Kamala Khan

Origin

Kamala Khan is the youngest of two children from a traditional Pakistani Family in New Jersey. Despite her traditional roots, Kamala was the typical American teenager, wanting to both be herself and make her family proud. For several years, Kamala was a fan of superheroes, especially the Avengers and, more importantly, Carol Danvers. So much so that she started writing online fan-fiction about the Avengers and Captain Marvel, and joined the Carol Danvers Corps online.

Creation

Kamala Khan was created by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Scott Hepburn and first appeared (in a cameo) in Captain Marvel Vol.4 issue 14 (2013) before appearing fully in issue 17 of the same series. She first appeared as the new Ms. Marvel in All-New Marvel Now! Point One before receiving her own series. Kamala Khan has become something of a hit, being an American Muslim girl portrayed in a positive way.

Major Story Arcs

Early Life

Kamala was born in Jersey City, the daughter of Yusuf Khan and Muneeba Khan.Her parents and her older brother, Aamir Khan moved to the United from Karachi, Pakistan. In kindergarten, Kamala met Nakia Bahadir, who went on to become Kamala’s best friend. Like Kamala, Nakia is a practicing Muslim and the daughter of Turkish immigrants.

Young Kamala Khan

Later, when Kamala was entering the second grade, the Khan family met one of her new classmates, Bruno Carrelli. The teacher, Ms. Bartholomew, told the Khans that Bruno’s mother had recently lost custody of Bruno and his younger brother Vick. The Carrelli brothers had been sent to live with their grandparents, immigrants from Italy, and their family had been struggling to make ends meet. They had not been able to pay for Bruno’s activities, and young Bruno had become something of a pariah. The Khans offered to pay the boy’s fees and sent their daughter to play with him. Though reluctant at first, Kamala and Bruno soon formed a close bond over their shared background coming from immigrant families and their love for the animated TV series Tween Mutant Samurai Turtles.

Kamala found solace with her two best friends, Bruno and Nakia, something she sorely needed. Though proud and respectful of her heritage and faith, Kamala always felt different and was often mocked by her other peers for her nerdy interests and strict parents. In addition to her friendship with Nakia and Bruno, Kamala found escape in her love of video games, social media, fan fiction, and above all, superheroes. She devotedly followed the career of Carol Danvers, the former Ms. Marvel who had recently started going by the name Captain Marvel

Undergoing Terrigenesis

One night, hoping to prove herself to be more than the odd duck, Kamala went against her parents’ wishes — and Bruno’s — to go to a party at the Jersey Waterfront; however, her classmates, particularly Zoe Zimmer and Zoe’s boyfriend Josh Richardson, kept teasing and ostracizing her. Miserable, Kamala was on her way home when Jersey City was suddenly blanketed in the Terrigen Mists, and Kamala along with it.

Exposed to the Terrigen mist.

Unconscious in her Terrigen cocoon, Kamala saw an unusual vision of three of her favorite super heroes — Captain America, Iron Man, and, of course, Captain Marvel. The heroes scolded the girl for her disobedience and asked her what she wanted in life. Kamala mused that she wanted to be more like Captain Marvel, who she described as “beautiful and awesome and butt-kicking and less complicated.” When the vision ended and Kamala emerged from her Terrigenesis, she was shocked to find that she had literally been transformed into a younger Carol Danvers in her Ms. Marvel costume.

Taken aback, Kamala struggled to gain control of her new powers. After giving herself some time to calm down, Kamala discovered she was now a polymorph and could change her body into virtually anything. As she ran through the neighborhood, she eventually found herself back at the Waterfront, where she saw a drunk Josh Richardson cause Zoe Zimmer to fall into the river. Instinctively, Kamala changed into Ms. Marvel and rescued Zoe by enlarging her arm to pull Zoe to safety. Needless to say, the residents of Jersey City and the local media were fairly surprised by such a sight, and Kamala fled the scene. Upon returning home, Kamala realized that there was more to being like Carol Danvers than looking like her. As horribly as Zoe had treated her, she was glad and proud that she had rescued her. She wanted to continue that, but it seemed unlikely that would happen, as she was promptly grounded by her parents, who had learned from Bruno that she had stolen away to the party without their permission.

Becoming Ms. Marvel

Eventually her punishment ended and while Bruno was working at the neighborhood convenience store, Circle Q, Kamala went to visit him. There she encountered an armed robbery in progress, and abandoning her desire to reconcile with her friend over the circumstances her grounding, Kamala jumped into action in an attempt to stop the burglar, but was shot in the process.

Luckily, Kamala discovered that she had a second power: she could heal from her injuries by simply shifting back to her true form, outing herself to her friend in the process. Bruno explained the thief she had just faced was his younger brother Vick, who had gotten involved with a mysterious person called the “inventor” and was being forced to break the law for him. Concerned, the two friends traced Vick to a seemingly abandoned house in Greenville. Kamala put together a makeshift superhero costume out of her swimsuit and a domino mask as she went to Vick‘s rescue. She soon realized that she was not alone, as the house filled with the Inventor’s other teenage minions, led by a boy named Doyle with a small army worth of mechanical spiders.

Kamala’s initial rescue attempt failed as she was overpowered by Doyle and his robot spiders, and on her arrival back home was met by her upset parents. Her father cheered her up by reminding her how much she meant to them, “perfect the way she is”. Kamala took it to heart and spent the next day with Bruno developing her powers and making a costume. She later went back to successfully rescue Vick from Doyle, but earned the Inventor’s wrath for her actions, Kamala swore that she would protect Jersey City from him as Ms. Marvel.

