Who Are The Actual Villains In Ms. Marvel?

The first two episodes of Ms. Marvel have gone a long way to introduce the MCU's newest hero, but there has been no sign of the series' main villain.

WARNING: Spoilers for Ms. Marvel episode 2

Two episodes in, Ms. Marvel has gone a long way in introducing audiences to the MCU’s newest superhero, but the show has remained notably quiet on assigning its main villain. After gaining her powers at the end of the first episode, Ms. Marvel episode 2 saw Kamala Khan learning to manipulate her abilities to her will before putting her training into practice. Although Ms. Marvel’s MCU powers are different from those in the comics, episode 2 continued to show that there is a certain amount of crossover between the two mediums, including the ability to “embiggen” her hands into the hero’s signature fist.

Much like how Hawkeye played with the conventions of the Christmas movie genre, Ms. Marvel has so far played more like a coming-of-age narrative than an all-out superhero series. This means that instead of emotional backstories and grand action sequences, Ms. Marvel’s priorities have been rooted in classic teenage struggles of relationships and fitting in. A product of this genre is that the show has been less concerned with the typical role of the villain, failing to set up Kamala’s chief antagonist in the first two episodes.

Although there are four more episodes in Ms. Marvel season 1, the show has yet to present an obvious candidate as its main villain. There are several routes the show can go down, from utilizing the established roles of the Department of Damage Control and Kamala’s love interest, Kamran, to revealing Ms. Marvel’s true villain in a later episode. Spending the first two installments introducing the audience to Kamala as she attempts to come to terms with her powers, it is only a matter of time before the hero will have to face her first major threat.

Is Damage Control A Villain In The MCU Now?

The Department of Damage Control is not new to the MCU, though they have never played as potentially villainous a role as they may do in Ms. Marvel. First appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming, where they were tasked with cleaning up the debris from The Avengers’ Battle of New York, Damage Control has since seemed to become more intimately concerned with individual superheroes. They brought Peter Parker in for questioning after his heroic alias was revealed at the start of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the Ms. Marvel episode 1 post-credits scene set up the events of episode 2 where they seem to be now going after Kamala.

It is currently unclear as to what the true intentions of Damage Control are. No Way Home appeared to present the department as only interested in Peter due to the allegations that he murdered Mysterio, but Ms. Marvel seems to reveal a different goal. Ms. Marvel episode Damage Control’s ground team was shown to have high levels of armor in their pursuit of Kamala, even employing drones much like those utilized in Mysterio’s villainous plan in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Will Kamran Turn On Ms. Marvel (Like It’s Hinted)

Although Damage Control appears to have questionable goals, the department’s presence in Ms. Marvel episode 2 is overshadowed by Kamran – Kamala’s new love interest and potential adversary. Kamran’s role in episode 2 appeared too good to be true, with the new senior instantly connecting with Kamala on a level that nobody apart from Bruno seemed to find suspicious. In the episode-ending twist, it was revealed that Kamran’s mother is the woman that Kamala has been repeatedly seeing in her visions, potentially pointing to a connection between the two characters’ families.

Ms. Marvel’s reliance on the coming-of-age genre through the first two episodes suggests that the newly introduced Kamran may not be all he seems. The seemingly perfect love interest is a key trait of the genre, with the character only proving to be secretly against the hero in the final act. Given that the end of episode 2 has already troubled Kamran’s pristine presentation, there is every chance that he may yet be revealed to be Ms. Marvel’s main villain.

Is Ms. Marvel’s Villain Hiding?

The final and perhaps most obvious theory is that Ms. Marvel has not yet revealed its key antagonist. As a brand-new character in the MCU, Ms. Marvel’s show was always going to be required to spend more time setting up its hero than most other Marvel projects. The first two episodes have served to do just this, with Kamala gaining and starting to understand her powers and this may mean that the reveal of the villain will be saved for a later installment.

The Ms. Marvel trailer confirmed that Red Dagger is set to appear in the series, and he may prove to be the show’s main villain. Established as a hero in his own right with a clear romantic connection to Kamala, Red Dagger is typically seen fighting alongside Ms. Marvel — however, with the changes that the MCU has made to the comics, this is not to suggest that the character will play the same role in the Disney+ show. It could be the case that Ms. Marvel’s real villain has not been hiding in plain sight but has yet to make their first appearance.

One of the most appealing factors of Ms. Marvel’s first two episodes has been its rejection of classical superhero tropes in the favor of a more teenage-oriented narrative. By focusing on smaller, real-world struggles, the show has provided a refreshing take on the standard MCU format and Kamala’s origin story has been all the better for it. However, as the series progresses, it is only a matter of time before Ms. Marvel is going to have to move away from the comfort of its teenage plot and reveal its main villains.