Fabulous. Now I'm in trouble, too. This has to have happened for a reason. I saved one life, Does it stop there or do I go on? Maybe this is what I've been waiting for. Maybe I'm finally part of something... bigger. 
- —Kamala Khan[src]
Quick Answers
What is the origin of Kamala Khan's superpowers?
Who was Ms. Marvel before Kamala Khan took on the identity?
What is Kamala Khan's ethnicity and religious background?
What are the unique abilities that Kamala Khan possesses as Ms. Marvel?
How did Kamala Khan become a fan of superheroes?
History
Origin
Kamala Khan was a Pakistani-American born in Jersey City after her parents moved from Karachi, Pakistan. Though respectful of her heritage, Kamala always felt different; she had nerdy interests, strict parents, and did not meet the white Eurocentric standards of beauty.[4][5]
She was also a fan of superheroes, having devotedly followed the career of Carol Danvers, the former Ms. Marvel who had recently started going by the nom de guerre Captain Marvel.[6]
One night, Kamala snuck out of her house against her parents' wishes to attend a party on the Jersey Waterfront, only to be teased and ostracized by her classmates Zoe Zimmer and Josh. As Kamala walked home in anger and disappointment, Jersey City was suddenly enveloped in the Terrigen Mists, which had been released by the hand of the Inhuman king Black Bolt, and Kamala fell unconscious from exposure.
As her Terrigenesis began due to her Inhuman lineage, Kamala was presented with a vision of Carol Danvers chastising her for disobeying her parents and asking her what she wanted in life, to which she replied "I want to be you." Once the vision faded, Kamala woke up and broke out of her Terrigenesis cocoon wearing a replica of Danvers' previous Ms. Marvel costume and literally transformed into Carol Danvers as part of her subconscious desire.[4]
Shocked and scared at the sudden change, Kamala's body repeatedly altered itself as her mind and body struggled to gain control over her newly-developed shapeshifting powers. When she saw Zoe fall into the river while trying to keep a drunken Josh off of her, however, Kamala (still in the Ms. Marvel form) instinctively came to her rescue by enlarging her hand to pull her out of the water. As Kamala returned home, she realized that merely looking like her idol was not what she wanted at all, but also that rescuing Zoe made her feel happy. After returning home, she was grounded by her angry parents, as her friend Bruno had told them that she escaped to the party.[7]
Ms. Marvel
A few days later, Kamala went to visit Bruno at his work and clear the air with her friend, but she instead found him dealing with a thief trying to rob the place. Kamala morphed into Captain Marvel and stopped the thief by squashing him, only to be shot as he escaped.[8]
Unconsciously morphing back to her normal self as her body healed, Kamala told Bruno about what had happened to her and asked about the robber. Bruno told her that his brother Vick had gotten involved with someone called "The Inventor" and was robbing money for him. Wearing a swimming burkini and mask, Kamala traced Vick's escape to an abandoned house in Greenville, filled with teenage guards and robot spiders. Vick was tied up in the basement by The Inventor's subordinate Doyle as punishment for his botched heist.[9]
Kamala's initial rescue attempt failed as she was overpowered by Doyle and his army of robot spiders, and her escape to her home was met by her upset parents. After being told by her father that she was born when her mother was believed unable to conceive children and thus was considered to be special, 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. Though she earned The Inventor's wrath for her actions, Kamala swore that she would protect Jersey City from him as Ms. Marvel.[2] After a few more attacks from The Inventor, Kamala went into the sewers to investigate strange noises. She found the The Inventor with some genetically modified alligators only to be saved by Wolverine, who was looking for a runaway student, Julie Harrison. Together, they defeated The Inventor's alligators.[5] 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 bunch of wires and realized that her body was being used to power the trap. She gave them a warning that there were other children 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.[10] Kamala, still unaware of her Inhuman lineage, took Lockjaw home and kept him in her backyard. She began to research Julie Harrison. She found that the last post Julie made on Facehead before she disappeared was geotagged. After finding out that Lockjaw could teleport, she got him to transport them to the location she got from Julie's post. When they arrived they found that the place was an abandoned power plant. They fought one of the inventor's robots and opened it up to find a kid inside of it. The kid went 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 looking for Ms. Marvel.[11] 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 and 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 because she believed that the teenagers there were being held hostage and forced into the machines as power sources. But the children are there of their own free will and don't want to be rescued.[3] The Inventor brainwashed them into believing that they were worthless and that their only use was for raw power. The Inventor sends a robot which kidnaps Lockjaw. Kamala convinces them of self worth and gets them to help her break into The Inventor's real lair to stop him and save Lockjaw. When they finally arrive, The Inventor informs them that he has many teenagers already captured.[12] The Inventor, who had been watching Kamala for a long time, had also kidnapped Nakia. The Inventor brought out his biggest robot to defeat Kamala but she shrank and went inside of it to and took control. The Inventor used an electromagnetic pulse to weaken her elasticity which made her slowly start to grow inside the machine. Luckily, one of the teenagers released Lockjaw who destroyed the robot before it could crush Kamala. She got Bruno to call the police who came and arrested The Inventor.[13]
