Kamala Khan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kamala KhanMs. Marvel |
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Textless variant cover of Ms. Marvel #2 (March 2014)
Art by Jorge Molina. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Captain Marvel #14 (August 2013) |
| Created by |
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| In-story information | |
| Full name | Kamala Khan |
| Species | Inhuman |
| Place of origin | Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Team affiliations | Avengers Young Avengers Champions Secret Warriors Protectors New Avengers Agents of Atlas |
| Partnerships | Carol Danvers Miles Morales/Spider-Man Sam Alexander/Nova |
| Notable aliases | Ms. Marvel Mystic Marvel |
| Abilities |
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Kamala Khan is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, writer G. Willow Wilson, and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie, Kamala is Marvel's first Muslim character and South Asian American personality with her own comic book. She made her first appearance in Captain Marvel #14 (August 2013) before starring in the solo series Ms. Marvel, which debuted in February 2014.
In the Marvel Universe, Kamala is a teenage Pakistani-American from Jersey City, New Jersey with body-morphing abilities who discovers that she has Inhuman genes in the aftermath of the "Inhumanity" storyline. She assumes the mantle of Ms. Marvel from her idol, Carol Danvers, after Danvers becomes Captain Marvel. Marvel's announcement that a Muslim character would headline a comic book attracted widespread attention, and the first volume of Ms. Marvel won the Hugo Award for best graphic story in 2015.
Iman Vellani plays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries Ms. Marvel (2022), and is scheduled to reprise the role in the film The Marvels (2023). From 2016 to 2019, the character was voiced by Kathreen Khavari in animated series such as Avengers Assemble, Marvel Rising, and Spider-Man. She was voiced by Sandra Saad in the video game Marvel's Avengers (2020) and the animated series Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021).
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Powers and abilities
Kamala develops her superpowers after Marvel's Infinity storyline, when the Terrigen Mists are released. Her dormant Inhuman abilities are activated by the mists on a rare night when she rebelliously decides to sneak out after her parents forbid her from attending a school party. Amanat said in 2022 that when she and Wilson were creating Kamala, the character was originally going to be a mutant before they changed her to an Inhuman. Screen Rant noted that Kamala is a "polymorph", with moves which "are basically Ant-Man and Mister Fantastic's combined". According to academic Sarah Gibbons, Kamala's body-morphing is paralleled by the flexibility required of the characters who live in Jersey City; her unusual, superpowered body shape conveys a non-conforming message.
Her best-known power is elongation, which allows her to extend her limbs, torso, or neck great distances. Kamala's other powers include the ability to alter her size, shrinking and enlarging herself. When she enlarges, she can lift up to 75 tons. Kamala has also used this ability to make her body as thin as paper. She has a healing factor (capable of healing bullet wounds), which works when she is not using her polymorph abilities. If Kamala extensively heals, however, she becomes very tired. She can shapeshift into other people and inanimate objects, although she rarely uses this power.
Asked about Kamala's transition from comic book to live action in 2019, Wilson said: "I think there're some characters who are very much set up for the big screen; they're very naturally sort of cinematic. But with Ms. Marvel, we really weren't interested in creating something that had very obvious film potential [...] She's got very comic booky powers. God bless them trying to bring that to live action; I don't know how that's going to work out in a way that doesn't look really creepy". In the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kamala's comic-book powers are reinterpreted; she puts on her grandmother's bangle, unlocking her powers and giving "her the ability to create and manipulate a kind of purple 'hard-light' (think Green Lantern, or Symmetra from Overwatch)".
Cultural impact
In January 2015, images of Kamala began appearing over anti-Islamic advertisements on San Francisco city buses. The advertisements, purchased by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, equated Islam with Nazism. Street artists covered the ads with images of Kamala and messages such as "Calling all Bigotry Busters", "Stamp out racism", "Free speech isn't a license to spread hate", "Islamophobia hurts us all", and "Racist". About the response, Wilson tweeted, "Some amazing person has been painting over the anti-Muslim bus ads in SF with Ms. Marvel graffiti ... To me, the graffiti is part of the back-and-forth of the free speech conversation. Call and response. Argument, counterargument".
Sana Amanat was introduced to United States President Barack Obama at a March 2016 reception celebrating Women's History Month at the White House. In his opening remarks, Obama said: "Ms. Marvel may be your comic book creation, but I think for a lot of young boys and girls, Sana's a real superhero".
Kamala appeared on the cover of The Village Voice in an October 2016 illustration by Autumn Whitehearst which paid homage to J. Howard Miller's "We Can Do It!" poster. The cover was accompanied by "The Super Hero For Our Times: Ms. Marvel Will Save You Now", an article by Mallika Rao which profiled Wilson and focused on the increasing diversity of comic-book characters, creators, and fans.
In March 2018, Merriam-Webster added 850 words to its dictionary. This included the word "Embiggen", which first appeared in a 1996 episode of The Simpsons and was popularized in Ms. Marvel as an exclamation by Kamala when using her shape-shifting powers.
In other media
Marvel creative consultant Joe Quesada said in September 2016 that Ms. Marvel would appear in "other media" because of the character's success, which "doesn't happen a lot" and probably would not have happened ten years earlier.
Animation
Kamala, voiced by Kathreen Khavari, made her television debut in the animated series Avengers Assemble. She appeared in the third and fourth seasons, Avengers: Ultron Revolution (2016) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2017), as a recurring character and founding member of the All-New, All-Different Avengers.
The character appeared in the 2017 anime series Marvel Future Avengers, voiced by Akari Kitō in Japanese and Kathreen Khavari in English. Kamala appeared in the 2018 animated television film, Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, voiced by Kathreen Khavari. The film was followed by five animated specials in 2019, and Khavari reprised her role as Kamala throughout the Marvel Rising series.
Kamala appeared in the second season of Marvel's Spider-Man, again voiced by Kathreen Khavari. The character, voiced by Sandra Saad, also appeared in Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021).
Live action
Kamala (Iman Vellani) is the lead character of the 2022 Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) live-action miniseries Ms. Marvel, which explores the character's origin story. She has the ability to create glowing constructs, such as elongated limbs and platforms. In the final episode, Kamala's powers are described as a "mutation".
Vellani is scheduled to reprise her role as Kamala in the 2023 film, The Marvels.
Video games
Kamala is an unlockable, playable character in Marvel Puzzle Quest, Lego Marvel's Avengers (voiced by Ashly Burch), Marvel Avengers Academy (voiced by Priyanka Chopra), Marvel: Future Fight, and Marvel Contest of Champions. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 (voiced by Rebecca Kiser), and Marvel Strike Force. Voiced by Erica Luttrell, she is an unlockable team-up character in Marvel Heroes. The character is featured on the Champions table in Zen Pinball 2 as part of the "Women of Power" DLC pack. She is a playable character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (voiced by Kathreen Khavari) and Marvel's Avengers, voiced by Sandra Saad.
Miscellaneous
GraphicAudio released the audio book Ms. Marvel: No Normal in August 2015, with the first five issues of the comic-book series. Jeff Reingold, Marvel's manager of licensed publishing, said that "The challenge here was conveying the comic visuals into a strictly audio form without the use of a third-person narrator".
In March 2016, Marvel Press announced that it would publish a 128-page chapter book entitled Ms. Marvel: Fists of Fury in October 2017. The story focuses on bullying, due to Kamala's gender and background.
Vellani again appears as Kamala / Ms. Marvel in the Disney Wish cruise ship attraction Avengers: Quantum Encounter, which launched in July 2022. She joins the Avengers in facing a rebuilt Ultron.
See also
In Spanish: Kamala Khan para niños
