"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Favorite Characters: Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel)

*A few Kamala-related spoilers.*

Because Disney is taking over our lives, Ms. Marvel is far from the only MCU game in town lately. Thor: Love and Thunder came out just before the show’s season finale, and She-Hulk is starting up in a few weeks. But for now, it’s Kamala Khan’s world and I just live in it!

Despite her love for all things superheroics, especially Captain Marvel, Kamala Khan never dreamed that that could be her, not really. Sure, she throws her entire soul into her cosplay for AvengerCon, but in her experience, “It’s not really the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world.” She instead injects drama and stakes into her ordinary life, planning her clandestine excursion to AvengerCon like an intricate heist.

But destiny, and possible G. Willow Wilson and Kevin Feige, have other plans in store for her. When her great-grandmother’s bangle suddenly activates new powers in her, Kamala is floored. She almost instantly causes havoc all around her, and she’s understandably freaked out, but she’s also thrilled. She starts speculating about whether she might be Asgardian, she quickly institutes a begrudging training regimen, and she secretly basks in other kids’ chatter about the mysterious new superhero in town.

Ms. Marvel has always been a spiritual successor to Spider-Man, and in Kamala’s live-action debut, the show really leans into the parallels with the MCU’s version of the webcrawler. Kamala brings so much Peter-Parker-in-Homecoming energy to the proceedings. She’s super excitable and inclined to run before she can walk, she’s incredibly well-meaning but very capable of causing accidental trouble, and she struggles to balance ordinary life and superheroing. In short, she’s a good kid who’s dealing with a lot, and she doesn’t always handle it in the most responsible way. But while Peter has Tony Stark as a sometimes-present mentor figure, Kamala is basically trying to figure things out on her own with Bruno. So when she inevitably gets in over her head, she needs to dig deep to try and fix it.

Also? She’s just a ton of fun. I love her wild imagination, fangirl attention to detail, and penchant for doodling. I get a kick out of her amazedly asking, “Am I drunk?” thirty seconds after spitting out one sip of a spiked drink. And it gives me so much joy to see her feeling herself after she executes a superhero three-point landing.

Seeing Kamala Khan realized in live-action has been hugely entertaining for me. I’m delighted that she’s finally made her way into the MCU, and while I especially hope to get more Ms. Marvel, I’m excited to see her in The Marvels and any other MCU project she may pop up in.

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