Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Ms. Marvel

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’ Producer on the Aggressive Expansion of the MCU (EXCLUSIVE)

    ‘Ms. Marvel’ Producer on the Aggressive Expansion of the MCU (EXCLUSIVE)

    As recently as 2018, MCU fans could look forward to two trips to the theater every year to catch the latest installments of their favorite franchise. Now, with Marvel Studios developing streaming series in addition to upping the number of films per year, fans can look forward to near year-round content.

    Ms. Marvel is the latest project to bring an incredibly popular character from the pages of Marvel Comics to the screen. The character debuted in 2014 and has become one of Marvel’s most popular, leading several volumes of her own series, joining the Avengers and serving as one of the main characters in The Avengers video game. Even though she’s a relatively new character compared to the long history of the comics, she’s certainly been at the forefront for the better part of her time, so getting her introduced into the MCU has been a priority for Marvel Studios for some time.

    While Ms. Marvel streams, the studio is developing no fewer than two dozen other properties that will introduce dozens of new characters to the MCU, causing some to wonder if they are doing too much, too fast. In an interview with Ms. Marvel co-creator Sana Amanat, Charles Villanueva asked if the MCU is expanding TOO fast and if the studio might run out of marquee characters, like Ms. Marvel, to adapt.

    I don’t know. I don’t think I’m too worried about that cause I feel like there’s so many different kinds of stories. I mean Marvel, let’s see, has been around for over 80 years and there’s so many different kinds of characters-I think we’re at like 7,500 characters-so I feel pretty confident that we’ll be ok. Not to say we’re going to be doing all of those characters, but there’s a lot of different kinds of stories that you can tell and, also, ways to kind of retell them. So I’m not too worried about it. I think it’s really just gonna be about playing with different-what we’re doing right now-which is playing with genre and playing with, sort of different kinds of characters and bringing new perspectives on them.

    Sana Amanat

    With Marvel putting so many productions into motion at once, it’s good to hear from Amanat that they’re continuing to work on finding the best way to represent the heart of each one in the MCU.

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’ Reveals What the Public Does (and Does NOT) Know About the Battle for Earth

    ‘Ms. Marvel’ Reveals What the Public Does (and Does NOT) Know About the Battle for Earth

    The newest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ms. Marvel, has made its debut on Disney+. While there is plenty to unpack about the first episode, the charming opening scene brought back questions that have been on the minds of MCU fans since 2019. What do the ordinary people of Earth know about the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame? It is something that has never been directly dealt with, and we have received bits and pieces about it since Spider-Man: Far From Home. But the first episode of Ms. Marvel gave viewers a few more answers.

    The animated opening montage features Kamala Khan’s own reenactment of the final battle of Endgame, apparently termed the “Battle of Earth.” So clearly, the citizens know a good amount about what transpired there—the Avengers fought Thanos, who was trying to use the stones. Even the detail as to Captain Marvel coming in last minute and punching Thanos in the face is common knowledge. How did people even come to learn those kinds of details?

    Far From Home offers one answer to that question. From glimpses of airplane movie options, there were documentaries about “The Snap” floating around. So the Avengers must have made some of their knowledge of the Battle for Earth available to the public. It also stands to reason that those who did survive the Blip would have been given some sort of explanation as to why half of Earth’s population disappeared all at once. So half of the planet post-Endgame likely already had information about Thanos and the stones for years. 

    The Battle of Earth took place without warning and out of the public eye, so it did not seem observable. It is possible that there could have been satellite imagery or that Stark Tech could have recorded parts of the battle, which would make the most sense in terms of the public knowing precise details of the battle, as noted in WandaVision. But Kamala revealed that Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, is a frequent guest on podcasts where he would be interviewed about the battle. So, details about who did what during the fight may make their way to the public from things like that as well. Still, if Scott Lang is a major source of what the public knows, it might make us question the accuracy or version of the main version story circulating.

    So there are some obvious ways that citizens of Earth came to learn some of the information, but just how much do they know? This might be a little trickier, because they certainly do not know every detail of Infinity War and Endgame, and there are good reasons for that. On one hand, they clearly seem to know about Thanos and the Infinity Stones, so information on basic Infinity Gauntlet assembly is probably out there. The public deserved an explanation of what had happened, so this makes sense.

    But they probably were not told in detail about how there are universal threats that could annihilate them at any moment. Do they know what happened to the Stones after the Battle of Earth? This is unclear. Considering it would be worrying to think that the Stones were all still floating around, the public was probably told they were destroyed. But past that, it would be surprising if they knew much more. 

