While Captain Marvel has committed herself to protecting the lives of everyone, not just on Earth, but across the cosmos, there is still one person who she cares about above anyone else–a hero who was just introduced in the MCU.
Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in her Disney+ original series Ms. Marvel. While her connection to Captain Marvel hasn’t gone beyond an admiration from afar, the two are extremely close in the comics as Ms. Marvel has officially joined the ranks of the ‘Marvels’ including Captain Marvel, Spectrum, Genis-Vell, and Phyla-Vell to name a few. While being a part of an elite squad of superheroes led by Captain Marvel is a source of great pride and happiness for Ms. Marvel in the comics–and assuredly will be in the MCU–it also comes with a great deal of personal risk.
In Captain Marvel #33 by Kelly Thompson and Sergio Davila, Captain Marvel is battling the villainous Vox Supreme once again following the previous “Last Avenger” storyline in which Captain Marvel was being manipulated by Vox to slaughter her fellow Avengers. Now, the same symbiote-like suit Vox held Captain Marvel captive in is being used on the other Marvels, and once Carol figures that out, she flies at super speed to Kamala’s house to make sure she’s OK. When Captain Marvel gets there, she finds Ms. Marvel fighting for her life against multiple figures wearing the Vox Supreme suits, and the mind-controlled minions were trying to get one of the suits on Ms. Marvel herself. Before the reluctant villains are successful, Captain Marvel bursts into the house and gets Ms. Marvel out of there, but Carol fears she is too late to save her as Kamala was unconscious during the escape.
While Ms. Marvel ends up being fine and even assists Captain Marvel in battling the Vox-controlled heroes, Captain Marvel feared the worst and became murderously angry with Vox Supreme while retreating from his henchmen. Captain Marvel says to herself that if anything happened to Kamala, Vox Supreme wouldn’t be able to escape her vengeance. Captain Marvel’s visceral reaction to even the idea of Ms. Marvel being gravely injured, or even killed, proves how much she cares for her. Not only that, but it proves how much Carol cares for Kamala above every other person in her life. Not long before this storyline, Vox Supreme threatened the lives of every Avenger, who at this point in time have become like family to Carol. While she didn’t want anything bad to happen to the other Avengers, Captain Marvel was nowhere near as livid as she is in this issue when Ms. Marvel’s life was put at stake.
It makes sense that Captain Marvel cares for Ms. Marvel more than anyone else because she feels an overwhelming sense of responsibility for her. Carol Danvers is Kamala’s idol, the driving inspiration to her becoming a hero in the first place. Since Ms. Marvel looks up to Captain Marvel, Carol has made sure to keep her safe no matter what, even in situations where Ms. Marvel is more than capable of looking after herself. Plus, in this particular instance, Vox Supreme was only going after Ms. Marvel because of Carol, so if Kamala were to be killed, her death would be on Carol’s shoulders. While it is a brief moment of worry between a mentor and her mentee, this issue speaks volumes to how Captain Marvel truly feels about Ms. Marvel–something that will assuredly be explored in the future of the MCU.
