Ms. Marvell has reimagined the powers of Kamala Khan to give her stronger ties with the MCU

Disney Plus Mrs. Marvell series It is one of the best recent entries for the MCU, but Kamala Khan’s new live-action superpowers have been a point of contention for fans of the comics who are concerned about the show’s ability to translate source material across media. Comics The main thing for Ms. Marvel is to smash things with her massive fists. But her multi-formed “spiritual power” is also a metaphor for the ways Kamala, a Muslim American teen born to Pakistani immigrants, travels across the world, and the creative team behind her. Mrs. Marvell He desperately wanted to be a part of the show, too.

In the Marvel comics, Kamala develops the ability to transform her body into a variety of shapes in sizes, but in Mrs. MarvellInstead, she discovers that she is able to show glowing fixtures made of harsh light. Although Kamala just reached her strength by the end Mrs. MarvellIn the first episode, the series’ announcements highlight the different ways you’ll use it throughout the season. Meanwhile an act I’ve seen her make her signature fists, there has been more focus on her doing things like creating platforms to advance and casting defensive shields.

During a recent interview on Empire movie podcastAnd the Mrs. Marvell Directors Adel Elaraby and Bilal Falah and Kamala Khan’s co-creator, Sana Amanat, unlocked some ideas that reimagined Kamala’s traditionally extended powers. While Elaraby and Falah realized that Marvel chief Kevin Feige was looking for a new adaptation of Kamala’s story rather than “literally translating the comic books,” the director duo were initially unsure how to tackle the low-light concept in a way that seemed great.

“So we adapted the superpowers, and it was really fun because the first thing we read was like ‘Hard Light,’” said the Arab. “It felt very light like, ‘Okay…this isn’t really described in detail.’ So it was great to create this The new superpower with the visual effects team.”

According to Falah, their goal has always been to remain loyal to spirit From books rather than being precious about details because Mrs. Marvell Her own story is similar to books but different from them.

“We wanted to pick up the soul from the comic book – that it doesn’t know how to use that superpower – but we still have those moments when the hand gets big,” Falah said. “From a purely optical point of view, it was really cool to play with that light and the crystal aspect of it.”

Photo: Marvel Studios

In addition to their metaphorical significance, Kamala’s abilities in the comics are also an important part of how they relate to the larger superhero world where characters like Inhumans have played much larger roles compared to the MCU. In the books, Kamala first appears in her power after being exposed to a mutagenic mist that activates the inhuman genes lurking in unsuspecting people who don’t know they aren’t fully human.

This very event was already kind of It was touched upon on ABC’s Now Canceled Shield Agents And the in humans series which effectively ended the presence of Inhumans in the MCU (except Surprising black headscarf in Doctor Strange in a multiverse of madness). Although Amanat did not address whether Mrs. Marvell She’ll admit blame or reveal that Kamala is one of them, she made it clear that it’s important for the show to find a way for its heroine to have an equally important connection to something bigger than her.

“In the same way that her power in the comics was affected by this big event that happened in the Marvel Universe at the time, we wanted the show to relate to the power of Kamala with something much bigger,” Amanat said. “Both in the MCU, but also connected to a kind of her legacy, her past, her kind of cultural heritage, her family.”

Photo: Marvel Studios

With Kamala next set to appear in Nia DaCosta marvels Combined with Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and Teyonah Parris’s Monica Rambo, it makes sense that Mrs. Marvell It would put his heroines in a place that organically fit into the story On a more cosmic scale. Echoing Elaraby and Falah’s feeling that the “essence” of Kamala’s original powers is still very present, Amanat said we can expect to see them “evolve through the season” in ways that aim to get to the heart of the ideas in the comics.

“But there are some really cool things going on with her powers that I think are fun and weird and also just getting around in them, and they kind of show up in weird ways,” Amanat said. “I think that’s just a beautiful metaphor that continues to kind of grow and evolve and learn to understand what it means to kind of show yourself as someone else.”