You’ve likely heard the news by now; one of the new TV series that’ll be hitting the Disney+ streaming service in the future will feature the one and only: Ms. Marvel. Well, perhaps saying she’s the one and only is slightly inaccurate. More on that in a moment.
Here are 10 things you need to know about the young hero known to her friends and family as Kamala Khan… although her fans (and enemies) will know her as Ms. Marvel.
Ms. Marvel Mantle
You might recognize the name of Ms. Marvel as being Carol Danvers’ (Captain Marvel) old mantle. And you would be correct. Kamala Khan had been a major fan of Ms. Marvel, so when she was put in a position to become a hero in her own right, she took up the mantle without hesitation.
And yes, she does, in fact, have the blessing of Carol to carry on the name. She’s certainly earned it and turned it into something of her own making along the way.
Inhuman
Ms. Marvel is one of the Inhumans – though it’ll be interesting to see if they keep that element of her background in her impending television series. Kamala found herself exposed to the terrigen mist (which activates the genes for Inhumans). She woke up in a cocoon of sorts, and nothing has ever been the same since.
Kamala has interacted with other Inhumans during her series, but more often than not she’s made the decision to stay home and protect her city, rather than running off and joining the Inhumans.
Powers
Ms. Marvel has several different abilities, but they all work together to give her the look and powers we’ve come to recognize as her own. She’s got morphogenic abilities – meaning she can change her shape and size. But she can do this on a small scale as well as a large one – being able to alter any single part of her body, or shrink/grow as needed.
She’s also got superhuman speed and strength, and even a healing factor – though the latter is limited and works differently depending on how her other abilities are being used at the time.
Fangirl
Kamala Khan is first and foremost, a total fangirl. As mentioned above, she took on the name Ms. Marvel because of how much she adored Carol Danvers. Actually, when she woke up from the mists she looked exactly like Carol – her new powers automatically trying to make her look like the hero she pictured.
Kamala is also a fan of other heroes and writes fanfiction on the side. Yes, you did in fact read that correctly. It’s something she did before becoming a superhero, and it doesn’t seem to be something she ever truly let go of.
Family Matters
Kamala Khan, like many other teenage superheroes, has struggled with keeping her hero and family life separate. This was made slightly more difficult in her case, given that her brother (Aamir) also had the Inhuman genes – though he used sheer determination to continue his life as normal, either suppressing or removing the traits he might have gained.
Her family consistently makes appearances in her series. Not just her mother, father, and brother, but her sister-in-law, and grandparents as well (though those ones with less frequency). It’s clear that family is very important to Kamala.
A Balance
Kamala has to balance a lot of different elements in her life. That’s not uncommon, especially for the teenage superheroes. However, Kamala also has to balance out her religion with her superhero life.
This isn’t an easy task, but it’s one she’s handled with an amazing amount of grace.
Jersey Girl
Ms. Marvel lives in New Jersey – and thus she’s become the hero of New Jersey. Though sometimes she’ll interact with the heroes from New York, thanks to the relatively close proximity. A lot of the setting she battles in are iconic to New Jersey for this reason.
Though like any hero, when her mild-mannered alter ego travels, she takes the suit with her. It’s actually quite amazing that nobody has put two and two together, though we’re not complaining. That being said, it’s efreshing to see a hero like Kamala living someplace outside of New York.
Friends in High Places
Kamala Khan has a way of making friends in high places. Obviously, she got the attention of the one and only Captain Marvel who gave her blessing on the mantle switchover. But that’s not the only friend Kamala has made in her time as a hero.
Iron Man, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Iron Heart, Nova (Sam Alexander), Cyclops (the younger version from the past), and others have all become allies with the young hero – and she’s sure to make even more as she continues on.
The Champions
Kamala Khan has joined more than one superhero team during her time as a hero. She tried to work with the Avengers for a time but found that they weren’t a good fit for her. So instead she and a few of the other younger members of the Avengers split off and formed their own team: the Champions.
The goal of this new team was to help put the world back together, and to focus on the small issues the world faces, and not just the major (Avenger level) threats. In this case, they were hoping to truly save the world, and never ignore the individuals that make up the people.
Commanding Personality
Kamala Khan has a naturally commanding and leading personality. Perhaps that is why she keeps finding herself in the position to lead – even when she doesn’t necessarily want to do so. She ended up becoming the leader for the Champions for a time. She also leads her friends (non-superpowered but extremely supportive) on a quest to save and protect their city.
And there’s no doubt that if and when she finds herself on a new team, she’ll be taking charge of that one as well. And we love her for it.
