Skip to main content

Ms. Marvel’s Disney+ series will introduce the MCU’s first Muslim hero

It’s finally happening. Rumors that Kamala Kahn, the first Muslim superhero to headline a Marvel comic, will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been circulating for years. Now, The Hollywood Reporter reports that Disney is developing a show centered on the teenager, who goes by the codename Ms. Marvel, for its new streaming service Disney+.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ms. Marvel will be written and run by Bisha K. Ali, a screenwriter and comedian who recently worked on Hulu original series Four Weddings and a Funeral. No release date, episode count, or casting information was provided, although more information might arrive at D23’s Disney+ showcase later this afternoon.

In the comics, Kamala is a high school student and superhero fan who is exposed to a substance known as the Terrigen Mist, which unlocks her latent Inhuman powers. Armed with the ability to “embiggen”, i.e. change her shape and size as she sees fit, Kamala adopts the name of her idol, Ms. Marvel, and protects her New Jersey neighborhood from a never-ending cascade of villains.

Kamala Kahn isn’t the first superheroine to go by the name Ms. Marvel. In the comics, the name was used by Carol Danvers, who MCU fans know better as Captain Marvel, for decades. Carol switched from Ms. to Captain in 2012.

Kamala Kahn was co-created by Marvel editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, writer G. Willow Wilson, and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie, and quickly became a fan-favorite following her 2014 debut. Ms. Marvel’s original comic series has been nominated for a number of Eisner Awards (the comic industry’s equivalent of the Oscars), scored a Hugo for Best Graphic Story, and has received praise from critics for its frank, nuanced depiction of life as a young Muslim in modern America.

Like Spider-Man, Kamala’s superheroic adventures often take a backseat to real-life concerns, including her dating life and struggles in school, while her geeky, fangirl-esque tendencies resonate with a large number of readers. If Tom Holland’s Spider-Man really is saying goodbye to the MCU, Kamala Kahn could provide Marvel’s shared cinematic universe with a similar perspective.

Ms. Marvel is just one of many MCU tie-ins planned for Disney+, although it’s the first that hasn’t stemmed from an existing big-screen property. Other MCU Disney+ series include Loki, Falcon and Winter Soldier, and WandaVision, which stars the Vision and the Scarlet Witch.

Editors' Recommendations

Chris Gates
Contributor
Christopher Gates lives in Los Angeles, CA and writes about movies, TV, video games, and other pop culture curiosities. In…
Sony’s Spider-Man movies and Venom finally come to Disney+
Spider-Man crawling on the side of a skyscraper.

Disney+ has often billed itself as "the home of Marvel," and the streaming service has already reclaimed its original series from Netflix, as well as the R-rated Fox movies Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Logan, to shore up its lineup. Now, the most iconic Marvel hero of them all is coming home. Disney+ has announced that multiple Spider-Man movies and the first Venom film are coming to the service this spring.

Starting tomorrow, Friday, April 21, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy will make its debut on Disney+. These are the films that helped jump-start modern superhero cinema, and the first two, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, rank among the greatest comic book flicks ever made. Spider-Man 3 isn't quite as beloved, nor is 2012's reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man. Regardless, both will also be on Disney+ tomorrow.

Read more
Deadpool 3: Everything we know so far about the MCU’s latest franchise
The logo for Deadpool 3.

After more than five years away from the big screen, the Merc with the Mouth is on his way back to theaters. Deadpool is now a proper part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Ryan Reynolds has been hard at work teasing what the third installment in his highly successful franchise will look like.

Deadpool 3 is still at least a year away, but we already know plenty about the movie, including when it's expected to hit theaters and who will be in the cast.
There's no official Deadpool 3 trailer yet
Deadpool Update

Read more
Captain Marvel returns to the MCU in the first trailer for The Marvels
Brie Larson in The Marvels.

As established in Captain Marvel, Brie Larson's Carol Danvers was one of the few superheroes who was active between Captain America's disappearance in the '40s and Iron Man's emergence in 2008. Although Carol is apparently immortal, the general public on Earth had no idea who she was until after Avengers: Endgame. Carol's actions in that movie won her the undying adulation of Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), the heroine known as Ms. Marvel. And in the first trailer for The Marvels, Carol and Kamala suddenly find themselves inexplicably linked in a way that they can't understand.

Marvel Studios’ The Marvels | Teaser Trailer

Read more