The Inventor

After a few more attacks from the Inventor, Kamala went into the sewers to investigate strange noises, where she finally came face to face with the Inventor. As it would turn out, a scientist named Gregory Knox had tried to clone Thomas Alva Edison, but his pet cockatiel had gotten caught in the crossfire, resulting in a monstrous bird-human hybrid. The creature retained Edison’s scientific brilliance, and had been using it to terrorize the city with his robots and create some genetically modified alligators, which he sent to attack Ms. Marvel.

Luckily, she was saved by Wolverine, who was looking for a runaway student, Julie Harrison. Together, they defeated the Inventor’s alligators. They then defeated the megagator that the Inventor created before getting stuck in a machine trap. After they broke out of the trap the Inventor set for them, they found Julie hooked up to a complex array of wires and realized that her body was being used to power the contraption. She gave them a vague warning that she was not the only child that the Inventor had done this to before slipping into a coma. Wolverine figured out that Kamala was part Inhuman and made a call to Medusa informing her of Kamala, telling Medusa that she was special. Medusa sent Lockjaw to aid Kamala and to keep an eye on her.

Kamala quickly took a shine to Lockjaw and brought him home with her. In the meantime, she began to research Julie Harrison and discovered the last post Julie made on Facehead before she disappeared was geotagged not far from Bayonne. After finding out that Lockjaw could teleport, she got him to transport them to the location, an abandoned power plant. They fought one of the inventor’s robots and opened it up to find another teenager inside of it, just like Julie. The kid fell into a coma and they took him to the hospital, unaware that the robot left a tracer on Kamala.

She went to school and was in the middle of class when one of the Inventor’s biggest robots came and destroyed half the school in search of Ms. Marvel. Kamala couldn’t morph into someone else and tried to hide her face as she fought the monster with the aid of Lockjaw. Kamala succumbed to her injuries because she couldn’t heal fast enough. Medusa came and teleported Kamala and Bruno to New Attilan where Vinatos healed Kamala. Kamala was then informed of her Inhuman lineage; this came as a shock to the girl. She then decided to go against the Inventor alone, against the wishes of Medusa and Vinatos. She went with Vick and Lockjaw to the Inventor’s lair, intending to rescue the teenagers there who were being forced into the machines as power sources. To her surprise, the children were there of their own free will and didn’t want to be rescued.

The Inventor had been preying on the teenagers’ feelings of worthlessness and convinced them their only use was to use their bodies to power his machines. Soon the Inventor himself showed up and attacked the group, successfully abducting Lockjaw. Ms. Marvel convinced them that they had worth, and was able to mobilize them to join her as she took the fight to the Inventor. When they finally arrived, the Inventor informed them that he had already captured hundreds of teenagers, including Nakia Bahadir.

The Inventor brought out his biggest robot to defeat Ms. Marvel but she shrank and went inside of it and took control. The Inventor used an electromagnetic pulse to weaken her elasticity and force her out. Fortunately, the newly-freed teenagers came to her aid and saved Lockjaw, but she was still out-powered. Realizing what she must do, Ms. Marvel called Bruno, He in turn called the police, who arrested the Inventor. Nakia and the other abductees were taken to the hospital, and for the first time, Kamala realized that her normal life was a thing of the past.

Meeting Loki

Loki the agent of asgard is sent on a mission to Midgard by the all-mother, she sends him to see if there are any remaining inventor spies hiding out at Coles Academy. After he arrives in Jersey City he asks a pedestrian where the local school is, the pedestrian then proceeds to direct him to the circle Q saying that’s where most of them often gather, once he arrives, he meets Bruno when Bruno sees him he comments on his wardrobe giving him the nickname “hipster-Viking ”.

Soon after Kamala arrives complaining about her grade in gym to Bruno. Bruno tries to ask Kamala out and fails miserably. Loki watches the interaction between Bruno and Kamala and offers to help Bruno with his relationship failings. Loki writes a love-letter for Kamala from Bruno and proceeds to deliver it. Later at the dance Bruno and Loki wait for Kamala to show up, meanwhile Kamala and Nakia are hanging out at Kamala’s house wondering whether or not they should turn the mysterious love letter over to the police seeing as how she found it under her pillow! They decide to go to the dance and look for the mystery stalker, when they arrive they watch Loki spike the punch with a truth serum.

Kamala then changes into her costume and arrives as Ms. Marvel to stop Loki, they proceed to fight. After Loki blows Kamala into a wall, the students soak him in the magic punch and Ms. Marvel grabs him, Loki then tells her about his mission and how he had good intentions, she suggests as a joke that a better way to protect them would be to place the school under a protection spell and he takes her seriously and thought it was a good idea so he proceeds to ward the school against anything less than a frost giant and leaves the school with his mission complete. Ms. Marvel tells Bruno how much Kamala appreciates his support they fist-bump and she leaves.

Meeting Spiderman

Kamala intercepted Dr. Minerva when she was attempting a kidnapping of a new inhuman (Nuhuman). This was also the first time Ms. Marvel ever met Spiderman. The pair would go toe-to-toe with Dr. Minerva, who revealed that she was able to alter her powers from that of the original Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, and could now change into a gigantic monster. This was also the first time Kamala had ever faced anything so horrific, but with Spiderman’s help, she was able to defeat Dr. Minerva, save the Nuhuman which turned out to be a baby, and even get some praise from Spiderman.

Friends in high places

At Coles Academic High School, Jersey City. 6 A.M., the janitor spots a bag of pizza dough on the loading dock and decides to take it inside.