    For them to know that the Stones were returned to their original timelines, ordinary citizens would have to know that the Avengers invented and used time travel, which is knowledge they almost certainly do NOT possess. If time travel was common knowledge, there would surely be more interest in it. And if they knew about it, they would have to completely understand the mechanics of it for there not to be a segment of the population demanding it be used to fix certain events, like the Blip. Plus, it was not fully understood by the Avengers themselves, and a true understanding of it would lead to discussions of the multiverse. Peter Parker, who surely has a bit more information about how the Blip was reversed than others, was shocked that the multiverse was real in Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

    The public knows that Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark sacrificed themselves, but questions would seem to linger about the fate of Steve Rogers. No one seems to believe he is dead, and Sam Wilson was asked in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier if the rumors of Rogers living on the moon were real. Ordinary citizens likely do not know that he aged dramatically, either, as it has never been mentioned and that would potentially require them to know about the time travel. 

    Lastly, will the public learn more as time goes on? The easy answer is yes, as naturally more information comes out over time. But will anything major or of consequence be revealed within the MCU to ordinary people? Probably not, with the exception of Steve Rogers. The MCU does not seem to be wrestling with the concept of keeping certain things from the public. But considering the viewers have yet to find out what happened to Rogers after Endgame, it is possible that the greater reveal (if ever) of that could be simultaneous to the real world and MCU people. For example, if we find out he died or has been dead, we might learn because the public learns and mourns. However, if we find out he has been a secret moon agent, that might remain a secret. 

    You can watch Kamala’s reenactment of the Battle of Earth in the first episode of Ms. Marvel, now streaming exclusively on Disney+. 

  • Sana Amanat Dispels Early ‘Ms. Marvel’ Cameo Rumors (EXCLUSIVE)

    Sana Amanat Dispels Early ‘Ms. Marvel’ Cameo Rumors (EXCLUSIVE)

    Ms. Marvel is now streaming on Disney Plus, but prior to Hollywood shutting down due to COVID in 2020 and the fallout that followed, it was once intended to debut in late 2021, ahead of Hawkeye. While the full story of just how much COVID impacted Marvel Studios’ productions may never come to light, it’s clear that it was enormous.

    Streaming series WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier had to shut down mid-production while other shows, like Ms. Marvel, found themselves pushed back as part of a domino effect. Before all those delays, however, I heard and interesting rumor that would tie two of those shows together: Kamala Khan was set to make her MCU debut in a short cameo that would take place in the aftermath of the events of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Once the COVID delays hit, we were told the idea was scrapped as the focus shifted to finding a way to safely finish the show.

    Charles Villanueva had a chance to talk with Ms. Marvel producer Sana Amanat recently and asked about the rumor and if she was always intended to debut in her own show. As many of the best answers are, Amanat’s was short and to the point saying, “Yes. As far as I know. [Ms. Marvel] was always going to be her first appearance.”

    Ms. Marvel was first announced to be in development by Marvel Studios in August of 2019 during the D23 celebration. At that time, production on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was just about to kick-off and the studio had just begun their search for the actress to play Kamala Khan. As we know, COVID shut down that search and it wasn’t until September 2020 that Iman Vellani was cast in the role. By that time, production on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier had moved to the Czech Republic and was nearing completion.

    With all that in play, getting Kamala into a cameo for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier would seem all but impossible. More than that, a cameo appearance wouldn’t do serve the character’s story in the way that her brilliant introduction in her own show has.

    Ms. Marvel is now streaming on Disney Plus.

  • Damage Control and the Legacy of the Sokovia Accords in ‘Ms. Marvel’

    Damage Control and the Legacy of the Sokovia Accords in ‘Ms. Marvel’

    The first episode of Ms. Marvel has been released, ushering in the seventh Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ series. Whether you like them or not, the first episode brought with it a post-credits scene that teased an interesting development for a so-far minor MCU organization. While the role of the Department of Damage Control has not been well-defined since its introduction, the Ms. Marvel post-credits scene teased an expanded—and darker—role for the group that may be a lasting consequence of Captain America: Civil War.

    Damage Control was first mentioned in Iron Man, where Phil Coulson explained to Tony Stark that the S.H.I.E.L.D. team controls messes like the one left behind at the end of the film’s final battle. Following the events of The Avengers, Damage Control became a department of the United States government in a joint venture with Stark Industries, as learned in Spider-Man: Homecoming. 

