Marvel comics, which announced in November a new character for its re-launch of Ms Marvel as part of their upcoming All-New Marvel NOW! Initiative, revealed the first look of its teenage American Muslim superhero, Wired reported.
The first look of the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, was revealed by Wired. The preview would also be featured in the All-New Marvel NOW! Point One issue which is due to go on sale in print and digital versions on January 9.
The first look shows a short sequence where Kamala is in her superhero mode and is battling a giant mechanical claw. It also features her ability to shape-shift. She uses this ability to reduce her size to escape car hurled by the claw. Then, she increases her size to match the claw and fling the car back at it. The sequence ends with a call from her mother yelling at her for being late for her cousin’s ‘mehndi‘.
Kamala is a 16-year old American Muslim girl of Pakistani descent and takes on the title of Ms. Marvel after discovering that she possesses shape-shifting abilities, which previously belonged to the immensely popular character ‘Carol Danvers’.
It has been scripted by G Willow Wilson, a writer who has channeled her own experiences as a Muslim woman into comics like Cairo and Air. Joining her is artist Adrian Alphona, who co-created the Runaways with Brian K. Vaughan and has most recently been seen on Uncanny X-Force.
Wilson said that she wanted the character to have something kinetic and physical that would look fun on the page, not the stereotypical girl powers like being able to float or sparkle. There was a lot of back and forth about what her power set should be, and we settled on making her a polymorph said Wilson.
Further explaining the character, Wilson said that he wanted Kamala to be the representative of the young American Muslims as they are not how a young Muslim woman is idealised to be. The key thing is the authenticity of the character, and not trying to please everybody with a cardboard cutout that doesn’t feel like a human being with flaws and quirks and charms, said Wilson.