Meanwhile, Simmons goes undercover as a biology substitute teacher, Ms. Stenanko, on a mission to uncover a smuggler in her class. Her tablet intercepts the texts of Grayson Blair, who received a text from his partner, Skeesh, informing him that “the bag” is missing. She then calls Grayson by name, forcing him to activate the Wizard glove hidden in his locker to cause a distraction. Kamala Khan, who is in the class, realizes what’s going on and decides to suit up. As Ms. Marvel, she saves Simmons and two students from falling debris before catching the glove. Simmons then identifies herself as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, which excites Ms. Marvel, until Simmons orders her to leave the area immediately.

Meanwhile, Grayson has Skeesh against the lockers and learns that due to a timing problem, Skeesh missed the drop off. Grayson then grabs the remaining contraband out of his locker, only to be arrested by Agent Phil Coulson. Grayson nervously insists that he read him his rights, but Coulson smoothly points out that he’s no more a cop than he is “presumed innocent” and reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. was onto his racket for weeks. As he orders Grayson to deactivate the glove, Simmons and Ms. Marvel appear, the latter holding the glove in her clutches, refusing to let it go until the agents prove they’re really with S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson admonishes Simmons for failing to keep Ms. Marvel out of their operation. Ms Marvel then starts geeking out on the various villain tech in Grayson’s bag, forcing Coulson to throw himself on it, telling her she’s interfering in their investigation. Ms. Marvel then spots the Animator, though Coulson argues that it’s the Vege-Ray though he relents when she points out that the Vege-Ray has a longer barrel; she boasts that she lurks on every superhero fan site and that she admins on two.

She then questions why Grayson possesses these weapons. Coulson explains that Grayson had been running a black market site dealing with villain surplus. Nostalgically, she remarks that he used to sell grit. When Ms. Marvel questions his age, he orders Simmons to escort her away. He then turns on Grayson, demanding to know where “the dough” is, and he insists that someone swiped it. Ms. Marvel then remembers that it’s pizza day and rushes to the cafeteria, where the dough had been cooked into pizzas, but the consumers soon find that it comes to life. The Doughboys block the door and Coulson refuses to shoot it with all the students inside, so he suggests Ms. Marvel shapeshifts herself as thin as paper to get inside. As she evades the Doughboys’ attack, Coulson identifies them as Arnim Zola‘s creations. But before Ms. Marvel can get any ideas, the Doughboys spill out of the cafeteria. As Coulson battles the dough with his taser, Simmons asks for directions to the chem lab, which Ms. Marvel gave. Coulson tells Ms. Marvel to get her fellow students to safety. She says she won’t let them die. Though Coulson insists she can’t save everyone, she refuses to accept that. The Doughboys nearly overcomes her but she breaks free. She joins Simmons in the chem lab, where she is working on a solution to the crisis. The Doughboys come after her, but Ms. Marvel is able to stretch her body to contain the little blobs and carries them outside, where Simmons injects a solution into the Doughboys, rendering them inert.

As a S.H.I.E.L.D. the hazmat team arrives to get rid of the Doughboys, Simmons take Ms. Marvel to the side, confiding to her how she knows of what it’s like to live a double-life, hiding it from her loved ones. She explains that S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited her during university and due to the classified nature of her work, her parents believe she is a corporate party planner and they aren’t exactly proud.

Getting back to Coulson, he boasts of the hazmat team’s skill, claiming they cleaned up Doctor Octopus’ Octobots out of Grand Central Station. Ms. Marvel interjects that it’s Penn Station, only to be corrected as he shows her the Daily bugle bulletin on his phone. Coulson then thanks Ms. Marvel for her efforts. As they part ways, Ms. Marvel finds that Simmons had slipped her her business card, having written on it, “Call me if it all gets a bit much. Also, it was absolutely The Animator. –J.” to her delight.

Crush on Kamran

Kamala began spending more time in New Attilan to learn more about her Inhuman heritage and powers, though she still lived with her family on Grove Street in Jersey City. This worried Medusa, who knew of Kamala’s super-heroic activities and feared for the girl’s safety.

One day at dinner, Kamala’s family informed her that they were expecting guests — some of their oldest friends in the United States, who had a son close to Kamala’s age named Kamran. Though reluctant at first, Kamala quickly changed her tune when she learned she and Kamran had many common interests, not to mention how attractive he was. Kamran and Kamala went to Newark Avenue together, supervised by Aamir, where they continued to bond. This was cut short; however, when they came face to face with Kaboom, a radical Inhuman terrorist and member of an organization seeking to overthrow Queen Medusa and affirm their perceived superiority over humanity. In a heartbeat, Kamala could not help but be reminded of the Islamic extremists constantly on the news. Once again, some group felt entitled to destroy the lives of anyone who disagreed with them, and anyone the public can associate with that group suffers. Ms. Marvel sprang into action and hit Kaboom so forcefully she nearly broke the woman’s neck, and the paramedics had to be contacted. Horrified, Ms. Marvel fled and returned to Aamir and Kamran as Kamala. Kamran convinced Aamir to give him a minute alone with Kamala, in which he revealed that not only did he know she was Ms. Marvel, but that he was an Inhuman as well.

