Ms Marvel and the revelation that could change the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Subscribe now to Disney + for € 8.99 per month or € 89.90 per year As can be easily guessed, continuing to read means running into spoilers on No Normal, the latest episode of Ms Marvel, which is why we recommend the reading only after the vision of the conclusion of the first season of Ms. Marvel. The series, as per the tradition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has allowed itself to make some substantial changes to the character of Kamala Khan, especially regarding the origin of her powers, which were presented in a very different light compared to the original comic. . Not a novelty considering how in the past two other characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe had been radically changed, at the time mainly for a matter of rights.
WARNING: the following contains spoilers about Ms. Marvel
How will the Marvel Cinematic Universe change after the amazing revelation of Ms Marvel?
From the comics to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: how can the origins of the Inhuman or Mutant characters change? Mutation is the key to our evolutionFrom comics to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: how characters' origins can change
The presence of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff in Avengers: Age of Ultron surprised fans in a not-so-positive way of the comics of the House of Ideas, which after hoping to witness the appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe of mutants, especially to which the Maximoff brothers in the Marvel Universe belong, found themselves instead to see them as human beings whose powers were the result of the experiments of 'Hydra. An obligatory choice, considering that at the time of the film's release the rights of the X-Men and of the entire mutant universe were still firmly in the hands of Fox, which was only subsequently acquired by Disney, thus also coming into possession of the rights of the Sons of the Atom. This precedent indicates that, understandably, the transition from one medium to another is not automatic, but must follow dynamics that often lead to important changes in some characteristics of the characters. Just like it happened in Ms. Marvel to Kamala Khan.In the Marvel comics, Kamala is a NuHuman, that is a human being who has a gene in his genetic makeup that, upon contact with the Terrigenous Mists of the Inhumans, acquires latent powers. As much as this may remind us of a genetic nature similar to that of mutants, we have an important difference, considering that those who possess Gene X will see their powers manifest in puberty, without further external stimuli as is instead necessary for NuHuman.
This despite initially, at the time of Kamala's creation, G. Willow Wilson and Sana Amanat also faced the possibility of making Kamala a mutant, as recently revealed by Amanat to Empire:
“Here's a curious thing that people don't know, when we were thinking about Kamala's character, in 2012 or 2013, Willow and I had originally thought about making her a mutant. “| "); } What seems to be a simple curiosity, now turns out to be central in the definition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe version, considered as in the last episode of Ms. Marvel an interesting question arises: from what do Kamala's powers really come from?
This question, in a sense, goes hand in hand with the decision to radically change Kamala's powers. At first, this choice had made us think of the intention not to make the young heroine too similar to Reed Richards, considered as Kamala's polymorphism, in comics, has often been portrayed in a way extremely to Richards 'abilities, despite a' very different origin. Still, the need to differentiate Kamala from the Fantastic Four leader was not one of the first thoughts for the production of Ms. Marvel, as she pointed out to The Direct Sana Amanat:
“Honestly, I don't think, I don't think this is the reason. In my opinion, this choice was dictated by the type of story we intend to tell with Kamala, and not only as a link to other events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also to the sense of the story she lives, such as the relationship with her family, going to link his powers with the family's past. I think this was our main idea "
Yet, the revelation of No Normal seems to indicate that the reason for these changes is related to none other than the mutant world.
Inhuman or Mutant?
Although more linked to the Inhumans in comics, due to its relationship with the Earthen Mists, this Kamala trait has been modified, probably to forget the debacle of Inhumans, a non-canon series of the franchise that did not met with great success, despite in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Anson Mount reprized his character of Blackagar Boltagon, aka Black Bolt, the king of the Inhumans played in that series.To push Kamala's nature in this revolutionary direction was one of the principles dear to Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios and the mastermind behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly Bilall Fallah, director of Ms. Marvel:
“First of all, Kevin doesn't want a literal transposition of what happens in comics. It is an adaptation, we initially started from this for the 'idea of the' solid light ', and from this we began to develop the rest of his powers, what he could have done, still paying homage to what we saw in the comics. In comics, at first he can't control her powers, her body gets bigger or smaller, which is a nice metaphor for adolescence. But towards the end of his first story, he controls them, so we decided to do the same. At first he is not in control, and step by step, the more he knows her story, the more he becomes Ms. Marvel. "
This free vision of the transition from comic to Marvel Cinematic Universe has allowed to rewrite the nature of Kamala, making her a mutant thanks to the revelation of her in Ms Marvel. As much as this was Willow and Amanat's initial idea, hearing in the last episode Bruno introduce this possibility by talking about 'mutation', complete with background music inspired by the animated series of The Insuperable X-Men, has certainly impressed the fans. of the Marvel Universe, but Amanat immediately wanted to dampen this enthusiasm:
“Is Kamala a mutant? I don't know, guys, I don't really know. All I know is that we used the word 'mutation', and that's all I can say about it. I think it could open the doors for a great storytelling, being a big fan of… of the word 'mutation' "
Talking about mutation and mutants within the Marvel Cineamtic Universe is currently one of the topics warm of the period. The first mutant of the franchise, in reality, was shown in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a title that belongs to Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier, which, although belonging to Earth-838, remains the first homo superior of the franchise. After the long saga of the X-Men by Fox, for some time we have been waiting to finally see the mutant world enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and apparently the revelation on the nature of Kamala could be the long-awaited ticket for Xavier's pupils.
That the franchise is ready to welcome the mutant world is nothing new, as we know from the announcements of X-Men '97, an animated series that should resume the plots of the famous series The Insuperable X-Men. The very fact that in the scene in which Bruno makes his revelation the theme of the animated series, already used with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness upon the arrival of Xavier, is easily perceived, would leave us supposing that the mutant vision of Marvel Studios will marry more. with this version of Cyclops and his companions, instead of relying on what Fox did with his film saga.
Mutation is the key to our evolution
But this revelation in Ms Marvel really indicates that Kamala will be Earth-616's first official mutant? In reality, the girl minimizes Bruno's revelation, defining the 'mutation' as a label, an important message within a series where the theme of discrimination and the different has been dealt with a certain delicacy, through the characterization of the heritage. Pakistani of the protagonist.Yet, this hint of the presence of the mutants could be the long-awaited signal from fans to witness the introduction of the X-Men in the franchise. But how could this transition take place? Perhaps already from the next appearance of Carol Danvers, a character dear to Kamala Khan, but who in the comics of the House of Ideas, Danvers had a long period with homo superiors during the 80s. The presence of Carol in the post credit scene of No Normal could be a further opening for the mutants, taking advantage of this aspect, as well as having given us a delicious tribute to the Negabande, a distinctive trait of the first Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, who through these particular bracelets managed to 'replace' his human alter ego, Rick Jones.
Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) - Marvel Studios 2019 In case this detail turns out to be really the point of departure for the mutant adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would be interesting to ask what role Damage Control could play. Born as an agency that was supposed to manage the consequences of superhero actions as seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming, in Ms. Marvel they seem to have become a sort of control organ for methumans. Imagining the arrival of the mutants, we can assume that Damage Control will give the mutants a hard time, perhaps even developing weapons such as the lethal robotic adversaries of the X-Men, the Sentinels.
The final revelation of Ms Marvel present in the last episode, therefore, leaves open an incredible series of possibilities, but as per the tradition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans are left free to hypothesize and dream of the arrival of new beloved characters, waiting for one of the great twists with which the franchise has accustomed us since 2008.