    While the DODC does clean up super messes like the Battle of New York, it also has quite a collection of technology and other items beyond the normalcy of ordinary society. Peter Parker gets stuck in the Damage Control Deep Storage Vault in Homecoming, where the department has everything from Chitauri technology to the black hole grenades from Thor: The Dark World. 

    While Damage Control has been a background entity at best in the MCU, Spider-Man: No Way Home saw a new focus for the organization, and Ms. Marvel looks like it is going to dive deeper into that aspect of it. In No Way Home, Agent P. Cleary arrests and interrogates Parker over the death of Mysterio. The change to investigating and arresting superpowered or otherwise extraordinary individuals was new. But Ms. Marvel’s first episode post-credit scene makes it seem as though the new show will build heavily upon that new Damage Control reality.

    In the brief scene, we see Agent Cleary along with Alysia Reiner’s Agent Deever. Deever shows Cleary a video of Kamala at AvengerCon using her new powers, and he says, “Ok, let’s bring her in.” So at least part of the agency is now dedicated to tracking down those with super-abilities and bringing them into custody. So far, the DODC certainly feels like an MCU-ified U.S. Homeland Security. But the agents apparently did not decide to find Kamala because of the damage she caused, but purely because she had powers. So how did Damage Control get here?

    Several things have happened since we saw Damage Control in Homecoming. The Blip is the most obvious example, and it makes sense that governments would be a bit more alert to powerful beings wandering around unchecked. But something happened just before Homecoming that is almost certainly behind this. The Sokovia Accords became international law in Civil War, and they essentially outlawed superhero/superpower-related behavior if not explicitly allowed by the government. Because Avengers: Infinity War was so soon after Civil War, Phase 3 never really dealt with much of the specific aftermath of the Accords.

    It looks like Ms. Marvel might be the first MCU project that actually does just that. While No Way Home definitely demonstrated that even superheroes could be held legally accountable, there was no evidence that the DODC was rounding up individuals at that point. Here, that clearly seems to be the case. The Accords have not been mentioned, but it was confirmed that they are still in effect in WandaVision. Considering Stark was on the government’s side in Civil War, the fact that Damage Control became a Stark Industries joint venture for the purpose of enforcing those laws makes sense. 

    In any event, the DODC so far seems to be an adversary to Kamala rather than anything helpful. In just a short scene, the two agents we see are portrayed fairly menacingly—it certainly brings to mind the very negative views on certain governmental agencies that target immigrants or people of other cultures. Kamala could be the first hero we’ve seen who has to overcome this darker Damage Control, the Sokovia Accords, and the legacy of Civil War. 

    The first episode of Ms. Marvel is now streaming exclusively on Disney+. 

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’ Star Worked With VFX Supervisors to Bring New Powers to Life

    ‘Ms. Marvel’ Star Worked With VFX Supervisors to Bring New Powers to Life

    There was some controversy surrounding the decision to change Ms. Marvel’s iconic abilities. While people have warmed up to the idea, especially as it still keeps the door open for further exploring, Iman Vellani offered some insight into how they brought her new powers to life for the Disney+ series. In an interview with Variety, she talks about how they tackled the new MCU ability and the challenges of doing so, especially as she had to coordinate with the series’ VFX supervisors.

    A lot of it was having conversations with our VFX supervisors, [asking] “How heavy is it? How hard is it for me to manifest it? How big is it? How much space do I have to leave in a frame?” Because if my hands here [motions to the outer corner of the Zoom frame] then you’re not going to be able to VFX anything in there.” We had to be super specific about it. It’s an amalgamation of a lot of people’s thoughts and opinions, and now Kamala has these really cool powers.

    Iman Vellani

    She also highlighted how she approach the way her character moved. As she’s a ser fan of the various superheroes, sh based a lot of her abilities on how others moved, such as Captain Marvel and Black Widow. Yet, she highlights that she’ll eventually also grow into her own kind of hero.

    She’s a 16-year-old kid, probably doesn’t know martial arts or any sort of fighting, so she’s probably copying everything she sees the rest of the Avengers do. So, we wanted to incorporate like a lot of Black Widow callbacks and Captain Marvel poses because this was really the only show where we could be as cheesy as possible and it’d be okay. This is Kamala’s life. She lives in fantasy land and she finally gets this fantasy — of course, she’s going to take full advantage of it. Over the course of time, she becomes her own version of a superhero — still clumsy, because she’s not perfect — but more unique poses.