That night, Kamala and Kamran snuck out together to admire the city. Kamran explained his powers to Kamala; he could shift between his human form and a body made of glowing blue biokinetic energy, and all of his body’s natural energy could then be transferred into some other object, causing it to explode. Kamala found his abilities uncomfortably similar to Kaboom’s, but she didn’t care. The next day, Kamran offered to drive Kamala to school, despite protests from Aamir and Bruno, the latter of whom secretly harbored feelings for Kamala. Their fears were proved to be well-founded when Kamala realized he had no intention of taking her to Coles Academic High School at all; instead, he was a member of the same organization as Kaboom and had kidnapped Kamala to New Attilan.

Kaboom and Kamran introduced Kamala to the leader of the organization, Lineage. Kamran mocked Kamala, telling her that she had this coming and it was her fault it had happened. Lineage offered Kamala a chance to join his coup, but she resisted and secretly contacted Bruno. While her friend came rushing to New Attilan, Kamala defeated Kaboom and called out Kamran for the manipulative bully she now knew he was. Bruno and Ms. Marvel escaped the city together, and Kamala mused about how fortunate she was to have a friend like Bruno.

Last Days of the Universe

The incident with Kamran left Kamala heartbroken even weeks after it had happened, but her feelings had to take a backseat when a greater crisis emerged. Jersey City — indeed, the entire world — was in a state of panic over the Incursions, in which alternate dimensions collapsed in on each other, and a second reality was about to crash directly into Kamala’s reality. Confident that the adult super heroes had the situation under control, Kamala sought to protect peace and order in her hometown. She had Bruno bring all the city’s residents to Coles Academic High School, which had been placed under the protection of Loki, while Ms. Marvel went to find her family. Once she was back on Grove Street, she found her parents unconscious at the Khan family residence, Aamir missing, and Kamran waiting for her. Kamran had kidnapped Aamir and intended to expose him to the Terrigen Mist and see if he, like his sister, had also inherited the Inhuman gene. Kamala directed her parents to the school, while she went to clear her head. To her surprise, Ms. Marvel was greeted by none other than Captain Marvel herself.

Captain Marvel did her best to assure her namesake that the Incursion was under control and urged Ms. Marvel to hold on to hope and keep doing what she knew was right. Carol offered to aid Kamala in finding and rescuing her brother from Kamran. They tracked him to a warehouse on the waterfront, and the two heroines successfully defeated Kaboom, but by the time they found him, Aamir had already been exposed to the Terrigen Mists. Captain and Ms. Marvel confronted Kamran, and realized that whatever Aamir had been exposed to, it hadn’t been Terrigen. When Aamir awoke, he discovered he could create a shield of energy around his body, a change he did not find welcome. He stood up to Kamran for Kamala and affirmed that he was proud of who he was. Aamir tried to use his new powers to stop Kamran, but it instantly caused him to lose consciousness.

Realizing that Aamir’s condition was temporary, the heroines rushed to the school and got Aamir to a doctor. Before Captain Marvel had to rejoin the other heroes, she gave the girl a gift — a pendant featuring Carol’s signature Hala star and Kamala’s lightning bolt with a built-in GPS locator. Carol also gave Kamala some final words of wisdom; there was no chance of anyone stopping the Incursion, not even for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The world was definitely going to end, but she encouraged Kamala to hold on to hope and keep fighting. As she flew away, she bid her final farewell to Ms. Marvel and told her she was proud of her. Kamala took it to heart and went to see her mother, and finally brought herself to tell her mother about her secret identity as Ms. Marvel. As it would turn out, Muneeba already knew.

Muneeba praised her daughter for her super-heroic endeavors, proud to know that she had raised a righteous child that sought only to help others. While Aamir recovered, Kamala went to speak with her friends. She cleared the air with Nakia that had been growing tenser since she began living her double life, and even managed to make peace with her bully, Zoe Zimmer. Ultimately, Kamala went to see Bruno, and he finally confessed to Kamala how he felt about her. Kamala also confessed that she had been walling off her true feelings, and told him that she wanted to focus on being Ms. Marvel. She told Bruno that she loved him, but asked him not to wait for her. In that moment, the world finally came to an end.

Joining the Avengers

The Multiverse was eventually restored and Kamala awoke in the reborn Prime Marvel Universe. Kamala continued her life more or less as it had been before, including her role as Ms. Marvel. That being said, there were some notable differences — thanks to a grant from Stark Industries, the science lab at Coles Academic High School had seen a remarkable improvement, and Zoe Zimmer came to join Kamala’s group of friends.

One day, a monster appeared and began tearing up the city. Kamala sprang into action as Ms. Marvel. To her bewilderment, she was joined by another hero close to her age — Nova. Nova was instantly infatuated with her, but she read his attempts at flirting as rude and out of line when they had a monster to defeat, and was particularly unimpressed with the property damage he caused to her neighbors. Amid the bickering, the teenage heroes eventually defeated the creature by shrinking it into the Microverse. Overcome with her own nerves, Ms. Marvel fled. Nova went after her, and, in a last effort to clear the air, unmasked himself and told her his name was Sam. Still uncomfortable by it all, Ms. Marvel turned down the gesture. The teenagers then awkwardly and bitterly parted ways, both relieved by the fact that it was extremely unlikely that they would ever see one another again.

However, Nova and Ms. Marvel did meet again when they both faced off against the space alien Warbringer at the Liberty Science Center in Liberty State Park. Then, to both of their surprise, Warbringer’s presence had alerted a host of other heroes — Captain America, Iron Man, the Vision, Lady Thor, and the new Spiderman, who was also approximately Nova and Ms. Marvel’s age. Warbringer had come to Earth in search of pieces of an ancient artifact that could do unimaginable damage to the world, and managed to escape from the museum with the second-to-last fragment. The improvised array of heroes tracked Warbringer to the Long Island Sound, and working together, they successfully defeated him. Impressed, Iron Man invited that the group join him as the newest lineup of the Avengers, which Ms. Marvel accepted wholeheartedly.

