It’s about time Kamala Khan made it to the screen – even Barack Obama is a fan. After debuting in a 2013 Captain Marvel comic, deriving her superhero alter ego Ms. Marvel from her idol Carol Danvers, it only took a few months before she was popular enough to get her own solo series.
This made Kamala the first Muslim character to headline a Marvel comic book. Now, with a Disney+ series on the way, she’ll also become the first Muslim character to headline an MCU project. So, here are 5 things that have been confirmed for Disney+’s Ms. Marvel and 5 fan theories.
Confirmed: Bisha K. Ali is the head writer
Marvel Studios has hired Bisha K. Ali to act as the head writer on the upcoming Ms. Marvel series. Ali’s highest-profile gig in the past has been working as a staff writer on Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mindy Kaling and Matt Warburton’s 10-part TV adaptation of the classic Richard Curtis rom-com that premiered on Hulu earlier this year.
She’s also credited with writing “additional material” for the first season of Netflix’s Sex Education. With this background in comedy (and the fact that she’s also a standup comic), Ali will undoubtedly bring a healthy dose of humor to the series.
Fan theory: The series will tweak Kamala’s powers
The MCU has been known to alter characters’ superpowers to better suit the live-action medium. What works on a comic book page won’t necessarily work on the screen.
G. Willow Wilson, one of the creators of the Ms. Marvel character, has said that she’s unsure how the new Disney+ series will depict her abilities on the screen: “She’s got very comic book-y powers. God bless them trying to bring that to live-action – I don’t know how that’s going to work out in a way that doesn’t look really creepy.” So, maybe Ms. Marvel will be the next character whose powers the MCU changes.
Confirmed: It’s a part of Phase Four
The MCU’s Phase Four slate of movies was announced at this summer’s Comic-Con with six movies coming out up to 2021 (actually, five were announced at Comic-Con – the sixth, Spider-Man 3, was announced a few months later, following complicated negotiations with Sony), which didn’t sound like a lot, especially since Phase Three consisted of 11 movies.
But then, later in the year, at Disney’s D23 Expo, those six movies were joined by eight Disney+ series, including Ms. Marvel, which will also be a part of Phase Four. That’s more like it. No release date has been announced for Ms. Marvel, but then, there are no announced release dates for any of Marvel’s Disney+ series.
Fan theory: Ms. Marvel will reintroduce Inhumans to the MCU
The Inhumans have had a heck of a hard time making it to the screen. When Kevin Feige first announced the MCU’s Phase Three slate, it included an Inhumans movie that never arrived. Then, Marvel Television gave us a TV show based on the Inhumans that was panned by critics and failed to get a second season.
With Ms. Marvel coming to Disney+, it looks like the Inhumans characters will finally get a chance to shine. Kamala Khan has some Inhuman DNA, which is how she got her superpowers, so the Inhumans could be getting a reboot in the MCU.
Confirmed: The series begins shooting in spring 2020
It’s been reported via Production Weekly that Marvel Studios has slated production on the upcoming Ms. Marvel series to begin in the spring of 2020. We don’t know what the release date is yet, but some have speculated that if it begins filming in 2020, it could be arriving around the same time as another Disney+ MCU series, Hawkeye.
It’s unclear on what date Hawkeye will appear on Disney’s new streaming service, but it’s aiming (get it?) for a release sometime in late 2021. If Ms. Marvel shoots in spring 2020, it’ll probably be released at around the same time.
Fan theory: Kamala is Peter Parker’s replacement
Earlier this summer, Spider-Man was almost dragged kicking and screaming out of the MCU. After Tom Holland drunkenly called the CEOs of Marvel and Sony, the two companies came to an agreement and Spidey will stick around – for now. His days are still numbered.
Peter Parker was the MCU’s teenage hero who looked up to one of the star Avengers as a sort of mentor. With that Avenger gone, characters like Captain Marvel will be taking center stage. And Kamala Khan happens to be a teenage hero who looks up to Captain Marvel as a mentor. So, she’d make the perfect replacement for Spidey in the MCU.
Confirmed: Kamala will appear in future MCU movies
When Kevin Feige came out to speak to the Disney+ panel at Disney’s D23 Expo earlier this year, he announced (among other things) that Marvel would be making a series about Kamala Khan for the streaming platform. But on the same panel, he clarified that Kamala wouldn’t be kept confined to the small screen, and will be making the leap to the big screen in the future.
After her solo series establishes her origin story and her powers, she could join an MCU hero in a team-up in one of their standalone sequels, or she could appear in Avengers 5.
Fan theory: Ms. Marvel will lead Kamala into an appearance in Captain Marvel 2
Brie Larson has said that she’d love to introduce Ms. Marvel into the movie side of the MCU via a Captain Marvel sequel. In the same way that WandaVision is setting up Scarlet Witch for an appearance alongside the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ms. Marvel might be setting up Kamala Khan for an appearance in Captain Marvel 2.
In the comics, Kamala is so heavily inspired by Carol Danvers that she even took her superhero alter ego from Carol’s. So, it would make sense for Carol to be the one to bring Kamala to the silver screen.
Confirmed: Ms. Marvel’s screen debut has been in development since 2016
As far back as 2016, Ms. Marvel’s live-action screen debut was being teased by Marvel. In response to Ms. Marvel’s instant success among comic book readers, Joe Quesada, who was then Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer, said, “You can be sure that, somewhere down the road, [Ms. Marvel] will be a part of the future of Marvel in other media.”
A couple of years later, in May 2018, Kevin Feige brought up the possibility that Ms. Marvel could be joining the MCU soon, and the following summer (this past summer), her solo series was announced for an undetermined release on Disney+.
Fan theory: Kamala will join the Young Avengers
It seems pretty clear that the MCU is building towards assembling a Young Avengers team. Kevin Feige himself has suggested this is the case, and there are plenty of characters who would fit the bill. Now that Cassie Lang is all grown up following Avengers: Endgame’s time jump, she’s free to become Stature.
Iron Man 3’s Harley Keener could become Iron Lad. Kate Bishop is set to become the new Hawkeye. Robert Downey, Jr. has endorsed Riri Williams (a.k.a. Ironheart) as his replacement. And of course, Ms. Marvel is in a prime position to join such a team of superpowered youngsters.
