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It’s that time again—looking over some of my old posts about a story with Big Neurodivergent Energy and realizing how it resonated with me as an “unhatched” autistic ADHDer. Today, we’re looking at Ms. Marvel. I’ve got a mix of comics and TV show posts here, and it delights me that I picked up on Kamala Khan’s similarities to Peter Parker, another ADHD-coded teenage superhero.
I like that [Kamala’s] a bit of a nerd and a total Avengers fangirl (she writes Avengers fanfic—love it.) She’s smart and funny, with a bravery-loyalty combination that tends to outweigh her sense of self-preservation, but she can also to impulsive, insecure, and reactive. It takes her a while to get a handle on her powers, which feels realistic, especially considering how closely powers can be tied to emotions. I love the scene of Kamala hiding in the girls’ locker room with one hand enlarged so big her wrist can hardly hold it up, desperately trying to will it back to normal size before anyone sees her.
And then, just for fun… Spider-Man! Just an amusing romp with Kamala and Peter chasing after some baddies who’ve stolen a Terrigenesis cocoon for nefarious purposes. Kamala is awesome pestering Peter with annoying fangirl questions and geeking out over helping him execute some of his “classic moves.”
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 5: Super Famous
She’s beyond thrilled to get her shot in the major leagues, but it takes a toll. Kamala is shocked by all that’s been happening in her life that she straight-up hasn’t noticed because she’s so busy, both personal (her close friend Bruno getting a girlfriend who isn’t her) and professional (a definitely-shady real-estate outfit using her likeness to promote their gentrification agenda.) Frantically playing catchup, Kamala tries to do it all on her own, wanting to prove she can handle herself, but with less-than-stellar results.
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I really enjoy the theme of Kamala having too many balls in the air but stubbornly trying to do it all—both because she genuinely loves everything she’s involved in and because she doesn’t want the Avengers (read: her heroes/new colleagues) to think she’s just some kid who’s out of her league. The mistakes she makes here feel real and well-earned thematically, and even though some of them are definite doozies, they’re drawn so organically from who she is as a character that I can totally buy Kamala getting herself into this situation.
Favorite Characters: Kamala Khan
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.
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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.
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Also? She’s just a ton of fun. I love her wild imagination, fangirl attention to detail, and penchant for doodling.
Relationship Spotlight: Kamala & Muneeba Khan
Muneeba doesn’t get Kamala’s intense fandom over the Avengers, she worries over her daydreamy daughter’s flightiness, and she frets over Kamala’s well-being. This leaves Kamala feeling misunderstood, judged, and distrusted, which isn’t exactly a recipe for a healthy mother/daughter relationship.
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