Warning: Spoilers for Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4 ahead!

Ever since the debut of the MCU’s Ms. Marvel series, fans have speculated about what Kamala Khan’s dramatically different powers on screen would mean for her original comic book iteration. Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4 answers these concerns with surprising grace, acknowledging the different versions of Kamala Khan without invalidating either iteration of the character.

Iman Vellani, Sabir Pirzada, Scott Godlewski, and Erick Arciniega’s Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4 is heavily centered around the themes of identity and what Ms. Marvel’s mutant powers mean to her on a personal level. Before Kamala can figure them out herself, she is ambushed by ex-Orchis agent Nikita Gaiha, who assaults Kamala’s mosque with Ms. Marvel’s reanimated pre-rebirth corpse.

The undead Kamala’s mutant power turns out to be her hard-light manipulation abilities from the MCU. Furthermore, she is even capable of using her mutation in tandem with her shapeshifting powers from the comics.

Ms. Marvel Addresses Her Superpower Controversy

While fans in 2022 were initially excited to hear that Ms. Marvel would be joining the MCU with her own series on Disney+, there was consternation over the fact that her superpowers would be changed from her comic-book iteration to be more film-friendly. Instead of having stretching and shapeshifting abilities from Inhuman genes, the MCU version of Kamala Khan instead summons hard-light constructs from the “Noor dimension.” These constructs replace what comic-Kamala would normally do with her own body, such as elongating her limbs or enlarging her fists.

This change was not helped by Kamala’s sudden death and equally abrupt resurrection as a mutant in the comics. Many readers suspected that this was an excuse to change Kamala’s powers in the comics to more closely align with her MCU self ahead of her appearance in The Marvels (2023) – a suspicion which has since been confirmed. However, despite her resurrection as a mutant in X-Men: Hellfire Gala (2023), the comics have refrained from revealing Kamala’s mutation until now, let alone having her display any other powers aside from her regular stretching.

Ms. Marvel Can Have Her Superpower Cake And Eat It, Too

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4 elegantly walks the line between the comics and the show. While it confirms Ms. Marvel’s mutant powers are her hard-light powers from the MCU, the book makes a point of Kamala rejecting outside labels or expectations; she will embrace her mutation when she is ready and no sooner. Similarly, the fight with her undead self emphasizes that her powers are not mutually exclusive, meaning that Kamala is not forsaking her original powers for her MCU powers. This is a tactful handling of the subject that acknowledges both iterations of the character without invalidating either version.

The difference between Ms. Marvel in the comics and the MCU has long been a source of suspicion and consternation among fans, but Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4 lays much of it to rest. By acknowledging Kamala’s powers from the MCU as later potential, not dogma, it allows the character to continue to grow (literally and metaphorically) as she has in the comics while also remaining accessible to her MCU self. The road to this point has been rocky, but the payoff is worth it: Ms. Marvel handles the comic debut of her MCU powers as elegantly as possible.