Kamala Khan (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Kamala is an aspiring artist, avid gamer, and writes superhero fan fiction about the heroes she admires.[25][3] She struggles to fit in at her high school and at home.[26][27] Amanat said that Kamala "isn't your traditional Avenger. She's not as slick and suave as some superheroes. It's not like when Captain America throws his shield and it comes back. She's all over the place".[24]

In the comics, Kamala is classified as a "polymorph" with moves that "are basically Ant-Man and Mister Fantastic's combined".[29] When asked in August 2019 about the transition of Kamala from comic book to live-action, G. Willow Wilson stated, "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".[30] In the Ms. Marvel television miniseries, Kamala unlocks the ability to harness cosmic energy and create constructs from a magical bangle,[31][32][33] which differs from the shapeshifting abilities that she has in the comics.[34][35]

In May 2022, Feige explained that the Inhuman source of her abilities in the comics did not "match" with the timeline and events of the MCU, so her powers were adjusted to be related to her Pakistani heritage. They were also brought closer to the cosmic powers of the other heroes in the film The Marvels (2023), which Vellani co-stars in. Feige added that the character's "giant hands and arms" would still appear in the series "in spirit".[34] Tyler Macready, writing for Collider, commented that "the decision to fundamentally reinterpret her powers is an interesting one" and that the bangles Kamala discovers unlocks her "ability to create and manipulate a kind of purple 'hard-light'"; Kamala pulls off moves similar to her comics' abilities "such as enlarging her fist to punch bad guys, or stretching limbs to make a far leap – albeit with a radically new visual aesthetic. [...] The new powers allow Kamala to do new things, such as create shields and walk on air".[3] Macready stated that this new power set grants Kamala cosmic abilities more similar to others in the "Marvels" family and sets Kamala apart from the abilities other MCU heroes, such as Ant-Man, Wasp and Mister Fantastic. He also highlighted that this decision means that the show won't have to "render stretching, elongating limbs on a Disney+ budget".[3]

Kamala is a Muslim Pakistani American from Jersey City, New Jersey with immigrant parents of Muhajir origin. Kamala grows up venerating the Avengers, particularly Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers). She attends Coles Academic High School along with her friends Nakia and Bruno. In her free time, Kamala creates various Avengers fan content such as fanfiction, art, and cosplay. She also runs her own YouTube channel called Sloth Baby Productions, which focuses on superheroes.

In 2025, Kamala creates a Captain Marvel outfit to compete in a cosplay contest at the upcoming Avengers fan convention. However, she struggles to receive permission from her parents to attend AvengerCon and instead develops a plan to sneak out with her friend Bruno in order to go. To finish her cosplay costume, she adds bangles sent from her grandmother Sana which gives her energy powers. At AvengerCon, Kamala puts her bangles on and it causes her to project constructs of cosmic energy that inadvertently cause havoc. She saves her classmate Zoe Zimmer using an embiggened hand. After the incident, Bruno rushes Kamala home and on the next day helps her to control the powers.

Bruno deduces the bangle activated Kamala's own superpowers. Later, Bruno, Kamala, and Nakia attend a party organized by Zoe and meet the new high school senior Kamran. Kamala becomes infatuated with Kamran and stops taking training lessons from Bruno. She also begins to question how her great-grandmother Aisha disappeared in the partition of India and, as such, asks at the annual Eid celebration. There, while Nakia runs for mosque board, a young boy begins to slip from a balcony but is saved by Kamala using her "Night Light" powers. Retreating to an alley, Kamala is chased by Department of Damage Control (DODC) drones and agents led by agent Sadie Deever; Kamran saves her and introduces Kamala to his mother, Najma, the one who Kamala had been seeing in her visions.

Najma explains that she and Kamran are part of a group of enhanced beings known as Clandestines who claim to be Djinn that were exiled from the Noor dimension, and that Aisha was one of them. She also reveals that the bangle might be able to help them return, and asks for Kamala's help. She agrees, but Bruno warns her that interdimensional travel could be dangerous, so she asks Kamran for more time to ensure that they can do it safely. Kamran assents, but Najma refuses to wait and decides to force Kamala to help them. Kamala's brother Aamir marries his fiancée Tyesha, but Kamran arrives at the wedding to warn Kamala before the other Clandestines arrive. Kamala, Bruno, and Kamran are overpowered by the Clandestines while Najma tries to use the bangle, which triggers a vision of a train. As Kamala and Bruno escape, Nakia sees Kamala using her powers. Sana contacts Kamala, revealing that she also saw the vision of the train and insisting that she and Muneeba must visit her in Karachi, Pakistan.

