With “Moon Knight” all wrapped up last week, the next big Marvel Studios show on the horizon will be “Ms. Marvel” which comes from head writer Bisha K. Ali and is an adaptation of the 2014 comics by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona.
Many fans have noticed in promotional images and in footage that Iman Vellani’s MCU version of Kamala Khan doesn’t have her traditional stretchy abilities from the comics, instead replaced with some energy-based power, which many liken her to “Green Lantern,” an iconic DC Comics superhero that gets his energy-based abilities from a cosmic ring.
Marvel’s Kevin Feige has explained to Empire that the reasoning for the changes will be revealed in the Disney+ show and alludes to it being directly connected to the plot.
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“We adapt the comics, it’s not an exact translation. [Kamala] came about in a very specific time within the comic-book continuity. She is now coming into a very specific time within the MCU continuity. And those two things didn’t match. What we will learn about where those powers come from, and how they come about, is specific to the MCU,” Feige teases. “You will see great comic splash panels in some of our action sequences. If you want big, giant hands and arms, well they’re here in spirit, if not in stretchy, plastic-type ways.”
We’ll also see Vellani reprise the Ms. Marvel role on the big screen for Nia DaCosta’s “Captain Marvel” sequel, “The Marvels.” She’ll be battling foes alongside Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers and Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, the latter getting her powers in “WandaVision.”
“It taps into the future of her story as it connects to her other friends that she will meet in the upcoming film ‘The Marvels,’” confirms Feige. “She’s interested in knowing, ‘Great, does that mean I’m an Asgardian? Did I get hit with gamma rays?’ No, it’s seemingly none of those things. It goes to her own past and her heritage and lineage.”
Khan’s comic book accurate power-set was actually recently on full display in the new “Marvel’s Avengers” video game (See below) but might tread too much on familiar ground as Marvel is looking to reboot the “Fantastic Four” and visually might just be too similar to the very stretchy Mister Fantastic. The studio likely wants to avoid confusion with new audiences that may not be aware of either character.
The rest of the cast of the MCU series consists of Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, Travina Springer, and Nimra Bucha.
This wouldn’t be the first time Feige and Marvel Studios have tinkered with origins/characters to fit the MCU, and won’t be the last either.
“Ms. Marvel” will begin streaming on June 8 with “The Marvels” coming out the following summer on July 28, 2023.
