Warning: contains spoilers for X-Men #25!Doctor Strange, as both a doctor and Sorcerer Supreme, is well acquainted with the toll of death and grieving, and now he’s warning that Ms. Marvel‘s return will have some major consequences. As Kamala Khan returns to life, a prediction by Doctor Strange implies there’s a huge price that will need to be paid – one which could target those closest to Kamala and the X-Men.
G. Willow Wilson, Mark Waid, Saladin Ahmed, Takeshi Miyazawa, Humberto Ramos, and Andrea di Vito’s Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel #1 was a tender tribute to Marvel’s beloved Kamala Khan. While Kamala’s loved ones came together at the Islamic Masjid of Jersey City for a memorial recitation of the Qur’an, New York’s heroes joined to honor her. In a private moment, Doctor Strange explained to Tony Stark why he hadn’t tried to bring Ms. Marvel back – “Life is suffering, Tony. The pain has to go somewhere.” Strange likens the effect to being a cartoon plumber – even if you fix one leak, the water springs out elsewhere with just as much pressure. Now that Kamala is back, this warning is even more important.
Doctor Strange Predicts Dark Consequences to Kamala’s Return
Years ago, the X-Men’s mutant nation of Krakoa gathered together the Five – mutants who could combine their powers to essentially clone their fallen allies back to life with all their previous memories. This includes a mystical component that suggests the soul also carries over. Other than a brief return by the monstrous Onslaught, the Resurrection Protocols have been largely successful and problem-free, with many major mutants – now including Kamala herself – brought back from death. However, in Ms. Marvel’s case, no-one knew she would return until after her memorial, and so her family and friends underwent the anguish of losing the young hero. In Gerry Duggan and Stefano Caselli’s X-Men #25, Emma Frost wipes all memory of Ms. Marvel’s passing from her family’s minds, seemingly closing the door on her short-lived death. However, according to Doctor Strange, it’s not that simple.
Ms. Marvel’s Resurrection Leaves Her in Cosmic Debt
Doctor Strange’s words in Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel warn that there’s no way to simply wipe away the nature of Ms. Marvel’s heroic and upsetting death. Countless people were affected, and Mary Jane Watson even lived because of her sacrifice. Kamala’s death and all the emotions it caused still happened, and yet the X-Men have undone and suppressed every element of the experience. According to Doctor Strange, the natural order simply won’t tolerate this, and there will be a price to pay of similar magnitude: maybe even another death. And now, with the X-Men’s nation destroyed, they have lost their Resurrection Protocols, meaning everyone is vulnerable.
While Kamala wasn’t back yet when Doctor Strange gave his warning, Marvel teased her resurrection in a bonus page to the issue, meaning the warning was written when Marvel was already planning her return. So if Doctor Strange believes Ms. Marvel must still pay the price for all the trauma her death inflicted, what terrible event is on the horizon to even out her cosmic ledger?
Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel #1 & X-Men #25 are available now from Marvel Comics.
