Iman Vellani, The MCU's Ms. Marvel, To Co-Write Character's Comics Return
Iman Vellani, The MCU's Ms. Marvel, To Co-Write Character's Comics Return
Comics are definitely not the industry to reward stuntwork, but this seems fun.
The death of Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #26 drew a lot of deserved outrage and well-lobbed assessments of fridging. What was most obvious was, with an increased presence in the public consciousness and a new movie coming in just a few months, it wasn’t going to stick. It very rarely ever does. On Friday, the inevitable was revealed, but with a surprising but familiar face.
After being celebrated in the special issue Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel, the character’s return is already being prepared for. Iman Vellani, Kamala’s portrayer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with last year's Ms. Marvel Disney+ series, and will return in The Marvels in November, will co-write a new limited 4-issue comic series titled Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant. She’s doing so alongside Sabir Pirzada, who was a writer on the TV series. Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham are the artists, and Sara Pichelli is the main cover artist.
The journey back starts with the the upcoming X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 one-shot later this month, where the truth about Kamala’s mutant and Inhuman identity comes out. After being brought back via Krakoan Resurrection Technology, Kamala is shocked to learn she is mutant. But before she has a chance to come to terms with this revelation, the catastrophic Fall Of X, the relaunch event for X-Men in the comics, will throw her world into chaos and a secret mission on behalf of the team. Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, which begins in August, will also see Kamala receive a new X-Men-based costume, created by Jamie McKelvie, who designed Carol Danvers’ iconic Captain Marvel suit and Kamala’s original Ms. Marvel look, and worked on Young Avengers and The Wicked & the Divine.
Vellani said that taking on writing the comic was “scarier than joining the MCU”. "Those projects feel like they live in their own dimension, so I guess I can separate myself easier. But you can hold a comic book! I've never written anything before in my entire life, but I have read many comics, so I just wrote what I would want to read. I was given a very professional tool to write what is essentially my own fan fiction." She also reinforced that her Inhuman origin is just as much a part of Kamala's identity that will be kept and and protected. "Our book will absolutely reflect all those core themes of identity that the Ms. Marvel comics have consistently explored — only now there's a whole new label that Kamala has to learn to accept. It's going to be pretty crazy."
"It was actually a very humbling experience to work with Iman, because she knows her comics even better than I do, and that is saying something," Pirzada remarked, impressed by the references to specific comics and artists throughout the history of the medium. "She has a very great eye for what makes for a good sequence on the page as drawn by an artist." Writing the comics allowed them to play with Kamala’s embiggening powers, which the MCU forewent in favor of the energy powers.
Sources: Entertainment Weekly, Marvel