The moment it was revealed that Marvel Studios had changed Ms. Marvel's power set, many people became hesitant about the direction the MCU adaptation was taking. Not only that, but notable caution set in for many fans. Thankfully, everything has seemingly worked out well so far—the reception for Iman Vellani’s debut has been more than positive.
New Jersey has a fresh hero, and thankfully, most of the world is game to see her journey unfold.
After her six-episode Disney+ series has aired, however, she’ll have to undertake a far bigger journey in next year’s The Marvels. The movie will see Ms. Marvel team up with both Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau to take on an unknown threat in the cosmos.
So how will Ms. Marvel set up Kamala Khan’s future adventure with Carol Danvers?
Setting Up Kamala’s Appearance in The Marvels
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ms. Marvel's head writer, Bisha K. Ali, talked about how Marvel Studios guided the team when creating the show and how it may set up the highly anticipated film, The Marvels.
Ali noted how when everything started up for the series, they “already knew… that The Marvels was going happening” and that Kamala would be appearing in this sequel, but what they still don’t know “is what’s going to happen in [the] movie:"
“At the point we started up the Ms. Marvel writers’ room, we already knew going in that The Marvels was going to happen and that Ms. Marvel was going to be part of it. What I didn’t know — and still don’t — is what’s going to happen in that movie, but I have some guesses…”
She continued, mentioning how she wrote Season 1 being “very aware of that connectivity” and that the team for The Marvels “had read all of [Ms. Marvel’s] scripts:”
“… I was very aware that we would get a teenage girl in Jersey City, without powers, and we would have to get her ready for whatever is going to happen in that movie. So I was very aware of that connectivity, and by the time they got moving in earnest on that feature, most of our scripts had been written. So, they had read all of our scripts, and they knew what was going to happen to her. They had all of that in mind as they were going into their movie, but I would love to know what happens in their story.”
The conversation then shifted to the inclusion of Agent Cleary in the first episode, with the outlet asking the writer if they got updated on what was happening in Spider-Man: No Way Home since that’s where the character was last seen. Ali noted how “[they didn’t] get dailies for Agent Cleary” and that it was a “ [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige] thing:”
“I don’t think that we did get dailies for Agent Cleary. It’s a Kevin thing. Kevin knows all that, man. He introduced the idea of Agent Cleary being a part of our show, and that’s the thing about working with Marvel. Kevin and the execs know all the pieces that we might not even know, so they’ll come in and be like, “OK, you have this, so let’s manifest it through this piece, interconnecting it with something else.” And that’s the thrill of being a part of the MCU. So that’s definitely a Kevin fix.”
Was the writer given any specific parameters going in? According to Ali, they needed “to keep [it] ground level” and that they were pretty much on track from day one:
“It wasn’t like, 'Here are the borders of what you can do.' It was more like, 'OK, maybe move in this direction a little bit more.' In terms of our parameters, it was to keep this ground level, and luckily, I was in line with that from the start. Kamala Khan is the people’s hero of this generation. She represents so many of the current fans who’ve grown up with a decade of Marvel cinematic storytelling. So that element was really important, and the thing I always wanted to do from my pitch onwards was to keep this about her character, through and through. The visual storytelling, the way [the writers] did the storytelling, the powers, and the relationships are all about Kamala’s internal life, psychology, and journey. So that was every creative’s guiding light from day one, and we were all in agreement from the get-go,"
Ms. Marvel Sets Her Sights on Captain Marvel
Many fans might be intrigued after hearing how those on Ms. Marvel had no idea what was going to happen in Kamala Khan’s future.
Two episodes in, and many might have a hard time seeing how this girl from New Jersey will end up in space next to Carol Danvers. It’s like trying to imagine Peter Parker right after Spider-Man: Homecoming going to space in any capacity—to fight Josh Brolin’s Thanos, no less.
A big connection between the show and the movie will likely have something to do with Kamala’s powers. There’s already a disconnect between her Inhuman origins from the comics, and there aren’t many signs that’ll be changing. Needless to say, at this point, the sky’s the limit when filling out her origins.
Kamala's new light constructs will almost certainly play a part in why she ends up involved in The Marvels. They do seem cosmic, and Kamala doesn’t much understand them yet—it’s a development that could undoubtedly track the attention of Carol Danvers herself.
The first two episodes of Ms. Marvel are now streaming worldwide on Disney+, and The Marvels hits theaters on July 28, 2023.