Hope Yards and Interpersonal Turmoil

Ms. Marvel formed a close bond with her teammates Nova and Spider-Man, and as an Avenger she found herself on many adventures. These ranged from battling Equinox and Mister Gryphon, to joining forces with the in Pleasant Hill and bonding with Nadia, another teenage super heroine who had just taken on the mantle of the Wasp.

Between all of her super-heroic exploits and rising fame as Ms. Marvel; however, Kamala Khan still had a life to live in Jersey City. In fact, it soon became painfully clear that she had been neglecting her civilian life after a barrage of revelations that the rest of her friends and family had accepted as common knowledge — Bruno had moved on from Kamala and was now dating a girl named Michaela “Mike” Miller. Meanwhile, Aamir had found love with a woman named Tyesha Hillman. What’s more, a strange gentrification company, Hope Yards Development/Relocation Association, had emerged and, without her consent or even prior knowledge, had begun using Ms. Marvel’s likeness in their advertising campaign. This shocked Kamala and extremely displeased Nakia, who went on to become one of Ms. Marvel’s sharpest critics, which would remain a strain on the girls’ friendship.

Looking for answers, Ms. Marvel went to the Hope Yards headquarters, and it quickly became apparent that this was no ordinary real estate company; in fact, Hope Yards Development/Relocation Association was an bacronym for Hydra, and secretly led by Doctor Faustus. Things grew bleaker when Bruno was abducted and placed under his mind control, although before Bruno was captured, he had given Ms. Marvel a mysterious warning — Mike had the “key to his heart”. So Ms. Marvel found Mike Miller and the pair joined forces against Hydra. Mike had the passkey to the private cloud service to which Bruno synced all his data, including any research about how to stop Hydra from overtaking the city. Ms. Marvel came to recognize that Mike genuinely loved Bruno, and realized she respected Mike’s resourcefulness, which proved useful in saving Bruno and the entire city. Though the day was saved, Ms. Marvel’s reputation had taken a profound beating. When Mike met her again as Kamala, they remained close friends.

Road to the Second Superhuman Civil War

Ms. Marvel’s battles ranged from cleaning up the remnants of Hydra’s Hope Yards operation to the Moloids beneath NYC alongside Spider-Man and Nova;meanwhile, on top of it all she had to prepare for Aamir’s upcoming marriage to Tyesha. Hoping to solve this “problem of plenty”, Kamala convinced Bruno to use the enchanted clay golems Loki had given to the school to create replicas of herself. Unfortunately, a series of factors, including a battle with the Canadian Ninja Syndicate, caused the situation to spiral out of Ms. Marvel’s control. Realizing her mistakes, Ms. Marvel contacted other heroes to help her. In doing so, she noticed that there was an unusual amount of tension between her mentors Iron Man and Captain Marvel. Still, she decided that it was a non-issue in the long run and proudly attended Tyesha and Aamir’s wedding. Tyesha soon after moved in with her in-laws and she and Kamala formed a bond.

Later, Kamala, Josh, Bruno, and Mike represented Coles Academic High School at a tri-state area science competition. This was especially important to Bruno and Kamala, aware that impressing the judges could very well be their only chance at attending college. Inopportunely; however, the team representing New York was led by none other than Miles Morales, also known as Spider-Man. Things grew tense quickly, especially since Miles was still unaware of his friend Ms. Marvel’s secret identity. The pair spent the better half of the competition bickering, and when it seemed as though the judges were going to pick Miles’s team’s portable electricity upcycling plant over the New Jersey team’s gravity-resistant water, Bruno became desperate and revealed an unfinished project of his: a pocket-sized nuclear power generator, which promptly exploded and set Madison Square Government on fire. This forced Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man into action. They were soon after joined by Nova, who had been training not far from their location at the Avengers Hangar. The three saved the day, but the fair had to be called off. Having deciphered that Kamala Khan and Ms. Marvel were one in the same, Miles sought to make amends with her; meanwhile, the teenagers ruminate how often good guys find themselves fighting one another, and the tragedy that inevitably ensues in the process.

Second Superhuman Civil War

Following the incident at Madison Square Garden, things remained in some semblance of normalcy, give or take a narrow escape from Annihlus, as well as battling a rogue extra-dimmensional creature alongside the Avengers,Inhumans,X-men, and others. Ms. Marvel then attended an after party at Stark Tower where the superhero community was introduced to Ulysses Cain, a new Inhuman with powers of precognition.

Soon after Ulysses received an alarming vision of the Hulk on a violent rampage, despite the fact that Bruce Banner, the Hulk’s human form, had apparently been cured of his monstrous alter-ego. It was supposed to be a peaceful volunteer mission to guarantee that Dr. Banner was cured, but things went awry when Hawkeye shot and killed Dr. Banner. Ms. Marvel was shocked and horrified that her fellow heroes would let such a thing happen to an innocent man. Nova and Spider-Man, both of whom unbeknownst to Kamala harbored feelings for her, stood by her and comforted her.

Unlike her friends; however, Kamala was confident that the situation would not escalate, even when she was summoned by Captain Marvel to the A.F.S.S. to talk with her. Carol then entrusted Kamala with a team of volunteers to make better use of Ulysses’ powers, led by Becky St. Jude. Captain Marvel told Kamala that her only job was to make sure that she stayed on the right side of the law, and the Cadets then used intel from Ulysses to stop Hijinx from driving a tank through the middle of Jersey City. Later, Kamala talked to Tyesha about the new Inhuman and Tyesha found Ulysses’ powers uncomfortably similar to racial profiling, an issue that she knew all too well, and she told her sister-in-law that she should stick to what she knew was right.

