Even though Ms. Marvel may be the highest rated MCU show to date, that hasn’t stopped some fans complaining about the changes made to the MCU’s newest addition. Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel arrived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a huge critical response, but also the promise that there would be a number of differences between this version of Kamala and her comic book counterpart. The main changes come down to Kamala’s powers being linked to her Inhuman DNA in her comic book appearances, but as the Inhumans don’t exist in the MCU – or at least this universe of the MCU – this has led to a switch in both her origin and her abilities.
Director of the fourth and fifth episodes of the series, Obaid-Chinoy, recently spoke to The Direct about the changes made to Kamala, including her Djinn ancestry, which has caused some debate amongst Muslim fans, who have mentioned the text of the Quran prohibits Djinn worshiping. However, the director views the “origin” of Kamala Khan’s powers in the series differently. She said:
"I think Djinn is a word that’s loosely thrown around in South Asia and I think we, in telling that story, we wanted to open up to the fact that anyone who is different, or anyone who has powers that come from, you know, unexplained sources could be mistaken for origins.”
Ms. Marvel Has Received High Praise For Its Story, Despite Gripes About Kamala’s Powers
Ms. Marvel’s storyline has brought an entirely new culture to the MCU in a similar way to Moon Knight, and that has brought a lot of praise to the series. As the fourth episode delved into the 1947 India/Pakistan Partition, Obaid-Chinoy explained about it was an incredible responsibility to bring that particular part of the story to life. She explained:
"You know, telling the story of The Partition comes with great responsibility and I, in Episode 4 at the end, when she walks on the platform, I took hundreds of photographs from 1947. And I worked with the crew and the cast to recreate frames from real photographs. So when she walks onto that train, walks onto the platform, the conversation she's hearing and the way people are being carried and the props, everything comes out of a real photograph."
While there has been a lot of praise for the series, there have been some fans who still would have liked to see Kamala with her “embiggening” powers rather than the alternative cosmic abilities that she has gained from the mystical bangle that belonged to her great-grandmother. Of course, having mystical abilities could be a big tie in to her involvement in next year’s The Marvels, when she will team up with Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau on the big screen. While there are no details currently known about the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, but is fair to expect some kind of intergalactic threat to the world that needs the power of three superheroes and Nick Fury to see off.
Ms. Marvel continues on Disney+ on Wednesday as the series heads towards its conclusion.