How Ms. Marvel mutated the MCU
The finale’s bombshells have major repercussions for Marvel’s slate. Here’s what could happen next
IF KAMALA KHAN could have watched the
Ms. Marvel finale, she’d have freaked out. Because, being the biggest MCU fan there is (albeit one who literally exists within the MCU), she would have been the prime target for its double-whammy of revelations.
First came the news that Kamala’s (Iman Vellani) friend Bruno (Matt Lintz) had found an oddity in her DNA — in his words, a “mutation” (accompanied by a musical flourish of the old X-men animated series theme). Then, in a mid-credits sting, came a cameo from Kamala’s idol, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel (aka Carol Danvers) — who appeared suddenly in Khan’s bedroom just as our young hero is sucked into her wardrobe.
Have they somehow switched places, bringing Carol back to Earth and sending Kamala to who-knows-where? Or, as in the early pages of Ms. Marvel, has Kamala transformed herself into Carol? Expect answers next year in Nia Dacosta’s Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels, teaming the duo up with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). In typical MCU style, the Ms. Marvel sting riffs on the comics without being a straight-up adaptation. “I’m happy we did a version of [Kamala transforming into Carol]. I was hoping we’d be able to get this in the show,” says Ms. Marvel co-creator (and executive producer on the series) Sana Amanat. “It’s a fun little wink to the comics, and a wink of what’s to come.”
If that twist promises intriguing developments for The Marvels, so too does Bruno’s mention of ‘mutation’ — a significant shift from Kamala’s origins on the page, where she was an Inhuman. “We’d been talking about it for some time, trying to understand what is Kamala actually, in terms of what her background is?” says Amanat, telling Empire that she originally planned for Kamala to be a mutant in the comics too.
While ‘mutation’ signals a huge shift in the MCU to come — surely, the X-men are coming soon — it’s a revelation that’s shrugged off by Kamala in the moment. “I love that last scene so much, because she says, ‘Whatever it is, it’s just another label,’” Amanat explains. “That was the whole point. It’s like, ‘Is she djinn? Is she Inhuman? And it’s like, ‘Actually, let’s leave the door open and see what happens after it.’ We’re gonna play around with some more stories, hopefully, in the future.” It’s a future that looks even brighter than Kamala’s Noor powers.