    Iman Vellani

    It definitely sounds like they put a lot of work into bringing the character to life while keeping her core traits in mind. She’s a fan of superheroes and will have the habit of trying to copy them rather than do her own thing. Her family might be a big reason she starts to learn her own place and also further develops these abilities that may redefine her life as a teenager and hero.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’s Iman Vellani Teases ‘The Marvel’s, Praises Director and Co-Stars

    ‘Ms. Marvel’s Iman Vellani Teases ‘The Marvel’s, Praises Director and Co-Stars

    While Iman Vellani is busy promoting the new Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, she’s also set to join the big screen in the upcoming film The Marvels. She’ll join Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris in a leading role, as they unite their forces against a common foe. We still know very little about the project, but it turns out that Vellani only found out moments before Disney Investor’s Day as revealed during an interview with Variety.

    It was a night shoot when they were announcing everything at Disney Investor Day. Right before they announced “The Marvels” cast, I get a text from Disney PR, I get a text from Brie Larson and I get a text from our producers all at the same time saying I’m in the movie and then they announced it on the screen. I was like, “Thank you.” I had a hunch I was going to be in it, but more of a cameo role, not an actual main character, so it was cool.

    Iman Vellani

    It definitely must’ve been quite the surprise when she thinks she’ll have a small role only to become a main member of the cast. Nia DaCosta is taking over directing duties for The Marvels and Vellani got the chance to praise the director for how she supported the actress during the shoot and even pushed her to improvise.

    Nia DaCosta is my favorite human ever. I think she’s so talented and so caring and considerate. She’s very much an actor’s director. Like after she gets a take she wants, she’s like “This is yours. Do whatever you want. Anything we haven’t tried, just do it.” She would always give positive reinforcement, even if she didn’t have any notes. She’s be like “That little thing you did with your hand, I really liked that.” And I’m like, “Oh, wow. She noticed!” She really cares and checks up on you.

    Iman Vellani

    That’s not all, as she also extends that praise to Larson and Parris, who both were seemingly quite supportive during her time on set. Of course, there’s the excitement of joining them in a film like this.

    Brie and Teyonah are the same. Standing next to them, sharing a screen with them is so empowering. I didn’t want to be the one to continually just gush over them, so I had to hold back a little bit, because they took it very seriously, and I’m just like, “Oh my God, I’m in a movie.”

    Iman Vellani

    It definitely sounds like it was quite the experience and we’ll see if the ending of Ms. Marvel potentially leads into the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out what the future has in store but it does sound like Vellani had a great time bringing the character to life in the Disney+ show and then carrying it over into her first film project.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’ Described as a “Palate Cleanser” After ‘Moon Knight’ and ‘Doctor Strange 2’

    ‘Ms. Marvel’ Described as a “Palate Cleanser” After ‘Moon Knight’ and ‘Doctor Strange 2’

    The MCU has introduced “some darker storylines as of late. Wanda faced the regrets of losing the one she loves in WandaVision. Sam Wilson trying to cope with taking on a new mantle with the weight of how the world would see him. Moon Knight gave us a man who lost himself and is on a journey to find peace with not only himself, but the alters that share the same body. Then you have Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with Strange possessing a corpse of himself from another dimension.

    So, it’s been quite a wild ride, and the upcoming Ms. Marvel series is taking a different approach. We’re taking a step back to follow young Kamala Khan trying to balance her life at high school, her family, and the challenges of being a hero. Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vellani, describes the series as a “palate cleanser” in an interview with Variety

    It’s a great palate cleanser coming out of “Moon Knight” and “Multiverse of Madness.” “Ms. Marvel” brings a really fresh, warm perspective and a very light-hearted touch to the MCU, bringing back everything we loved about “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

    Iman Vellani

    She goes on to highlight what the Disney+ series has to offer that makes it stand out from others. While all the big heroes seem to have figured out their place in the world, but that isn’t the case for young heroes like Peter Parker and Kamala Khan.

    It has a very universal charm with the way we balance fan culture, religion, action and coming of age. We also definitely cater to a younger audience who can hopefully connect to the awkwardness and confusion of growing up and are comforted by the fact that you don’t have to have things figured out. Even a superhero doesn’t have things figured out.

    Iman Vellani

    Vellani continues to highlight how much she understands the character’s core and even brings her own experiences to help this character become an iconic part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Who knows if we’ll get more light-hearted stories alongside some darker ones. Thor: Love and Thunder also seem to be taking a more cheerful direction which will likely stand out from the rest.

