MarvelSo we don't have a Captain Marvel movie. Yet. Actually, we don't have a movie focused on any female superhero. And that really sucks. But there is some good news coming out of the comic world: Ms. Marvel is back and more diverse than ever.
Ms. Marvel will be reintroduced in Marvel's newly rebranded Marvel NOW! series as a Muslim teen named Kamala Khan, the 16-year-old daughter of immigrant Pakistani parents, now living in New Jersey.
Kamala is "among the first to be a series protagonist who is both a woman and Muslim," Time reports, and is a welcome addition to Marvel's continuing "efforts to reflect a growing diversity among its readers."
The last Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, eventually went on to become Captain Marvel, boasting a range of powers that included super strength, speed and flight. Kamala will have the ability to grown and shrink her body and will ultimately be able to shape shift.
The series pays homage to the previous Ms. Marvel too: After discovering her powers, Kamala takes on the mantle her childhood hero, Carol Danvers, a title left behind when she did become Captain Marvel.
"Captain Marvel represents an ideal that Kamala pines for. She's strong, beautiful and doesn't have any of the baggage of being Pakistani and ‘different'," editor Sana Amanat reveals when discussing Khan's identity.
"Her brother is conservative. Her mom is paranoid that she's going to touch a boy and get pregnant. Her father wants her to concentrate on her studies and become a doctor."
The series will be penned by G. Willow Wilson with art by Adrian Alphona. Willow explains, "I wanted Ms. Marvel to be true-to-life, something real people could relate to, particularly young women."
That said, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso compares Kamala to another superhero. One that is not Ms. Marvel or even female: "Kamala is not unlike Peter Parker," he says (FYI, Peter Parker is Spider-Man).
He continues, "She's a 16-year-old girl from the suburbs who is trying to figure out who she is and trying to forge an identity when she suddenly bestows great power and learns the great responsibility that comes with it."
The team is expecting some controversy, admitting, they "do expect some negativity, not only from people who are anti-Muslim, but people who are Muslim and might want the character portrayed in a particular light."
We say: The more female superheros, the better. Now, about that Captain Marvel movie...