Is Ms. Marvel The MCU’s First Mutant?

After suggesting that Kamala's powers came from her grandmother's bracelet, Ms. Marvel episode 2 may have teased that she is the MCU's first mutant.

WARNING: Spoilers for Ms. Marvel episode 2

Ms. Marvel’s changes to Kamala Khan’s powers seemed to mark a significant departure from the comics, but episode 2 may have changed this by teasing that Kamala is the MCU’s first official mutant. Across its first two episodes, Ms. Marvel has worked to introduce the newest hero in the franchise, explaining how she inherits her powers before showing her learning to effectively use them. In a departure from the comics, the series shows Kamala drawing her powers from a mysterious bracelet that she inherits from her grandma, granting her the ability to create “hard light” on which she can either stand or use to “embiggen” her fists as she does in the comics.

The discovery of this bracelet would appear to provide a very standard origin to the hero’s powers, though there may be more to this than has been initially suggested. Until Disney acquired Fox, there was no chance of mutants appearing in the MCU due to complications with studio rights, though the merger of the two companies now makes such a crossover not only a possibility but a near certainty. After Patrick Stewart’s Professor X cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it was only a matter of time before the MCU began to reference mutants more freely, and the first hint of this can be found in Ms. Marvel episode 2.

Throughout the Marvel comic books and animated series, mutants are defined as beings who were born with a certain set of powers. These inherent abilities are not gained through a particular origin story, but rather they are a part of the heroes’ genetic makeup. Bruno’s suggestion in Ms. Marvel episode 2 that Kamala’s mysterious bracelet unlocked the powers inside her may hint at the MCU’s tentative movement into mutant territory. With the franchise now holding the rights to use all the X-Men terminology previously owned by Fox, this could mean that Ms. Marvel is the MCU’s first official mutant.

Ms. Marvel’s Power Change Confirms She’s A Genetic Hero

This theory stems from the training montage in Ms. Marvel episode 2. Using one of his inventions to measure Kamala’s energy, Bruno states, “your power isn’t coming from the bangle, it’s coming from within you,” implying that the bracelet is not the source of Kamala’s powers but rather just the object through which they materialize. If Bruno’s readings are to be trusted – and the extent of his inventions throughout Ms. Marvel’s first two episodes suggest that they are – then this seemingly throwaway line is the first suggestion of true genetic, or “mutant,” powers in the MCU.

The theory is supported by the statement from the Department of Damage Control official who refers to Kamala as an “enhanced individual,” mirroring the anti-mutant jargon which is prevalent in the comic books. Although the Ms. Marvel trailer and first episode seemed to suggest that Kamala’s bangle was the source of her power, Damage Control’s concern and Bruno’s theory instead show that the ability was inside her all along. This being the case, the bracelet could be understood as a mechanism through which Kamala’s abilities are focused, or it may have provided a burst of energy that awoke her dormant power.

Ms. Marvel Is More Like Scarlet Witch In The MCU – But Is She A Mutant?

If the bracelet either awoke or enhanced Kamala’s powers, then Ms. Marvel’s superhero origin is far closer to Wanda’s than was previously thought. When the Scarlet Witch was first introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the MCU did not have the rights to the mutant catalogue, nor any of the associated terms or phrases. This is the reason for Wanda and Pietro’s distance from the X-Men in the MCU, despite being Magneto’s children in the comics. The franchise instead suggested that Wanda was born with certain telekinetic abilities which were then amplified by her proximity to the Mind Stone in Hydra experiments.

It could be the case that the MCU is following a similar course with Kamala, suggesting that she was born with certain powers which were only amplified by her bracelet. Due to the rights issues at the time of Wanda’s introduction, the MCU’s Scarlet Witch has never canonically been referred to as a mutant, meaning that Ms. Marvel could mark the MCU’s first exploration into that arena. While potentially using a different method to get there, it may be the case that Ms. Marvel is more closely mirroring the hero’s comic book origins than the trailer initially implied.

Ms. Marvel’s Comics Origin Explained

Kamala’s transition into a superhero is based on an entirely different narrative from that shown in the Ms. Marvel series. In the Infinity storyline, Black Bolt triggers a Terrigen bomb, which shrouds the Earth in a mist, awakening any dormant Inhuman genes in those it touches. One such person is Kamala, for whom the Terrigen Mist grants polymorph abilities to grow and shrink at will as well as the power to stretch her limbs great distances.

Although Kamala’s comic book origin is undoubtedly different from that shown in the MCU, Ms. Marvel may be following the same awakening principles that were established in the source material. Much like the Terrigen Mist, Kamala’s grandmother’s bangle serves to awaken the latent abilities that have been inside Kamala for her whole life, granting her the ability to summon hard light just as her comic book counterpart can stretch. If Wanda’s powers were enhanced by encountering the Mind Stone, then the true origin of Kamala’s bangle could be just as powerful.

Hints of genetic abilities and alignments to former MCU characters such as the Scarlet Witch could make Ms. Marvel the franchise’s first official mutant. Disney now owns the rights to use phrases such as “mutant,” differing Kamala from Wanda’s seemingly similar origin and potentially hinting that the series will officially align Kamala with mutant-kind in its remaining episodes. If this is the case, then Ms. Marvel could be the MCU’s key to finally bringing the X-Men into their shared universe.