Even though she used her signature power – and even the accompanying catchphrase – the results looked a little different in the MCU than in comics.

In comics, when Kamala embiggens, she actually changes size and shape. But in the MCU, true to her crystalline energy powers, she forms a sort of larger, armored body around herself.

If you’re like us (total comic book nerds) that moment, along with the episode’s big reveal, put you in mind of a totally different Marvel Comics character.

Speaking of that big reveal, spoilers for Ms. Marvel episode 6 – and we mean serious spoilers. Be warned!

In the episode’s first stinger scene, Kamala’s tech-genius friend Bruno reveals that he’s discovered that the true source of her powers isn’t her ClanDestine DNA – that simply provides a connection to the mystical energy of their home dimension. 

As it turns out, Kamala’s powers themselves come from a genetic mutation.

As in, Kamala Khan is a mutant. The first confirmed mutant in the mainstream MCU, in fact.

By now, you’ve probably put together that the way Kamala uses her powers plus her newly revealed mutant DNA put us in mind of Hisato Ikichi, AKA Armor of the X-Men from Marvel Comics.

First introduced back in the landmark Astonishing X-Men, Armor has the power to create armor of spiritual force powered by her ancestors around her body.

If that sounds a little bit like what we just explained about Kamala Khan in the MCU, you’re not alone.

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Kamala Khan’s new MCU powers, though not limited to body armor that forms around her body and “embiggens” her, are certainly somewhat reminiscent of Armor’s mutant abilities – down to a connection to the spiritual power of her ancestors.

Now, we’re not saying Marvel Studios just gave Armor’s powers a palette swap for Ms. Marvel in the MCU. And we’re definitely not saying Ms. Marvel should somehow take Armor’s place in the X-Men when they eventually come to the MCU.

But we are saying that it’s interesting that some of their themes and abilities line up – especially given Kamala Khan’s newly revealed mutant nature.

There’s one other thing Armor and Ms. Marvel have in common, and unlike the possible resemblance between their powers, this one’s straight from comic books: they’re both extremely good at annoying Wolverine during team-ups.

Both Armor and Ms. Marvel have had adventures alongside the most violent and hardcore member of the X-Men, and both have earned his respect through those same adventures, even as they annoyed the ever-loving crap out of him (as teen girls often do to old men).

So maybe, if nothing else, that’s something we’ve got to look forward to.

Kamala Khan’s team up with Wolverine is one of the best Ms. Marvel stories ever.

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The fifth episode of Ms. Marvel solves the mystery of Kamala Khan’s great-grandmother Aisha. We first met Kamala Khan’s great-grandmother in a flashback earlier in the season, but the new episode sees her on the run from the ClanDestine, falling in love with a man named Hasan (Fawad Khan), and having a daughter. 

Unfortunately, the family is soon forced to flee, and Aisha ends up being killed by the villainous Najma, while Kamala’s transported back in time to help her grandmother using her powers and forming a “trail of stars”. We may have heard this story before in the series – but now we know the truth behind it.

Aisha’s story is a beautiful departure from everything else we’ve seen so far, and Total Film caught up with Mehwish Hayat, who plays Kamala’s ancestor, to discuss her compelling story and being part of the MCU. “The experience itself was magical for me being Aisha and being, as a Pakistani actress, launched on such a global platform,” she tells us. “It’s Marvel, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Hayat spotlights the brilliance of setting the story in such an important time in Indian history – when the subcontinent was split by the British, causing mass migration, families being separated, and violence. 

“It’s a very important part in the history of South Asians,” she says. “All of us know about it, and our ancestors have actually gone through the pain, the trouble, and struggle with all that went down. It is a very sentimental episode in our lives and our history. It will be amazing for South Asian people of the younger generation to get a glimpse of that. And also for the Western audiences who didn’t have any idea about this happening in the world, they’re being introduced to this time in our history.”

“It will allow them to actually understand the pain that we went through,” she adds. “It just brings people together and I think it creates that bridge between them to understand on a human level that, ‘Oh my god, this is how much they suffered.’ It’s such a beautiful way that Marvel has actually been brave enough, or experimental enough, to incorporate that.”

