Warning: Spoilers for Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #3!A lot has changed about Ms. Marvel in 2023, but the one thing that has not changed is the core of her character. This is the year that the traditionally Inhuman Kamala Khan was revealed to also harness a previously untapped mutant gene. Out of all the comic controversies this year, this revelation about Ms. Marvel arguably tops the list, as die-hard fans were outraged at what they deemed to be a drastic, character-altering retcon.
According to the words of Kamala Khan herself, this change may not be so drastic after all. Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #3 by Iman Vellani, Sabir Pirzada, Carlos Gomez, Adam Gorham, Erick Arciniega, VC’s Joe Caramagna, Tom Muller, and Jay Bowen sees the titular hero continue to grapple with status as the newest member of the X-Men. When her mutanthood is the topic of conversation, Kamala is confident that it doesn’t change a thing about her.
If anything, being a mutant may have given Ms. Marvel the opportunity to be more of herself than she’s ever been before.
Ms. Marvel’s Mutanthood Doesn’t Change Who She Is
The anti-mutant organization Orchis has been trying to locate Ms. Marvel all over Empire State University. To accomplish this, Orchis crafts Project Trojan Horse, a program capable of killing all telepathic mutants in one flail swoop, as long as Kamala activates it in her sleep. The Trojan Horse infects Kamala’s dreams, tempting her with the chance to become even more powerful. Kamala doesn’t fall for it, proceeding to deliver a monologue about how her powers don’t define who she is and never did, even before she learned of her mutanthood. “It’s not about the powers,” she says. “It never was. It’s about the why we fight. The who we fight for.”
Ms. Marvel‘s Creative Team Responds to Critics
These lines almost read like a direct response to fans who were concerned that becoming a mutant would change the Ms. Marvel character as a whole. Truthfully, much of the series feels like it has served as a response to those same critics, especially in the last issue where she pontificates about how her mutanthood is symbolic of the new role that Ms. Marvel has taken up within the Marvel Universe. If that is the case, then it’s worth saying that the creative team’s attempt to respond to the critics doesn’t read as malicious or an attempt to lash back at fans.
Instead, lines like this read as the creative team’s attempt to reassure readers that at the end of the day, no matter how minor or major her recent changes have been, Kamala Khan is still Kamala Khan at her core. In the same respects, her stories will continue to focus on the recurring themes – like identity – that have shaped Kamala since she first donned a Ms. Marvel costume. Mutant or not, Ms. Marvel is still all about helping people and discovering herself, and no extra X-gene is going to change that anytime soon.
Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #3 is on sale now from Marvel.