The next day, Kamala was called into action yet again, but to her surprise it was her friend Josh who was arrested because he was going to blow up their high school. Kamala went to Captain Marvel, certain there must be some mistake, but Carol just told her that everything was working perfectly. Between Dr. Banner‘s fate and this new development, Ms. Marvel began to question her devotion to Captain Marvel. Kamala then showed up at the Cadets’ warehouse to find Zoe and Bruno trying to force the Cadets to release Josh. She calms everyone down, but later her brother Aamir told her Bruno was going to break Josh out anyway. Ms. Marvel rushed to stop him, but it was too late as the invention to breach the door literally blew up in Bruno’s face, severely injuring him.

Bruno ultimately lost the use of his left hand and had to go to physical therapy to relearn how to walk. Kamala was heartbroken, feeling she had failed her friend, her values, and her city. She ordered Becky to cease and desist all activities. This ended up in a physical confrontation between Ms. Marvel and Becky, with Captain Marvel forced to step in. It was clear the issue surrounding Ulysses had increased tensions between Ms. Marvel’s two most prominent mentors, Captain Marvel and Iron Man, but Carol stood by her conviction that everything was under control. Frustrated, Ms. Marvel took matters into her own hands, and sought the aid of Hijinx to devise a plan.

Ms. Marvel and Hijinx plotted a fake crime in the junkyard and lured Becky, now calling herself Lockdown, into coming to “stop” them. She and Becky brawled, with the Canadian Ninja Syndicate lending support. Captain Marvel showed up, and Kamala finally told her role model that she could no longer stand with her. Ms. Marvel vowed to protect her city from anything, even if that meant defending it from Captain Marvel. In Carol’s eyes, all she could see was that Kamala had betrayed her ethics by joining forces with a criminal. Becky was arrested for her numerous miscarriages of justice, but Kamala had to come to terms with the fact that Carol would likely never forgive her for this. Hoping to find comfort, Kamala rushed to the hospital now that Bruno was on the mend; however, he was too angry with Kamala for what had transpired. He blamed her for his injuries, and these events had caused Bruno to lose all but one of his scholarship opportunities — a school in the Golden City. Bruno declared in no uncertain terms that he was moving to Wakanda and never wanted to see Kamala again. Devastated, Kamala threw away the pendant Captain Marvel had given her before the incursion.

Still, she fought alongside Iron Man and the other Avengers when it became clear that the issue regarding Ulysses’ abilities had divided the entire superhuman community. The battle came to an abrupt halt, however, when Ulysses received another vision of the future. Ms. Marvel was shocked and horrified to see her friend Spider-Man standing on Capitol Hill, having murdered Captain America. Captain Marvel immediately called for Spider-Man’s arrest, angering Iron Man‘s team of heroes. When Captain Marvel was about to follow Spider-Man and Thor, Kamala held her back from going after him. Doctor Strange teleported Iron Man’s faction away, and Iron Man instructed Ms. Marvel and Nova to find him. They were accompanied by other heroes close to their age, namely Kate Bishop, the time displaced cyclops (slim), and Riri Williams. Ms. Marvel and Nova traveled to their friend’s home in Brooklyn, where they were discovered by Miles’ father, Jefferson Davis. Unfortunately, Miles decided to face destiny head-on and went to Washington, DC, where he was met by Iron Man and Captain Marvel. The two heroes began to brawl over Spider-Man. Ms. Marvel eventually found her friend at his school, Brooklyn Visions Academy, but by then it was too late, and Iron Man was incapacitated.

Forming the Champions

After Spider-Man and Nova quit the Avengers, Kamala also resigned after the Avengers didn’t want to help the little people. Together, the three ex-Avengers formed a team called the Champions alongside the new Hulk (Amadeus Cho), the Vision’s daughter Vivian Vision (“Viv” for short), and the time-displaced Cyclops. Together, they defeated Pagliacci, stopped Islamic fundamentalists in Sharzhad, freed themselves from the Atlantean Navy, and tried to stop hate crimes in Daly Country caused by Sheriff Studdard. They also participated in the world-wide monster invasion.

The team temporarily broke up following Hydra’s conquest of the United States, because Nova, Cyclops, and Kamala were all busy elsewhere. At this time Kamala worked with other Inhumans, fighting to free their kind from internment camps. Meanwhile the remaining three Champions worked with Black Widow, alongside the teenage Falcon, Ironheart, and the new Wasp. After the impostor Steve Rogers was defeated, the Champions reunited. They teamed up with the Avengers to fight the High Evolutionary, only for Viv to sacrifice herself. The team then went on a recruitment drive, bringing in Ironheart, Wasp, Falcon, Patriot, and Red Locust. Riri and Nadia would stay on full time; however, Cyclops quit the team, telling only Kamala in person and leaving her to inform the others.

Outlawed

One day, after Kamala and her friends had just arrived in school, she witnessed Roxxon’s Asgardian Dragon wreaking havoc in order to kill the environmentalist, Ailana Kabua. She assembled the Champions and tried to fight it, but Viv went haywire and exploded, destroying Kamala’s entire school and gravely injuring some of its students, including Kamala herself who was left in a coma. Because of this tragedy, Senator Geoffrey Patrick passed the Underage Superhuman Welfare Act, or “Kamala’s Law” in honor of Kamala. This act outlawed all individuals under the age of 21 from being a superhero, but on a condition to be monitored by an experienced adult superhero.

