Your “Ms. Marvel” Cheat Sheet
She’s finally here! Jersey City brown girls unite, it is time for our latest icon to take the stage. Pakistani American Kamala Khan made waves in the comic world as the first Muslim American superhero, and Marvel execs have taken note. We finally have the first trailer for “Ms. Marvel,” with Iman Vellani bringing to life our favorite Jersey City brown girl on Disney+!
The teenage superhero was first featured in the Captain Marvel comic before she gained her own solo series. The character and comic were created by editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, writer G. Willow Wilson, and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie.
We are here to inform you of all the things you need to know before you watch the Ms. Marvel series!
First of all, Ms. Marvel is your average teenager struggling to find a balance within her hyphenated identity while maneuvering the intricacies of high school. She deals with the issues we all face during these growing years, from crushing on the hot guy who doesn’t know you exist to sneaking out to attend parties because your uber strict South Asian parents don’t allow you to have fun.
Second, she’s not the original Ms. Marvel. Die-hard comic fans recall Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, was the original Ms. Marvel. Once Kamala Khan became inhuman due to a mysterious green fog that takes over the city, Carol Danvers appears to hand off the Ms. Marvel mantle to Kamala.
Thirdly, Kamala Khan is not an alien or a mutant, she is an inhuman. Before you even ask, “so what is an inhuman?” here’s a comic book history lesson:
Eons ago, a Kree war against the shape-shifting Skrulls led to an attempt to develop super-soldiers by experimenting on early humans but the project was abandoned. This led to a handful of super-beings known as “inhumans” whose super-powered DNA was passed down through generations. The powers are unlocked by the mist created by Terrigen crystals. Kamala comes into her powers when Black Bolt releases Terrigen mist across the world.
Fun-fact: Unlike Kamala who was born an inhuman, Carol Danvers was turned into an inhuman! Carol was a US Air Force officer in her early life. She met Captain Mar-Vell (a Kree warrior) and due to an explosion of the Psyche-Magnetron, a machine built by the Kree to give living humans superpowers, Carol’s DNA is crossed with Captain Mar-Vell Kree DNA giving her cosmic abilities. She also pulls abilities from the Tesseract which powered Mar-Vell’s light-speed engine. Captain Marvel is one of the strongest Avengers in the game.
Fourth, her superpowers include changing shape and size, she is able to enlarge herself or shrink as well as stretch out her body. At least, those were her powers per the comic, it is unclear if the series creators have altered the storyline. Let’s hope the creators of the show have kept the integrity of the comic intact.
The series also stars Mohan Kapur and Zenobia Shroff as Kamala Khan’s parents, Yusuf and Muneeba Khan. Saagar Sheikh plays her elder brother Amir and Matt Lintz plays Bruno Carrelli, Kamala’s best friend. Rish Shah plays Kamala’s crush, Kamran and Aramis Knight play Kareem, aka the vigilante known as the Red Dagger.
Though the Ms. Marvel comics have garnered millions of fans, we are yet to see if the series can produce a congruent reaction from viewers. Be sure to check out Ms. Marvel on Disney+ soon!
