Ms. Marvel's about to "embiggen" her way to a wider audience, and the first trailer for
the new show has plenty to discuss.
Is she still an Inhuman?
Where'd she get those cosmic powers?
And how does Captain Marvel herself fit into all this?
If you're watching the "Ms. Marvel" trailer without knowledge of the comics, one of the
biggest things that'll catch your eye is Kamala Khan's glowing purple energy construct powers.
Comic fans, though, will immediately recognize that Ms. Marvel's abilities are vastly different.
Kamala — who first debuted back in "Captain Marvel" Vol. 7 #14 before headlining her own
series in 2014 — was originally depicted as getting her powers when the mutation-causing
Terrigen Mist, which are traditionally associated with the Inhumans, rolls through Jersey City.
Now, quick history lesson for casual fans: those aforementioned Inhumans use Terrigen
Crystals to awaken their dormant abilities, which themselves are the product of Kree experimentation
from thousands of years ago.
That means, yes, Kamala Khan is an Inhuman in the comics, and after exposure to the mist,
she gets what she calls "embiggening" power where she can stretch and grow her limbs to
any size.
This makes her a polymorph, capable of expanding, contracting, or reshaping her body in various
ways, similar to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four.
Evidently, that won't be the case in the MCU.
The new trailer confirms that Kamala now has "cosmic" powers, which allow her to create
various energy constructs, seemingly based on her imagination.
At one pivotal moment she manifests a giant, shimmering energy fist — so the essence
of her embiggening powers will still be there, but reshaped for the MCU.
Why the change?
It's probably a combination of the "Inhumans" TV series being a flop, and that a "Fantastic
Four" movie is currently in the works from Jon Watts — so, presumably, Marvel doesn't
want to have both Kamala and Reed's powersets look too similar.
About halfway through the trailer, we watch as Kamala attaches a pair of glowing bracelets
to her wrists, which causes her eyes to glow bright purple.
These are most likely the Nega Bands: powerful artifacts that have been used by various characters
throughout comic book history, but traditionally are depicted as having a unique connection
to Captain Marvel and the Kree.
In the comics, these bands were entrusted by the Kree Supreme Intelligence to the original
Captain Marvel, a Kree warrior named Mar-Vell.
A reimagined form of this character was played by Annette Bening in 2019's "Captain Marvel."
The Nega-Bands have the ability to convert mental energy into physical energy.
In the comics, that's meant that the various Captains Marvel can shoot energy beams, gain
super strength, and are gifted with an ambiguously defined "cosmic awareness."
In the show, it looks like they'll function similarly to a Green Lantern ring.
Either way, whoever wears the Nega-Bands is able to wield an immense amount of power,
and the fact that Kamala's eyes glow after she puts them on seems to imply that she gains
her powers after wearing them for the first time.
That said, the fact that the show's Nega-Bands' power comes from mental energy implies that
whoever wields them must have a very active imagination — which, as the trailer makes
clear, is a description that very aptly applies to Kamala.
The trailer constantly reiterates how Kamala is often living in her own "little fantasy
land," whether it's through her artwork or her love for superheroes.
While the adults around her appear to be treating her imagination as a flaw, it may be that
it's exactly that trait which allows her to harness the full power of the Nega-Bands.
After all, as we've recently seen in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," it takes
more than a pair of mystical bands to make a true hero.
"I'm a superhero."
You don't have to dig too deep in the history of Marvel Comics to find the impact Ms. Marvel
had on the industry.
Kamala Khan was the first mainstream Muslim superhero to headline her own book: The character's
debut was written about by outlets such as NPR, as her Muslim heritage changed the face
of comics.
That makes Kamala's religion, her cultural background, and everything connected to it
essential to the character, and one would hope that the same will hold true for her
live-action counterpart.
Kamala's name is part of that, and many readers have often been not entirely clear on the
correct pronunciation of it, particularly since it differs from the pronunciation used
by current U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
Thankfully, Marvel Studios and Disney+ address that immediately in the new trailer for "Ms.
Marvel" with a quick moment where she corrects a schoolmate on the pronunciation of her name:
"Comma-la."
"Kah-mah-lah."
"Another Avengers shirt.
Cute."
Even better, though, is that this isn't the only nod to Khan's heritage.
The trailer also shows a quick shot of her in a mosque, wearing a hijab, and performing
the Muslim prayer known as salah.
These moments in the trailer show that her faith and heritage won't be disappearing as
the character makes her way from the comic book pages to live-action.
Throughout the wide array of Marvel movies and TV shows that we've been lucky enough
to see over the years, there have been a few rare instances where shots taken directly
from the comics are captured perfectly on the screen.
For instance, it's hard to forget that "Spider-Man 2" shot of Spider-Man's costume being dumped
into a trash can, taken right from Amazing Spider-Man #50, or the moment in "Black Panther"
where Killmonger throws T'Challa over the cliff.
Well, judging by the final shot in this new trailer, "Ms. Marvel" is getting the same
treatment.
That stunning sight of this all-new hero, overlooking the big city as she sits casually
on top of a streetlamp, comes directly from this 2014 comic cover.
Fittingly enough, this moment also shows that while much of the series may feature Kamala
in a makeshift Captain Marvel outfit, she will, at one point or another, get to don
her own iconic threads before the series ends.
We can't wait to see her start this journey when "Ms. Marvel" arrives on Disney+ on June 8th.
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