While things went on, Kamala’s friends came to visit her in the hospital. In coma Kamala began dreaming about what had happened to that point, which caused her to finally wake up. Miles was there to comfort her, but she pushed him aside, being outraged that her name was used to outlaw people like her and intended to do things on her own. She eventually sent a message to all young people telling them that the Champions will keep fighting the wrong and wouldn’t be deterred. Kamala then held up a meeting between the Champions and other young heroes in a secret location via video where the Champions berated her for speaking in their name without even consulting them. She tried to explain her reasoning, but the meeting was suddenly ambushed by C.R.A.D.L.E., and Kamala witnessed in dismay as her friends tried to escape, while others were sadly apprehended, realizing that someone sold them out.

Powers and Abilities

Although Kamala has the same superhero alias as Danvers previously did, her powers are not similar to the other hero. Kamala is a polymorph after being exposed to the Terrigen Mist, giving her the ability to stretch her body in almost any way imaginable. Kamala can also increase and decrease her size to both gigantic and tiny proportions. The limits of this ability have yet to be revealed, but she has grown large enough to handle a car and shrunk to the size of a cockroach.

She can also selectively increase and decrease any part of her body, although she prefers to increase the size of her fists. She also uses the ability to extend her legs’ length so that she can travel great distances in a short amount of time.

Kamala can also shape-shift, and in theory, can look like anyone she wants (she has only changed into Carol Danvers and her own mother, so far).

Kamala also has healing abilities since she has been shot in the stomach, but was able to heal over the wound when she transformed back to her original form. She cannot transform again until the healing process is complete.

Weaknesses

The power of an electromagnetic pulse can cause her powers to be temporarily disabled. She discovered this while fighting The Inventor.

Alternate Versions

Exiles

A much older version of Ms. Marvel, known only as Khan, appears in the 2018 Exiles series. This iteration of the character hails from a timeline where much of the Earth was destroyed during a conflict between Inhumans, Mutants and Sentinels. After Sabretooth killed her husband and daughter, Khan was left embittered and cynical, eventually becoming the leader of a group of surviving Inhumans in the ruins of New Jersey. Khan became involved with the Exiles after Blink ended up in her world, which was quickly destroyed by the Time Eater. With no world to call her own, Khan joins the Exiles (consisting of Blink, Iron Lad, Valkyrie and Wolvie), and eventually sacrifices herself to save her teammates. She later returns, revealing that the Watchers pulled her out of the timeline and offered to take her to a reality where her family was still alive if she stopped the Exiles. She is given command of her own team of cross-dimensional characters, consisting of villainous versions of Thor, Shuri, Nathaniel Richards, X-23 and Captain America, and is sent to capture her former teammates. She ultimately relents after Wolvie causes her to realize that her daughter would be ashamed of Khan’s actions. She reappears one last time in the finale, where she reveals that she was reunited with her family due to Iron Lad’s sacrifice.

Secret Wars

In the Manhattan region of Battleworld, an alternate version of Kamala was one of Medusa‘s spies from New Attilan. After being sent to infiltrate Black Bolt‘s Quiet Room in order to see if there was a connection between the club and the Voice Unheard (a resistance group opposed to God Emperor Doom‘s rule), Kamala was captured. She was briefly used as a hostage, but was freed when Medusa’s forces attacked the club.

Earth-18138

In an alternate timeline where Thanos conquered the planet and became a dictator, an adult Kamala Khan was part of Cable‘s Guardians of the Galaxy as her world’s Captain Marvel. She and the rest of her teammates were destroyed by Galactus.

Earth-TRN667

In an alternate reality where the Fantastic Four disbanded after the death of Ben Grimm during the team’s first battle with Galactus, Ms. Marvel was seen as one of the many heroes working under S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s directive. During the battle against Doctor Doom’s Heralds, she was shown to be overjoyed when her world’s Reed Richards and Susan Storm teamed up with the Earth-616 versions of Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm, essentially leading to the rebirth of the Fantastic Four (if only temporarily).

Old Woman Laura

In the “Old Woman Laura” storyline, a future version of the Marvel Universe is depicted after an incident known as the Doom World War, a deadly conflict that the heroes ultimately won, but not without great cost. In this future, an older version of Kamala has been elected President of the United States of America. She is visited by a terminally-ill Laura Kinney, who asks Kamala for information on her rogue clone Bellona, whom Laura has vowed to save before she dies.

Girl Power

When the world was remade with the Squadron Supreme of America replacing the Avengers, Kamala was inspired by Princess Power. While working at a museum, she discovered her supervisor was smuggling artifacts for the Maggia. She alerted Princess Power through her hotline, but Kamala also grabbed some of the Maggia artifacts to help her fight back. The artifacts gave her superpowers, and after witnessing her take on the smugglers, Princess Power allowed her to keep the enchanted items and be her sidekick, Girl Power.

Other Media

Television

Avengers: Ultron Revolution

Ms. Marvel appears in the third season of Avengers Assemble, Avengers: Ultron Revolution. In the series, she is a teenager who becomes a superhero after gaining powers from the Terrigen Mist. She and her partner, Inferno, help Captain America and Iron Man defeat Ghost, who tries to steal something from Avengers Tower. After the villain is defeated, Captain America tells the teens they may have what it takes to become Avengers one day.