Ms. Marvel using her morphogenic elongation to fight crime
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Kamala enlarging herself
Avengers and Beyond
At some point in the future, after the Secret Wars, Kamala joined Captain America's new team of Avengers[14]Attributes
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Powers
Kamala is a human with latent Inhuman heritage who's powers were activated by the Terrigen Bomb. Kamala is now a polymorph, which grants her the following abilities:
- Morphogenetics:[15] Kamala can stretch, deform, expand, or compress her entire body or parts thereof into any contiguous shape she can imagine for a variety of uses:
- Elongation: Kamala can extend her limbs, torso, or neck to great distances.[16]
- Accelerated Healing Factor: Kamala is capable of rapidly healing from injuries such as bullet wounds. However, use of her other powers interrupts the healing process, requiring Kamala to maintain her normal appearance while recovering.[9] Extensive healing also leaves Kamala heavily-fatigued and hungry.[2] However, it appears the more she utilizes her healing ability, the less malleable her cells become, which prevents her from using the full range of her morphogenic abilities.[3]
- Bioluminescence: Kamala's body emits a glowing yellow energy signature when using her morphogenic powers.[7]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Biokinetic Polymer Suit: Invented by Bruno as part of his scholarship application to Rutgers, when the polymer (or "super snot") is applied to a flexible substance, the substance becomes extremely malleable.[8] The increased elasticity allows Ms. Marvel to focus less on transforming her clothing during her metamorphoses.[2] Unfortunately, the suit is highly susceptible to damage by exposure to water.[2][5]
Notes
- Kamala is a student enrolled at Coles Academic High School in Jersey City.[8][17]
- Kamala writes Avengers fanfics.[4]
- Kamala appeared multiple times prior to the launch of her own title:
- In Captain Marvel (Vol. 7) #14, Kamala made a brief appearance as one of the civilians rescued by Captain Marvel during a Kree attack.
- In Captain Marvel (Vol. 7) #17, Kamala again briefly appeared hanging a Captain Marvel poster in her bedroom.
- In All-New Marvel NOW! Point One #1.NOW, Kamala first appears as Ms. Marvel. However, chronologically this story occurs sometime after Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #5.
- In Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration #1, a preadolescent Kamala is seen playing with Marvel hero themed toys.
Trivia
- Kamala "totally ships Spider-Marvel", meaning she is a fan of Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Carol Danvers in a possible romantic relationship.[17]
- At the time of her first appearance, Kamala is sixteen-years-old.[16][4]
- In Arabic, Kamal means "perfection". Kamala's parents gave her this name because they believed they could not conceive another child.[2]
See Also
- 436 appearance(s) of Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
- 7 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
- 80 minor appearance(s) of Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
- 39 mention(s) of Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
- 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
- 1031 image(s) of Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
- 89 quotation(s) by or about Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
- 1 victim(s) killed by Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
- 6 item(s) used/owned by Kamala Khan (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Marvel Comics Introducing a Muslim Girl Superhero - NYTimes.com
- All-New Marvel NOW! Q&A: Ms. Marvel - Marvel.com
References
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #2 #3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #9
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #6
- ↑ Captain Marvel (Vol. 7) #17
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #2
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #3
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #7
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #8
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #10
- ↑ Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #11
- ↑ Free Comic Book Day (Vol. 2015) #Avengers
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Ms. Marvel (Vol. 3) #8 #9
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 All-New Marvel NOW! Point One #1.NOW
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 3) #7
- ↑ File:Ms. Marvel Vol 4 25 Trading Card Wraparound Variant.jpg
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