    Source: Variety

  • Iman Vellani Shares How She Was Introduced to Ms. Marvel

    Iman Vellani Shares How She Was Introduced to Ms. Marvel

    Iman Vellani is living the dream. As a superfan of Marvel and the MCU, she now gets to play Kamala Khan, who is also a superfan of the heroes of her own world. She just happens to also gain out of this world abilities to become a superhero herself. On top of it all, she was a Pakistani-American who became an icon for many that wanted to see themselves in comics. That story isn’t too different for Vellani, as she shares in an interview with Variety.

    My first introduction to her was through “Ironheart”; she was on the cover of one of the comics and I was like “Who is this brown person?” I just went into a wormhole, falling in love with the character and the creators Sana Amanat and G. Willow Wilson. I watched their TED Talks and all their interviews and I was like “They have the dream job. I want to be them. They’re brown and they’re working at Marvel.”

    Iman Vellani

    It became a big inspiration for her, as it seemed like it would be possible for her to find a footing within the industry herself. They were an inspiration for Vellani just as much as the character in the comics.

    That was so incredibly eye-opening for me because I didn’t realize there was space for someone like me in the industry — and I know that sounds super cheesy or whatever, but it’s so true. Beyond representation on screen, seeing ethnic names in the credits matters so much. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in high school; I just wanted to try everything behind the camera, because I was really in love with the tech stuff, so seeing these people thriving working at Marvel was so inspiring.

    Iman Vellani

    Of course, there’s more to this story. Vellani shared how she connected with the character and how “very close to home” it was reading her stories, as she stands by her moral code as well as how her family and friends were important to her story.

    On top of that, Kamala was a Pakistani Muslim superhero fanatic; I was a Pakistani Muslim superhero fanatic. And [the story] wasn’t about her being Pakistani, or about being Muslim, it was about her being in love with superheroes and having this innate desire to want to help people and do the right thing because she has powers. She doesn’t know how to fight — she’s a 16-year-old kid — but she knows that she has to use them for good. She had such a strong moral code and I really admired how her family and friends were also part of her story and her friends. It felt very close to home. It felt like my life, like the comics were written about me, literally.

    Iman Vellani

    In a way, Vellani was the perfect choice to bring this character to life, as she connects with her in so many different ways. It’ll be exciting to see what she brings to the experience as the series has now started airing on Disney+ with more episodes on the way.

    Source: Variety

  • Iman Vellani on How Brie Larson Helped Prepare Her For Marvel Stardom

    Iman Vellani on How Brie Larson Helped Prepare Her For Marvel Stardom

    Marvel Studios’ latest superhero is Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala Khan in the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. Luckily for fans of her performance, the six-episode show won’t be the last time audiences see the teenage phenom from Jersey City. Vellani is set to reprise her role for the upcoming blockbuster film The Marvels alongside fellow returning heroes Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris. The project will act as a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel and will see Khan team up with Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau to fend off a currently-unknown new threat.

    In the comics and the show, Danvers’ Captain Marvel acts as somewhat of a mentor and idol to Khan. Speaking to Variety in a recent profile piece, Vellani revealed that she and Larson had very much the same relationship after the former was cast in her current role. She elaborated on the time the two spent together on and off the set:

    She was the sweetest. I was really shy and I felt like everything I wanted to ask would have been stupid, but she didn’t make me feel like that. She has such a warm presence and made our Zoom call intimate, telling me all about her experience. She was like, “Seriously, if your mom needs to talk to my mom, we can make that happen. Anything you need.” Any time I had any issue on set, I would text her and she’d make herself so available to answer my questions, as silly or small as they were.

    Iman Vellani on Brie Larson

    Vellani continued to explain how the Short Term 12 star helped prepare her for a life after Marvel. Larson was famously targeted by review bombs and sexist remarks following her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, and the actress evidently felt it was important to make sure her young protégé had someone on her side should the heat of fame start taking it’s toll:

    She really wanted to be there for me, because even though she was already an established actor, being in Marvel changed her career forever. The sheer amount of attention you get being a Marvel actor is completely unmatched to anything else in this industry, and she wanted to prep me for that mentally and hold my hand throughout it.

    Iman Vellani

    Ms. Marvel is now streaming on Disney+.