She returns in the four-part “Civil War” episode, where she becomes a member of the Mighty Avengers after the original Avengers disband. She is forced to battle the original Avengers alongside her teammates due to the Inhuman Registration Act. At the close of the storyline, she and the others become official Avengers.

She also appears in the fifth season, Black Panther’s Quest.

She is voiced by Kathreen Khavari.

Marvel Future Avengers

Kamala Khan appears in the anime series Marvel Future Avengers, voiced by Akari Kito in the Japanese original and by Kathreen Khavari in the English dub. She first appears in the episode “Ms. Marvel,” where she has been impersonating Captain Marvel. Hurricane, Charade and Codec decide to hunt the impostor down, but Charade ends up befriending Kamala after realizing she means no harm. While helping the Future Avengers fight the Inventor, Kamala ultimately chooses to stop pretending to be Captain Marvel, and instead creates her own identity of Ms. Marvel.

Marvel’s Spider-Man

Kathreen Khavari reprises her role in Marvel’s Spider-Man. She guest-stars in the episodes “School of Hard Knocks,” “A Troubled Mind: Part 3” “Brand New Day” and “The Cellar.”

Ms. Marvel

Kamala Khan will appear as the main character in the live-action Ms. Marvel series, which will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kamala will be played by Canadian actress Iman Vellani.

Film

Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors

Ms. Marvel is a main character in the film, with Kathreen Khavari reprising her role.

Games

Marvel Puzzle Quest

Kamala is a playable character in the game.

Her bio in the game says: Gamora, the adopted daughter of Thanos, has the reputation of being the “Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy.” She joined the Guardians of the Galaxy on Star-Lord’s invitation after she helped him defend a planet from invasion.

Lego Marvel’s The Avengers

Kamala is a playable character in the game, which loosely adapts the events of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. She is voiced by Ashly Burch.

Marvel: Avengers Alliance

Kamala is a playable character in the game, she can be purchased with command points. She can be seen with Lockjaw.

Her bio says: Kamala Khan is a fangirl through and through. She idolizes every superhero, especially the former Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers. One night, she snuck out of her house to go to a party. While returning home, a strange mist enveloped and formed a cocoon around her. She emerged from the cocoon and soon discovered that she had gained incredible powers. Kamala decided that with those powers came a great opportunity to become a new Super Hero. Taking her idol’s name for herself, Kamala selflessly seeks to save those in need for no other reason than that it is the right thing to do.

Avengers Academy

Ms. Marvel appears as a playable character, voiced by Bollywood actress and Quantico star Priyanka Chopra. She is recruitable during the regular story mode during the “Freak Out” quest.

Marvel: War of Heroes

Kamala appears in several cards in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. Her cards are:

• [Kamala Khan] Ms. Marvel

Marvel Future Fight

Kamala is a playable character in the game. She is a combat type, and her description in the game says: A Muslim-American teenager growing up in Jersey City, Kamala Khan gained shape-shifting powers when a strange Terrigen Mist descended upon the city, awakening her Inhuman genes. A fan of Super Heroes, in particular Carol Danvers, Kamala took up Captain Marvel’s former identity and became the new Ms. Marvel. This up and coming hero works to fight evil, protect her community, and create her own place in the world.

She has diferent costumes:

• Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) – All-New, All-Different
• Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) – Karachi Costume

Marvel Contest of Champions

Ms. Marvel is a playable fighter in the game.

Her bio in the game: Self-proclaimed nerd and massive Captain Marvel fan, Kamala Khan discovered something utterly amazing when the Terrigen mists fell upon her hometown of Jersey City. The cosmic mists reacted to her Inhuman DNA, and she soon discovered she had amazing powers to stretch and alter her body, which she now uses to protect others, just like her hero, Carol Danvers.

Marvel Heroes

Kamala is a Team-Up character in the game.

Her bio says: One of the Avengers’ biggest fans, Pakistani-American teen Kamala Khan grew up as just another regular kid in Jersey City. As she returned home from sneaking out one night, Kamala was exposed to the Terrigen Mists, awakening miraculous new powers within her by activating her Inhuman genes. Using these morphogenetic powers, she took on the mantle of her most idolized Super Hero and now fights crime as Ms. Marvel!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

Ms. Marvel appears as a playable character in the third Ultimate Alliance game, which marks her debut in the series. Kathreen Khavari reprises her role as the voice of Kamala. She is initially faced as a boss character at the Raft stage after she, Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen fall victim to one of Mysterio‘s illusions and are tricked into thinking the other heroes are actually escaping criminals. The three young heroes are then unlocked as playable characters after Mysterio is defeated.

Marvel’s Avengers

Ms. Marvel appears as one of the central characters in the Square Enix Avengers game. Her origin is reworked so that she is present at “A-Day,” a holiday meant to honor the Avengers. When the city is attacked during the ceremony, Kamala is accidentally exposed to gas from the experimental Terrigen crystal that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had been working with, which unlocks her Inhuman abilities. She is voiced by Sandra Saad.

The game itself received mixed reviews, but Ms. Marvel was praised as its high point, with many critics citing her arc and interactions with Bruce Banner as very affecting and well done.

Merchandise

• Funko released a Ms. Marvel bobblehead for the Funko POP! line.
• A Ms. Marvel was released for Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Spider-Man line as part of the Sandman Build-a-Figure series. A second version was later released as part of the Abomination wave.
• Ms. Marvel was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
• A Ms. Marvel minifigure was included as part of an Avengers Lego kit with Captain America and Super-Adaptoid.
• Kotobukiya released a Ms. Marvel statue for their Bishoujo line.