Rick Jones was a rebellious youth, and one day he ran away from a state institution for troubled teens. He drove to an army test site, where experiments involving gamma bombs were being conducted. Dr. Bruce Banner, the designer of the gamma bombs, realized that Rick was on the testing field, and threw him to safety, absorbing the radiation himself. As a result of this, Banner transformed into the hulk. Jones remained with the Hulk for some time, becoming a close friend.

Rick was instrumental in the creation of the Avengers, as after the evil Loki took control of the Hulk, Rick was the person who sent out the radio call to assemble the heroes there. He later went on to become Captain America's sidekick. However, after some time Rick started to resent being on the side-lines, however this was cured when he discovered a pair of alien bracelets that let him trade places with Captain Mar-vell, an imprisoned Kree warrior.

Jones was a key player in the Kree-Skrull War where the Supreme Intelligence released Jones' latent Destiny Force. Jones used the Destiny Force to conjure up heroes from Earth's past to battle Ronan the Accuser and his Kree army, as well as to bring about a halt of galactic hostilities between the two races.

After the death of Mar-vell, Jones returned to the side of the Hulk, and also briefly became an ally of the Galadorian spaceknight Rom. He later met and married Marlo Chandler.

Rick was also a key player in the Destiny War, where Avengers from past, present and future were united to prevent the Time Keepers from destroying a significant number of timelines where humanity was deemed a threat to all existence. Jones' Destiny Force had led to a destructive, expansive human race in many timelines. Jones later sacrificed himself to prevent the destruction of all reality, but was saved when he merged with the son of Mar-Vell, Genis-Vell. This created a new Captain Marvel.

Currently, Rick Jones was revealed to be the monetary backer of the ex-superheroes team, the Loners.