The Ms. Marvel show has made subtle changes to how Kamala’s powers work. But have these changes included an ability to traverse the MCU’s multiverse?
This article contains spoilers for Ms. Marvel episode 1.
Ms. Marvel has begun with the startling possibility that Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) traveled the multiverse. First introduced in 2013’s Captain Marvel #14, Ms. Marvel went on to headline her own comic book series the following year. Kamala Khan made Marvel history by being their first Muslim-American superhero, a hugely important move for representation. Her journey from superhero fan to fully-fledged superhero reflected those Muslim-American Marvel fans finally seeing themselves within the pages of a comic. Eight years later, Ms. Marvel now has her own Disney+ show from Marvel Studios.
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This commitment to diversity in the MCU follows the introduction of Puerto Rican superhero America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. America has the power to travel the multiverse, which makes her an integral part of the MCU’s latest phase. In the comics, Kamala doesn’t possess this ability; instead, she’s able to morph her body to adapt to multiple situations. In the comics, this is an innate power, triggered by the mutagen Terrigen Mist. The Disney+ miniseries has made subtle changes to how Ms. Marvel’s powers work, tying those polymorph abilities into something more cosmic. Perhaps these changes could also include an ability to traverse the multiverse.
Ms. Marvel episode 1, “Generation Why,” revolves around Kamala and her friend Bruno’s (Matt Lintz) attempts to attend the first Avengercon. Head writer Bisha K. Ali wastes no time in establishing Kamala’s love of The Avengers in Ms. Marvel. A vibrant mixture of animation and live-action affirms Kamala’s fandom and how she expresses that through hand-drawn animations uploaded to her YouTube vlog. Kamala’s mother initially disapproves of the superhero obsession, then hilariously embraces it in a way that embarrasses her daughter. However, there are hints that there’s more to her disapproval than parental concern and the religious, and societal conventions of their Pakistani-American community. When the family receives a package from a relative, Kamala’s mother quickly snatches the box away when her daughter is taken with a mysterious bracelet. This bracelet is the key to Kamala’s powers as Ms. Marvel, and it also enables her to briefly travel outside of Avengercon. But whether she traversed the MCU multiverse or visited another realm is yet to be fully revealed.
Where Did Ms Marvel Go When She Put The Bracelet On
The climax of Ms. Marvel episode 1 sees Kamala and Bruno finally reach Avengercon to take part in the cosplay competition. In an attempt to win the top prize, Kamala eventually takes the advice of augmenting her costume with something of her own. She chooses the mysterious bracelet that upset her mother earlier in the episode. When she fastens the bracelet to her wrist, however, she falls backward into a strange purple vista full of figures with glowing eyes. It’s a very brief glimpse, but the physical action of Kamala falling backward recalls the physicality of Doctor Strange and America Chavez’s multiverse hopping. The fact that Kamala’s polymorph abilities are accidentally triggered by the anxiety of being on stage in front of hundreds of people and flashing cameras draws further comparisons with America Chavez and her powers.
So it’s entirely possible that she’s briefly slipped into another reality. However, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness established there was a continuity of location to these hops, which isn’t necessarily backed up by the place Kamala finds herself in. The mass of Avengers fans being replaced by mysterious glowing-eyed figures maintains a sort of continuity, but there also appears to be some ancient architecture. Given that the convention is taking place at the same army camp where Captain America got his powers, it feels unlikely that this is the same location on an alternate Earth.
There are some visual clues to suggest that Kamala has instead fallen into one of the MCU’s mystical realms. The rainbow light recalls the prismatic energy of the Bifrost, the rainbow road that connected Asgard to Earth in the Thor movies. Meanwhile, the purple mist recalls the plane of Wakandan memory from Black Panther, and the bracelet itself wouldn’t look out of place in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Given the family connection to the package that contained the bracelet, this place that Kamala passes through could have more of an ancestral connection.
Who Are The Glowing Eyed People?
While Kamala may have seen another Earth from the MCU multiverse, it’s worth bearing in mind what’s going on elsewhere in Phase 4. Both Shang-Chi and Eternals have been more focused on mysticism and spirituality than the high-concept sci-fi of multiverse theory. The preceding Disney+ show, Moon Knight, took this further by introducing Egyptian gods into the MCU. So while the multiverse is at the forefront of audiences’ minds post-Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, there’s a separate strand of the MCU focused on more cosmic happenings. Ms. Marvel is more likely to fall into this category, Kamala even whispers “cosmic” at the end of the episode.
It’s therefore most likely there’s an ancestral connection to the realm, so it makes sense for the glowing-eyed figures to be those that have gone before her. Writer and producer Sana Amanat has said that the story they want to tell with Ms. Marvel revolves around Kamala’s family history. The bracelet is clearly a family heirloom, imbued with cosmic abilities, but it’s not yet clear how many generations it has passed through.
When people are young, they regularly idolize anyone but their family, like younger viewers, Kamala makes all sorts of references to the wider MCU in Ms. Marvel. They want to rebel against everything that their parents stand for and become their own independent persons. One of the episode’s best scenes is when Kamala cruelly rejects her parents’ well-meaning attempt to share her love of superheroes. Sadly, teenagers rarely see their parents, or even their grandparents, as superheroes. By linking Kamala’s superpowers with her family history, Ms. Marvel‘s story can be both a perfect metaphor for the moment parental sacrifice is acknowledged and for how each culture has its own superheroes.
Ms. Marvel releases new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
- The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
About The Author
Mark Donaldson
(79 Articles Published)
Mark Donaldson is a movie and TV features writer for Screen Rant. His film tastes range from Chinese social realism to dumb popcorn movies. He is also a freelance film programmer who puts together local film festivals.
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