Spoiler Warning: Ms. Marvel Season OneThe first season of Ms. Marvel wrapped last year on Disney+ to astounding critical success. The show was part of a new turn for Disney, being one among the few productions that focuses more directly on cultures that are not American. While this may have alienated some domestic audiences, what it did for the Marvel canon was astounding. Not only has it opened up the Marvel world to expand into more places besides America and space, but it’s also created another link in the chain that connects this new generation of superheroes.
But there were several things the Disney+ series changed about Ms. Marvel’s abilities. Though they remained largely the same in practice, save for those floating platforms she likes to walk on, Disney created many disparities with the comic book world that ended up raising some questions from Ms. Marvel fans.
Update August 13, 2023: If you're a fan of Ms. Marvel or just trying to find out more about her new powers, you'll be happy to know this article has been updated with additional information.
But despite this departure from the source material, Disney has created some very specific links in the complicated web of MCU heroes. And it affects the meta-canon (the relationship between properties, e.g., Sony vs. Marvel) as much as it affects the in-universe relationships between heroes. Still, the series left us with as many questions as it tried to answer. But if we can sort out just where Kamala Khan’s powers come from, we’ll find it positively affects the MCU.
So Where Do Ms. Marvel’s Powers Come From?
Disney
One thing to understand first is that in the comic books, Kamala Khan is an Inhuman. This means she possessed a latent “super” gene that became activated when Black Bolt (King of the Inhumans) released the Terrigen Mist into the Earth’s atmosphere. She can grow and extend her limbs, which we sort of saw in the Disney+ series, and she can shapeshift, changing her appearance at will, which is something we did not see in the series.
So already, we have a slight difference in comic powers and TV powers. If we had to compare her to anyone, the comic book Ms. Marvel would be more similar to Mr. Fantastic, and the Disney+ Ms. Marvel would be closer to Green Lantern. After all, the first time she used her powers in the series, she described it as “an idea made real.”
But the fact that her powers are different isn’t the end of the matter. After all, Disney could potentially retcon her powers in the series to work more as they do in the books despite where they come from. But therein we have a bit of a problem. The Disney+ series makes the source of Kamala’s powers somewhat confusing. At first, we see Kamala adopt her abilities from an ancient bangle. Simple enough. It could be similar to whatever Shang-Chi’s ten rings are made of. But then we find out she is only able to wield the band because of her genetic relationship to the Djinn or Clandestine, an otherworldly race of people that found themselves stranded on our plane of existence. And that seems fair enough as well. That artifact could be directly related to this alternate plane, the Noor.
But then two things happen: the first, Kamala’s friend Bruno tells her that her powers come from “a mutation” in her genetic code. We even hear a little blip of the X-Men theme song from the 90s. The second thing, in the post-credit scene of Ms. Marvel, Kamala seems to be warped away somewhere and replaced with Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel. And while that does seem to be what logically happened, the event has caused some people to wonder if this was actually some interdimensional Terrigenesis cocoon and Kamala is actually shapeshifting in that scene instead of being warped somewhere. But the trailer for The Marvels confirms that she has just switched places with Carol Danvers as their powers are entangled.
What Does This Mean for the MCU?
In the Disney+ series, we’re left in a confused state, questioning where Ms. Marvel’s powers have come from. But Kamala seems determined to shrug off where her powers came from and what it means for her character. She makes a note of saying, “It will just be another label.” As if to say that the producers don’t really care to explain it.
Yet changing Ms. Marvel from an Inhuman to a mutant is a big deal. Ms. Marvel debuted in 2014, and at that time, Marvel Comics was pushing the Inhumans to the forefront of the comics. This was done in an attempt to get them ready to be big players in the MCU, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. incorporating them into their first three seasons, which would set the stage for their feature film, which was originally set for release in 2018. This was done because Marvel did not own the film rights to the X-Men and wanted to use the Inhumans as a way to introduce a variety of superpowered people into the MCU.
The Inhuman brand synergy did not take off the way Marvel wanted, yet Ms. Marvel did become a breakout character. When it was announced she would be brought into the MCU, many wondered how Marvel Studios would adapt the character. By the time her series was announced in 2019, Marvel Studios had gained the film rights back to the X-Men after the acquisition of 20th Century Fox. The Inhumans as a brand had been damaged thanks to the poorly received 2017 ABC series, and Marvel Comics had quickly started to downplay the character's significance in the comics.
The Disney+ series has decided to shift Ms. Marvel to be a mutant (her creators claim they originally wanted her to be a mutant, but Marvel's editorial mandate had her be an Inhuman) while also using the character to adapt a classic Captain Marvel storyline from the Mar-Vell days. Kamala's bangles are very similar to the Nega-Bands from the comics, a Kree artifact that allowed Mar-Vell and Rick Jones to swap places.
The trailers for The Marvels also further tie her in with the cosmic side of the MCU. Her series established the bangle was alien in origin, as it was found on the arm of a dead Kree. The trailer shows the other bangle being worn by the film's villain, and this causes Kamala to be entangled with Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau. Kamala's light-based powers are now connected to a larger cosmic story being told and will likely be important for the future of the MCU. The Noor dimension teased in her show might be part of the larger Multiverse Saga and could tie directly into Kang the Conqueror.
The Show is Influencing the Comics
In a classic example of MCU and comics synergy, this origin change has drastically affected the status quo of the Ms. Marvel comics. It all started in May of this year with the release of the controversial issue of Amazing Spider-Man #26. In this issue, Kamala Khan is unceremoniously killed off when shape-shifting as Mary Jane Watson. It's made official in the one-shot Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel, which covers Kamala's funeral. At the end of the issue, there is a QR code that, once scanned, takes readers to a secret panel showing Cyclops at the funeral, teasing that Kamala won't stay dead for long. This was confirmed a few short weeks later when Marvel announced Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, a new comic run where Kamala becomes a member of the X-Men after being brought back to life.
Things have started to turn around for the better, as this new relaunch of the character is putting her in the spotlight now more than ever. The comics have now confirmed that Ms. Marvel possesses a mutant gene while also being an Inhuman. While she's going to be joining the X-Men as their newest mutant, the character has a lot to figure out still with what that means for her. On top of that, Marvel comics expert Iman Vellani, the actress who plays Kamala Khan in the MCU, is writing this new series. For the first time, someone who's involved in the MCU is actually writing these comics and dictating where the story goes.
It's an exciting time with so much change happening, and there's no one better than Vellani to make the best out of a confusing situation. The versatility that comes with this change is going to be huge for the character going forward. Aspects from the series are already starting to bleed over into the comics, with this new origin potentially teasing what we can expect for her future in the MCU. With Vellani creatively involved, perhaps they're trying to test things out in the comics before more mutants are brought into the MCU.
So no matter how the MCU plans on solving its own puzzle, created by years of licensing issues and unforeseeable storytelling, Kamala Khan has the unique superpower of being able to fit in any slot the MCU might need her to go.