    Source: Variety

  • Breaking Down Kamala Khan’s Powers Change In ‘Ms. Marvel’

    Breaking Down Kamala Khan’s Powers Change In ‘Ms. Marvel’

    As Marvel Studios’ newest project, Ms. Marvel, debuted its first episode, fans can now officially experience the first chapter in Kamala Khan’s Marvel Cinematic Universe journey. The new hero is also relatively new to Marvel comics, but the charismatic character has a strong following among fans. Fans are excited for Kamala to join the MCU, but one major change to the character has been hotly debated: her live-action character has significantly different powers than she has in the comics. While even star Iman Vellani, creators of the Ms. Marvel comics, and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige have all expressed their support for the changes, some remain unconvinced. Now that the Disney+ series has formally introduced those powers, let’s dissect the differences between the comics and live-action powers and the debate surrounding them.

    In the Ms. Marvel comics, Kamala’s Inhuman lineage is activated by the Terrigen Bomb. When she was exposed to the Terrigen Mist, she became able to stretch her body in pretty much any manner. Not only can she extend limbs, but she can grow or shrink, as well as shapeshift. These same abilities allow her to rapidly heal from injuries and effectively grant her super strength and speed. Kamala refers to her powers, particularly when she enlarges herself or parts of her body (such as her fist), as “embiggening.” Interestingly, it was later revealed that she is able to do this by time-traveling on a molecular level, meaning she is borrowing or giving her cells to past or future versions of herself in order to add or lose mass which allows her to embiggen or shapeshift.

    Marvel
    Marvel

    While we will learn more about her live-action powers over the course of all six episodes of Ms. Marvel, there is no doubt that Kamala’s powers in the MCU are substantially different. First, the MCU has not officially introduced Inhumans to the live-action Earth-616, so no connections between the Inhumans and Kamala can currently be made. Instead, the bangle gifted by her grandmother unlocks powers that we can infer are related to her family history and lineage, at least in some way.

    In terms of her actual powers, she seems to be able to project crystal-like light structures that are solid yet breakable. From what we saw at AvengerCon, she can shoot the projections away from her, suspend them in the air, or even use them as extensions of herself. Many have pointed out that these powers seem similar to the DC comics hero Green Lantern. The shot where she projects an extended arm and large fist to catch Zoe is clearly an homage to her comics abilities.

    Marvel Studios
    Marvel Studios

    The debate goes beyond general disappointment that Ms. Marvel’s powers have been changed. On one hand, her embiggening powers are just cool. They look extraordinary on the page, and while shapeshifting and elongating are not exclusive to Kamala’s character in Marvel comics, something about the way Ms. Marvel uses her abilities always feels unique. Some fans have expressed disappointment purely on this front, but many also speculate that the MCU did not want her to have similar powers to the someday-introduced (to Earth-616) Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic. Others guess that the budget for a Disney+ series may not have allowed for her comics powers to translate well to the screen. Both may be true (or false), but the main factor cited by the series’ creators is that her new powers are better suited to connect Kamala to Monica Rambeau and Captain Marvel in The Marvels. 

    In addition, plenty of fans are upset that Kamala does not seem to be Inhuman. As noted, though, establishing her as an Inhuman is not particularly practical in the current MCU. Even if Marvel Studios wanted to introduce the group through Ms. Marvel—which does not make the most sense—Kamala’s connection to them would not carry much weight. But the fact that her powers seem to still be linked to her own genes and family lineage is functionally similar to her Inhuman origins in the comics, even though it may not connect her to a larger superhuman group like it did in the comics. Still, it has yet to be seen if or how the ultimate source of her powers may relate to the greater MCU.

    However, the biggest debate centers on how integral Kamala’s shapeshifting powers are to her story in the comics. Much of Kamala’s journey as a Pakistani teenager in Jersey City in the age of superheroes centers around her self-identity. Early on, after she discovered she had powers, she shapeshifted to look like Carol Danvers in the retired Ms. Marvel costume, because she struggled to reconcile how she viewed herself with what she thought superheroes looked like or should look like. Kamala’s story resonates with many, and her powers were the perfect conduit for her self-expression as well as an easy metaphor for self-consciousness. When she was afraid, embarrassed, or felt defeated, she could shrink to hide; when she felt confident, she could embiggen. Many fans are concerned that without her comics powers, that aspect of her and her story will be diluted. However, many people who worked on the series have openly given reassurances to fans that those worries are unnecessary and that Ms. Marvel does justice to Kamala Khan’s character.

    Fans can judge Kamala’s new powers for themselves, as Ms. Marvel‘s first episode is now streaming on Disney+.