This week on March 15th, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were treated to a brand-new trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. While the trailer certainly did answer a lot of questions and make fans excited for what is to come, it also showed something that is quite an immense departure from how the character Ms. Marvel operates in the comics. In the original Marvel Comics, Kamala Khan, while still being inspired by the superhero Captain Marvel, is an inhuman whose powers awakened from exposure to terrigen mist and are super stretchy powers nearly identical to one of Marvel's oldest (in real-world time) superheroes, Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic. In the trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series, however, Kamala's powers are shown to be completely different and appear to originate from the armbands that she wears, which in the comics are a simple family heirloom given to her by her grandmother. While the armbands may still be a family heirloom, it appears that they may do quite a bit more than to do in the comics. However, this departure from the source material is not necessarily a bad thing by any stretch (pun intended) of the imagination.
As was previously stated, while the origins of their powers may be vastly different, in the comics, Kamala Khan's powers are nearly identical to Reed Richard's, who fans speculate is going to make his MCU debut in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as part of the superhero group, the Illuminati. Regardless of whether that turns out to be true, it has been known for some time that Disney and Marvel have been working to integrate The Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige more or less confirmed that at the San Diego Comic-Con way back in 2019.
What this means is that if Marvel Studios had decided to keep Kamala Khan's powers the exact same way they were in the comics for her upcoming Disney+ series, then there would be two people with more or less the exact same power set being introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe around the same time. While there may be subtle differences between the two of them, at their core, both of their powers are based on stretching their limbs, so some diversity is welcome in this instance.
Kamala Khan's Powers in the Comics
As was previously stated, in the comics, the character of Kamala Khan is an inhuman who, like all inhumans, got her powers from exposure to a substance called terrigen mist. That, sadly, is where Kamala Khan's connection to the lore of Marvel's inhumans ends as while she is an inhuman herself, she is not really known for associating with them. Most of her time is spent superheroing with her friends such as Squirrel Girl or some of the younger Avengers like Miles Morales and Viv Vision. While she has had some interactions with other inhumans over the course of her career as a superhero, she actually has the strongest relationship with Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, as she is her favorite member of the Avengers and the one who inspired Kamala to become a superhero herself when she got her powers. Carol Danvers is also the one whom Kamala got the name “Ms. Marvel” from as Carol herself went by the moniker of Ms. Marvel (as there was a male Captain Marvel before her) before taking on the mantle of Captain Marvel.
While it is clear that the connection to Carol Danvers still remains for the upcoming Disney+ series, it also appears that Marvel Studios is using Kamala Khan's lack of inhuman connections in the comics to distance themselves and her from them. The most likely reason for this is not difficult at all to discern, as both of Marvel Studio's attempts to integrate the inhumans into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and their own short-lived miniseries, Inhumans, were not nearly as successful as they had hoped they would be. After Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended with its seventh season in 2020, Marvel Studios appears to have been very careful to never mention the inhumans again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No attempts have since been made to revamp or revitalize the idea.
What Kamala Khan's Powers Could Be in the MCU
Obvious jokes and references to DC's Green Lantern aside, the new trailer appears to indicate that Kamala Khan's new powers, whatever they may be, come from her armbands. There is actually an existing precedent in Marvel Comics for this, as the cosmic superhero Quasar receives his powers from something called the “Quantum Bands,” which, according to Marvel Comics lore, is one of the most powerful cosmic artifacts in existence. Powerful enough to challenge the mad titan Thanos and the infinity gauntlet and powerful enough that the character Annihilus, who was already ridiculously powerful, opted to take them for himself when he was given the chance in the 2006 comic book storyline Annihilation. As the quantum bands are a sort of Marvel cosmic artifact, possessing them would actually bring Kamala Khan closer to Carol Danvers than any of the inhumans, as Carol Danvers herself is a cosmic-level superhero who protects many more planets than just Earth.
Regardless of what Kamala Khan's armbands or the source of her powers turn out to be, however, what is clear is that Marvel Studios is attempting to build a stronger connection between Kamala Khan and Carol Danvers, which could potentially come into play in the upcoming 2023 movie The Marvels, as Iman Vellani is set to reprise her role as Ms. Marvel for that movie.