Only a short time after being reimagined in the pages of Marvel comics, Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan finished her thrilling MCU debut in the Ms. Marvel series on Disney+. Utilizing all six episodes to build Kamala's origin story and her eventual powers, the heroine now has an opportunity for an extended run through Phase 4 and beyond.
After first finding Aisha's bangle in the first episode, the MCU's new take on Kamala's powers began making an impact as she took a more cosmic direction than her comics counterpart. Even with the controversy surrounding the drastic change in her abilities, Kamala fully realized her true potential by the end of Episode 6, showing off her "embiggening" skills as she stopped Kamran and Damage Control.
Now, as Kamala moves toward her future with projects like next year's The Marvels, the fandom wonders what lies ahead in terms of power upgrades and even more development as a hero within the MCU. Thanks to a new exclusive interview, there is plenty to look forward to in that regard as one of the franchise's youngest heroes finds her path after Ms. Marvel Season 1.
Will Kamala's Powers Get Future Upgrades?
In an exclusive interview with The Direct's Richard Nebens, Ms. Marvel directors Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah teased how Kamala Khan's powers will grow and expand in future projects.
In May 2022, the two shared that Spider-Man: No Way Home was the goal that they set for what they wanted to see Ms. Marvel achieve someday. El Arbi expressed their praise for the Multiversal sequel while also mentioning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, noting the action moments and the ambition these movies bring that inspire other filmmakers:
El Arbi: "Well, for us, No Way Home is a masterpiece, I would say. I think that in terms of superheroes, Spider-Man 2 from Sam Raimi was sort of our favorite superhero movie ever. And you see No Way Home, you see how they pull that off, it’s really great. It’s like Spider-Verse, which was also one of our favorite movies. That’s the ambition that you can involve to make even more powerful stories, more emotional, more crazy action scenes and sequences to have the thrill ride that Spider-Man: No Way Home ended up being."
Fallah also compared that story to Kamala Khan's own place in the MCU as "such a young character," wanting to make sure that her story gets to the same quality as Spider-Man: No Way Home:
Fallah: "The bar is there, and also the audience can grow with Kamala Khan, with Ms. Marvel, because she’s such a young character, and that’s what always is in the back of our mind, getting to the quality of that movie."
To close, the duo teased how Ms. Marvel was "just the tip of the iceberg" of where Kamala will go with her powers, indicating that the young hero's abilities will only expand going forward.
Hinting towards "a big road" ahead for Kamala's powers, El Arbi noted Kamala's powers could eventually achieve more spectacle while Fallah briefly touched on the expanded power set's impact on action scenes:
El Arbi: "And I think, power-wise, we saw just the tip of the iceberg of Kamala Khan. I think there is so much more she can do, and on that front, I think there’s a big road for that, some more spectacular power."
Fallah: "A great can of action sequences."
How Will Kamala Khan's Superpowers Evolve?
If it wasn't clear by the end of her solo series' first season, Kamala Khan is far from done evolving and growing as a superhero within the MCU.
In Episode 6, fans finally got a hint of Kamala bringing a fresh version of her embiggening powers from the comics, using the power in her bangle to grow to a massive size and show her full might against Damage Control. But now, looking back on that scene and the way she used her powers through the rest of that series, El Arbi and Fallah make a point to note that this is only "the tip of the iceberg."
Once there is more information on where Kamala goes when she switches places with Carol Danvers in the post-credits scene, there will be more chances to see how she moves along in her superhero journey. This includes finding out about any new power upgrades and abilities she may gain in the coming years, which should come in handy alongside Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris' heroines next year.
Perhaps one way Kamala's powers could expand is through the evolution of her embiggening ability. Iman Vellani revealed that her character's new powers were heavily inspired by the mutant, Armor, who can create a construct exoskeleton much like Kamala. Armor is capable of growing to the size of whole buildings, so this could be Ms. Marvel's next step.
As for the Spider-Man: No Way Home comparisons, it only makes sense that these directors see that massive outing as the MCU standard with how beloved that movie has become in the last few months. With Kamala's similarities to Peter Parker as a younger superhero in the MCU, the two should have plenty of opportunities to grow side-by-side as they take on more intense battles in the future.
All six episodes of Ms. Marvel are available to stream on Disney+. Iman Vellani will return as Kamala Khan in The Marvels, which debuts on July 28, 2023.
