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Ms. Marvel's MCU Power Change Explained

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Ms. Marvel episode 1, “Generation Why.”

Disney and Marvel Studios overhauled Kamala Khan’s powers for the Ms. Marvel Disney+ series set in the MCU. Played by Iman Vellani, the teenage superhero is one of Phase 4’s most anticipated newcomers. Following the conclusion of her Disney+ series, Ms. Marvel is confirmed to team up with Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) in The Marvels.

Despite being a fairly recent addition to Marvel’s library of superheroes, Ms. Marvel is already a well-known character that’s recognizable to even casual fans. As a result of her popularity and overall importance to the comics, there were already a number of high expectations that Marvel was expected to meet when it adapted her character. They included her backstory, personality, costume, and of course, her abilities. Ms. Marvel has kept her comic look in the show, but definitely not her powers. She shares many of the core elements of her comic counterpart, including some scenes that are almost shot-to-panel retellings of on-page moments, but not her iconic powerset.

Marvel making a change to a hero’s abilities isn’t unprecedented. The superhero cast of Eternals stands as examples of Marvel characters whose abilities have been reworked for the big screen, with many of the heroes losing some of the most useful tools in their arsenal. It’s a different situation though with Ms. Marvel, whose higher visibility in the comics provided the MCU with much less leeway in terms of how much it could change. That hasn’t stopped Disney showrunners from taking massive liberties with her powers and how they work. However, the justification is totally understandable. Here’s what Ms. Marvel can do in the comics, what the MCU is doing differently, and why it radically alters her original powerset.

Ms. Marvel’s Powers In Marvel Comics Explained

In Marvel Comics, Kamala Khan was an ordinary teenager until exposure to the Terrigen Mist turned her into an Inhuman. Similar to mutants, members of this subspecies of humankind who were created by the genetic experiments of the Kree, typically possess at least one superpower. These are generally acquired after the Inhuman in question undergoes a transformation process known as Terrigenesis. When Kamala experienced it, she gained the ability to “embiggen” herself, meaning that she can enlarge and extend her limbs. One of the most common ways she exercises her powers is to “embiggen” her fists, thus allowing her to hit her opponents with tremendous force.

Normally, Kamala is seen altering the size of her hands in combat, but that’s far from the extent of her Inhuman capabilities. Ms. Marvel can increase (or decrease) the size of her entire body at once, not unlike the size-changing abilities of Hank Pym and Scott Lang. In addition, her shapeshifting powers enable her to completely alter her body structure, hair, and facial features, which comes in handy when disguises are needed. An additional ability that Ms. Marvel sports in the comic books is a healing factor. Since Ms. Marvel doesn’t have superhuman durability, she can die from a fatal bullet wound, but her rapid healing factor can fix most injuries. If she sustains serious damage whilst “embiggened”, reverting back to normal has proven to be an effective recovery method.

How The MCU Changed Ms. Marvel’s Powers

In the Ms. Marvel series, Kamala’s powers manifest with crystalline purple energy instead of her comic book stretching powers. While one scene shows Kamala using a giant hand that looks like an adaptation of her “embiggened” punch, this is where the similarities seem to end between the MCU Ms. Marvel’s powers and origins, and her comic book counterparts’. Because Ms. Marvel’s MCU powers don’t come from Inhuman genes, they have an entirely different range. In addition to using her classic fist, Kamala can also conjure fields of energy for defense, shooting blasts, or even walking on air. This is all due to the act that her powers’ origin is also drastically different. In line with longstanding speculation, Ms. Marvel reveals that Kamala’s energy-based powers come from a wristband inherited from her grandmother – what some fans believe may be a powerful Kree artifact known as a Nega-Band.

Speculative talk of Kamala using the Nega-Bands and having different abilities in the MCU has been going on long for a while. Regardless of her bracelet’s origin, it’s important to consider the significance of the changes to Ms. Marvel’s powers. On the one hand, since the Disney+ Ms. Marvel’s true origin may not give her innate superpowers of her own, it could be a somewhat disappointing shift. On the other hand, there are some very good reasons for Ms. Marvel’s power change in the MCU.

Why The MCU Changed Ms. Marvel’s Powers

For Marvel to make such huge adjustments to a beloved comic character, it makes sense that the studio had plenty of reasons for doing so. One possible motivation may have been the special effects. Making her “embiggened” attacks look identical to the character’s hands can be done with CGI, but going the Green Lantern route may have been easier. There’s also the matter of how Ms. Marvel’s abilities compare to her co-stars in The Marvels. Both Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau rely on high-powered energy attacks. Since her powers are so different from theirs, a comic accurate Kamala would stick out when fighting alongside Carol Danvers and Monica. The MCU version, however, should be closer to their power levels and have a stronger connection to them.

Ms. Marvel’s Power Change Avoids A Fantastic Four Movie Problem

By tweaking Kamala’s powerset, the MCU can distance her from otherwise unavoidable Mr. Fantastic comparisons. A version of Reed Richards appeared in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, portrayed by John Krasinski. With a Fantastic Four movie confirmed in the pipeline, the MCU will soon have its fair share of stretchy heroes. The two characters having the same elastic powers would make both less unique, which was likely a motivating factor for Marvel when crafting Ms. Marvel’s Phase 4 debut.