Kamala and Muneeba travel to Karachi and reunite with Sana, who later reveals to Kamala that the bangle is trying to convey a message through the vision of the train. The next day, a masked Kamala goes to the train station to investigate, but is attacked by Kareem, a member of the Red Daggers vigilante group, who initially mistakes her for one of the Clandestines. Kareem takes Kamala to the Red Daggers' hideout, where she learns from their leader Waleed that the Clandestines are trying to break the Veil of the Noor dimension, which separates the Clandestines' dimension from the human world, in order to expand and take over. Kamala begins training with the Red Daggers to master her powers, but they are interrupted by the Clandestines. A chase ensues, during which Waleed kills one of the Clandestines but is fatally stabbed by Najma. As Kamala and Kareem fend off the Clandestines, Kareem kills one of them and Najma accidentally stabs the bangle, sending Kamala into the partition of India in 1947.

Kamala is able to interact with Aisha, who asks her to guide Sana before dying. Conjuring a projection of stars to lead Sana to her father, Kamala realizes she was the one who reunited them. Returning to the present, she finds that Najma's strike had opened the Veil, but it vaporizes anyone who interacts with it. Najma transfers her power to Kamran before sacrificing herself to close the Veil. Sana and Muneeba find Kamala and the latter accepts her daughter's powers. They return to Jersey City.

After returning to the city, where Bruno's convenience store Circle Q has exploded and Deever has ordered a lockdown, Kamala crafts a disguise using a gift from Muneeba and Kareem's cloth before reuniting with the boys. With help from Nakia, Aamir, and Zimmer, the group stall the DODC agents. Fellow DODC agent P. Cleary orders a retreat, but Deever ignores him and leads a detachment of agents to storm the school where Kamala and her friends are hiding, and arrests everyone except for her and Kamran, who confronts Deever. Deever attacks him, but Kamala fights off the agents, allowing all of her friends to escape. Deever flees and is later relieved of her duty by Cleary. Kamala becomes a beloved figure in her community and takes the superhero name "Ms. Marvel" from her father.

A week later, Bruno tells Kamala she has a genetic mutation.[lower-alpha 1] Later, after Kamala's bangle emits a strange glow in her bedroom, she suddenly switches places with Danvers.

The changes to Kamala's powers from the comics was also highlighted in reviews of Ms. Marvel,[43][50] with several critics commenting on the new origin's more personal connection.[51][39][52][53] Terasaki highlighted that Kamala's comic powerset "would be near impossible to adapt to good effect, even if they had the CGI budget" for it.[40] Kaitlyn Booth, for Bleeding Cool, stated that the live-action abilities "actually look pretty good overall."[53] In contrast, Alan Sepinwall, for the Rolling Stone, called these abilities "more generic" than the comics powers.[50] Pulliam-Moore wrote that the live-action abilities "are only able to approximate the flashy aspects of what was originally a nuanced metaphor in the comics. [...] But the show doesn't go nearly as far with its hero in terms of using its conceit to explore ideas like internalized racism or the pressures Western (read: white) beauty standards put on people of color."[37] G. Willow Wilson, one of the character's creators, had previously described that during the development of Kamala's powers, it was chosen not to give her "sparkly, hand wave-y, floaty, pretty powers," which Porter felt was "one of the most important things about her in the comics, and losing that in favor of powers that are, in fact, sparkly, hand wave-y, floaty, and pretty is really unfortunate. Sure, the powers could have pushed the show into the realm of the uncanny valley, but that is also of the point of them. Given the proper amount of time, the VFX artists working on Ms. Marvel absolutely could have figured out how to make things work visually, and the show would have been better for it."[43]

In the series finale of Ms. Marvel, "No Normal", it is revealed that Kamala Khan has a genetic mutation, which implied she is a mutant through a musical excerpt of the X-Men '97 main theme.[19][54][55] Vellani confirmed that Kamala was the first mutant in the MCU,[56] and Ali said this explains why other members of her family do not have powers.[57] Amanat and Wilson originally intended for Kamala to be a mutant in the comics.[58]