Kamala Khan's Powers In Ms. Marvel Explained
Today, fans across the globe were treated to previews of upcoming Disney projects. Among the deluge of new reveals and teasers, the media giant dropped a short yet tantalizing look at the upcoming Disney+ show, "Ms. Marvel," which is set to release in 2022. "Ms. Marvel" promises a different kind of superhero story than we're used to seeing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The story will focus on young Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a Muslim-American teenager gifted with unique powers.
Fans have been waiting for a very long time to see a glimpse of "Ms. Marvel," and though the teaser runs a scant 25 seconds, we do get exactly that: a glimpse. As Ms. Marvel prepares to attempt using her powers, she sports a red, blue, and gold super-suit reminiscent of Captain Marvel's (Brie Larson). Ms. Marvel is an incredibly powerful hero, as well as one of the newer characters tapped from the Marvel Comics lineup, as Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige points out in a short promotional featurette, also released today.
With the comics division of Marvel now so entwined with the movie side, here's what we might be able to expect from Kamala Khan when she blasts her way onto televisions around the world.
Kamala Khan has the power to morph her body
The teaser doesn't outright explain what Khan's powers will look like, but we do get a couple of visuals that provide solid clues. Coupled with what we know of Khan from her comic book appearances, it's safe to say the MCU version will hew close to its source material.
It seems confirmed that Khan will have the power of flight. At the end of the teaser, we see her reflected off a skyscraper, floating through the air as onlookers stare up at her in amazement. We also see a shot of Khan glowing with a luminescent surge of cosmic energy as her powers activate. The energy is mostly purple and blue. While Khan does radiate colorful energy in the comics, its color there is yellow. The MCU has established that, much like lightsabers in Star Wars, the color of a superhuman's energy signature is important, with different types of powers emitting different colored energies. This visual change is likely to bring those powers in line with similar powers in the MCU.
In the comics, Ms. Marvel's primary power is "morphogenetics," meaning the ability to manipulate her molecules in order to stretch, change, or disguise herself. She can shrink and enlarge herself like Ant-Man, stretch her limbs like Mr. Fantastic, and heal her body rapidly like Wolverine. She can even shapeshift like the Kree aliens do in "Captain Marvel." Her powers come from the same source as those of The Inhumans, which involves complex lore far beyond the scope of this writing.
Suffice to say that the origin of her powers seems to connect with much of what Marvel has planned for the rest of the MCU's Phase 4 projects, and Ms. Marvel is teed up to be a beloved fixture in the MCU for quite some time.