Carol Danvers has been established as Marvel’s leading female hero and has recently graduated from Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel. It’s also been depicted that she has inspired the civilian girls and women of the Marvel Universe and now, one of her biggest fans, Kamala Khan will take up her old name and embark on a crime-fighting career herself.
‘Ms. Marvel’ is just one of several female solo titles Marvel has or will launch in the upcoming year. While ‘Captain Marvel’ was cancelled, it is being relaunched with a more galactic spin. ‘Black Widow’ recently debuted, cashing in on the character’s elevated presence thanks to ‘The Avengers’ live action movie. And She-Hulk and Elektra are set to receive their own series in the months to come.
But those characters are established with decades of history. With ‘Ms. Marvel’, we’ll be seeing the debut of a brand new teen hero with no prior continuity. However, Marvel Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso compared her to the publisher’s headlining mascot, Peter Parker/Spider-Man. “She’s a teenager struggling to find her own path who’s suddenly imbued with great power and learns the great responsibility that comes with it.”
The character is definitely a product of our evolving world, as she is of Pakistani descent and is Muslim. Those factors will certainly play a part in her new book, as Kamala tries to keep her super powers a secret from her ultra-conservative parents who won’t even let her attend a party if boys are present.
The cover of Ms. Marvel #1, beside the cover of Supergirl #1, which inspired it.Kamala develops her powers after the destruction of The Inhumans’ home Attilan. As a result of this destruction, the power imbuing Terrigen Mist is unleashed on humanity and a number of people will develop super powers, including Kamala.
Regarding her powers, writer G. Willow Wilson was adamant that this new hero not have “classic girlie powers where she’s floating and sparkling and reading people’s minds.” Wilson felt it was important that she “really let her roll with the big boys if she was to get into a fight.” As a result, she has the power to morph parts of her body.
Editor Sana Amanat discussed her power-personality balance by stating that Kamala would be “embracing the weirdness in her and at the same time being really empowered. I like her feeling the need to fit in and not knowing where she belongs, and then suddenly getting these powers that make her seem even more abnormal than anybody else.”
Amanat further went on to say, “People want a different type of story. The same old white blond superhero dude, I don’t think it’s cutting it the same way it did,” she says. “We’ve created the space for something else.”
Wilson further discussed Ms. Marvel’s shape-shifting abilities. “We’re very suspicious of people who have fluid identities,” she says. Meanwhile, good guys often are the ones who have various ways of blowing stuff up. I thought, you know, if we’re going to undermine one set of stereotypes, let’s just undermine them all!” followed with a laugh.
Marvel is known for its shared-universe, so it’s only a matter of time before existing super heroes show up in this title. Who would Wilson, a noted X-Men fan, most love to see show up?
“I would so die of happiness if one day Wolverine were to make a cameo appearance in ‘Ms. Marvel’. I would be like, ‘That’s it, I’m done, there’s nothing left to accomplish in life.’ ”
Are you excited to see a new ‘Ms. Marvel’? What about a ‘Ms. Marvel’ book alongside a Carol Danvers ‘Captain Marvel’ series? Sound off below!
Source: USA Today