Then there are the problems that previous Fantastic Four movies had with Reed Richards’ powers – it’s never looked anything other than goofy. With the exception of Elastigirl in The Incredibles, stretching superheroes have never had much luck on the big screen. Since it’s known Marvel has a feature-length debut planned for Kamala Khan’s future, there’s every possibility they want to safeguard against Ms. Marvel falling into Reed Richard’s goofy-elastic-CGI curse.

Why Some Fans Hate Ms. Marvel’s MCU Power Change

For all the sensible logistical reasons, however, Ms. Marvel’s changed MCU powers managed to incense some hardline Marvel comics fans. Chief among their concerns was that comic book Kamala’s powers play an integral role in her journey of self-discovery, how she navigates life as a teenager, her culture, and her superhero identity. While these themes can theoretically remain in place in the Disney+ show, some fans of Ms. Marvel’s comic felt that changing Kamala Khan’s powers simply to suit the MCU’s detracted from the specificity of her character.

On a more basic level, some avid readers find seeing beloved properties changed for film and TV jarring, especially if it’s without what they consider a valid justification. While most Marvel characters have very comic-accurate translations, Ms. Marvel’s power changes were extensive, which seemed odd to some. Regardless of how the alterations were received by some comics fans, however, Disney+’s Ms. Marvel show is already garnering plenty of positive attention from MCU enjoyers happy to see a new, and culturally different, hero on their screens.

What Ms. Marvel’s Cosmic Power Means For Setting Up Galactus

At the end of Ms. Marvel episode 1, Kamala is laying on her bed and inspecting her bracelet. She’s just learned of the power it contains, and smiling to herself she mutters one word under her breath – “Cosmic!”. This is far from a random adjective. In Marvel comics and the MCU, cosmic energy is a very specific power source tied to a particular team of heroes and their main antagonist. As many astute viewers pointed out, Kamala’s choice of words foreshadows not only the arrival of the Fantastic Four but potentially sets up the MCU’s next big bad, Galactus. Galactus hasn’t been confirmed as the antagonist that will replace Thanos as the MCU’s arcing threat, but many fans are hopeful.

The two current theories with the most traction are that Galactus or Kang the Conqueror will be the Avengers’ next major adversary. While there’s plenty of evidence for Kang too, thanks to Loki, Ms.Marvel definitely makes the argument for an eventual Galactus appearance stronger. Galactus is certainly more recognized by audiences unfamiliar with comics than Kang, and there’s always the possibility that Kang could be a kind of mid-level boss for the Avengers to face while Marvel amps up anticipation for Galactus’ debut.

The Power Change Is Great For Kamala’s Character Despite Doubters

Regardless of how comic book purists feel, Ms. Marvel’s MCU power changes make sense for her character. Firstly, Kamala was introduced to the comics at a time when Fox held the rights to the X-Men, and Marvel was trying to push the Inhumans as their replacement. Ms. Marvel, alongside characters like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, were centralized as gateway heroes for fans unfamiliar with the Inhumans. Kamala then gained popularity in her own right, and now Marvel/Disney has the X-Men license and no financial incentive to promote the never-hugely-popular Inhumans, it makes less and less sense for Ms. Marvel’s character to gain her powers via Terrigen mists.

Even putting aside the fact Marvel Studios probably doesn’t want audiences to remember that ABC’s failed Inhumans TV series existed, swapping Terrigenesis for Kamala’s bracelets isn’t just an alternative origin, it’s a better one. Family has always been a huge theme in Ms. Marvel’s stories, and the Disney+ series is no different. Ms. Marvel gaining powers from her grandmother’s bracelet renders Kamala’s superheroism, family life, and cultural heritage inseparably linked; a much more fitting origin for the themes of the show, and one that opens way more avenues to explore them than her simply being a stretchy Inhuman.

Ms. Marvel’s True Power Is Adding Color And Life To MCU’s Phase 4

Ms. Marvel was received exceptionally well by MCU fans online: no mean feat, considering it had the sizable shoes left by smash-hit Moon Knight to fill. Ms. Marvel’s target audience is predominantly teenage girls, but Kamala’s adventures struck a chord with fans of all genders, cultures, and ages from the very first episode. There’s good reason, too: regardless of whether she stretches with or without purple energy, Ms. Marvel is an injection of color, excitement, and vitality that the MCU Phase 4 desperately lacked.

She’s the first Phase 4 hero, new or returning, that doesn’t feel perpetually unable to move on from Thanos and the events of Infinity War/Endgame. While the forlornness and inability to move on might be realistic for MCU characters, it’s proving to wear thin with audiences who are very much ready for a post-Thanos world. As shown by Ms. Marvel‘s’ Mitchells vs. The Machines-inspired episode 1 opening sequence, Kamala feels much the same about the Avenger’s last stand as real-world MCU audiences; they were cool, exciting, and she can’t stop fangirling over them (especially Captain Marvel).

Kamala Khan is an MCU superhero that’s as excited about superheroes as the audience – a representation that many fans didn’t know they needed until it arrived. Kamala Khan is a reinvigorating presence for a Phase 4 many feel is directionless, and just like when she debuted in the comics less than a decade ago, it could be that Ms. Marvel is the unexpected success story that carries the MCU forward.