female companion Moondragon open to attack by the Magus. When Genis returned from the future, Phyla was concerned by his obvious distress, unaware he had resolved to kill his own yet-to-be-conceived son to prevent the catastrophe Ely would cause later in life.

Soon afterward, Moondragon lied to Marlo about the feelings between them and ended their romantic relationship, believing Marlo would be happier with Rick. Phyla was drawn to Moondragon by her selflessness, and a mutual romantic interest arose between the two, who departed together to investigate an unidentified portal, possibly proceeding afterward to view a spiral nebula near Renault VII. Recently, Moondragon was abducted by Thanos, and Phyla pursued him into the crisis known as the Annihilation Wave, already the center of conflict for many powerful space travelers.