Warning: Spoilers for Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #4!
Ms. Marvel may have just proved herself to be far more durable than Mister Fantastic‘s recently-introduced MCU counterpart. Ms. Marvel’s embiggen powers and Reed Richards’ stretching abilities have always drawn comparisons, but the MCU showed how the latter could have some drawbacks. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda is able to literally rip Reed to shreds.
Kamala Khan doesn’t seem to have the same drawbacks as seen in Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #4 by Iman Vellani, Sabir Pirzada, Adam Gorham, Carlos Gomez, Erick Arciniega, VC’s Joe Caramagna, Tom Muller, and Jay Bowen. In the MCU, Reed Richards’ stretchiness is tested to his limits during the Illuminati’s fight against the Scarlet Witch. His lack of durability when it counts is what ends up costing him his life.
However, it does not seem as though Ms. Marvel has to worry about suffering the same fate. Mister Fantastic in the comics universe has proven to be incredibly durable, but now this raises the question of who could be the most durable between himself and Ms. Marvel.
Ms. Marvel is Immune to Getting Torn Apart
Kamala Khan has started taking classes at Empire State University, but looming in the distance is the anti-mutant regime of Orchis. Considering that Ms. Marvel discovered her mutanthood recently, Orchis searching for a mutant on the premises doesn’t spell good news for her. All series long, Orchis has schemed its way into trying to find a mutant on the campus, especially after Ms. Marvel makes her presence known on the campus and comes out as a mutant in the process. Orchis quickly determines that the mutant on campus must be a student. Unsurprisingly, things get chaotic when one of Orchis’ Stark Sentinels manages to successfully track down Kamala’s whereabouts.
This launches a campus-wide fight between the two. The brawl puts students and faculty in harm’s way as they tear up the place from building to the building, to the point that a classic Stan Lee quote inspires the student body to help Ms. Marvel despite their reservations about mutants. For this plan to work, Ms. Marvel must stall to allow the students to activate the repulsor they made for her. She buys time by allowing the Stark Sentinel to stretch her out, which isn’t a problem for Kamala. Lucky for Ms. Marvel, and in her own words, “I’m immune to getting torn apart! I think.”
Is Ms. Marvel More Durable Than Earth-616’s Reed Richards?
While Kamala is unsure about the limitations of her powers, she’s proven right at this moment, as no matter how hard the giant robot tries, it can’t even cause a dent in her body. While Kamala is still learning the extent of how far her powers can go, there’s a lot that readers know about Reed’s limitations. The comics have established that, like his MCU counterpart, magic is a problem for Mister Fantastic and could end him in the same way. Alternatively, Mister Fantastic’s body is prone to sillier weaknesses like tickling. Even if it takes a lot of willpower or, in some cases, magic, Reed can actually be torn apart. Ms. Marvel, so far at least, has not shown to have the same weaknesses as Mister Fantastic and thus appears to be more durable than the head of Marvel’s First Family.