Hayat is pleased to finally be speaking about her role in the show, because joining the MCU comes with a fair amount of secrecy. And this is especially the case when your character is only properly revealed in the fifth episode of an ongoing series. For her, keeping quiet was the hardest part of the process after she landed the role back in January 2021.

“My patience has been tested,” Hayat says with a laugh. “I was shooting in Thailand and I had to make sure not to post anything because the whole world was shut down because of COVID. So I had to literally hold myself back. I wanted to scream and yell at the top of my lungs on the top of a mountain to be like, ‘Hey I did it!'”

But, she’s pleased she kept silent so that the final product should be satisfying for viewers. “I realized why they were keeping her under wraps,” Hayat continues. “Every episode you get to learn a bit more about her. There’s a lot of mystery around her but that all comes together in the end.”

Ms. Marvel has just one episode remaining – and there’s a lot that needs to be wrapped up. When Kamala returns to New Jersey, she’ll find out how much danger her best friend Bruno (Matt Lintz) and new boy Kamran (Rish Shah) are in. Check out our Ms. Marvel release schedule to make sure you don’t miss a moment of the Disney Plus series.

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The actor, who made her MCU as Kamala Khan in Disney Plus series Ms. Marvel a couple of weeks ago, recently sat down with Variety (opens in new tab), where she was asked about her involvement in the superhero sequel. In it, Kamala will be seen teaming up with Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers and Teyonah Parris’s Monica Rambeau, who was introduced in WandaVision – but, for ages, Vellani figured she’d just have a small role.

“It was a night shoot when they were announcing everything at Disney Investor Day,” the 19 year old explained. “Right before they announced The Marvels cast, I get a text from Disney PR, I get a text from Brie Larson and I get a text from our producers all at the same time saying I’m in the movie and then they announced it on the screen. I was like, ‘Thank you.’ I had a hunch I was going to be in it, but more of a cameo role, not an actual main character, so it was cool.”

Opening up about The Marvels director Nia DaCosta, who previously helmed pictures such as Little Woods and Candyman, Vellani described her as her “favorite human ever” and “very much an actor’s director.”

She continued: “I think she’s so talented and so caring and considerate. Like, after she gets a take she wants, she’s like ‘This is yours. Do whatever you want. Anything we haven’t tried, just do it.’ She would always give positive reinforcement, even if she didn’t have any notes. She’d be like ‘That little thing you did with your hand, I really liked that.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, wow. She noticed!’ She really cares and checks up on you.”

Two episodes into Ms. Marvel, we’ve seen Kamala discover that she has superhuman abilities that allow her to manifest crystallised bursts of light. By the end of the show’s six-episode run, we’ll likely have learned the true origin of her powers, and she’ll have managed to get a handle on them, which will lead into her part in The Marvels.

While we wait for the third, why not use our roundup of the best shows on Disney Plus for some viewing inspiration, or check out Total Film’s exclusive chat with Ms. Marvel directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

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From a convention centre’s worth of references to a welcome shoutout to the comic book creator who helped reinvent Ms. Marvel, the opening episode is chockfull of callbacks that you might have missed.

In case they passed you by amid the flurry of color and chaos at AvengersCon, here’s our roundup of all the Ms. Marvel episode 1 Easter eggs. They just might embiggen your enjoyment of the premiere.

Captain Marvel’s classic costume

Kamala Khan’s YouTube montage was crammed with artsy shots of Avengers. Sloth Baby Productions also features a look at Captain Marvel’s original costume from 1977, complete with facemask and thigh-high boots. In a full-circle-sort-of-way, Carol Danvers was then called Ms. Marvel. The more you know.

G. Willow Wilson (and other creators)

Over at Kamala’s Coles Academic High School, several names are adorned in bronze on the building. Chief among them is G. Willow Wilson, the writer of the relaunch of the Ms. Marvel comic – which first introduced the world to Kamala Khan back in 2016. There’s also editor Stephen Wacker and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie, who were also instrumental in the character’s debut.

In the second column, the names of colorist Ian Herring, penciler Nico Leon, artist Takeshi Miyazawa and letterer Joe Caramagna are all present.

Ant-Man’s podcast

How does the world know about the Battle of Earth from Avengers: Endgame? Simple: a big-mouthed, pint-sized hero told everyone. During the episode’s opening, Kamala reveals that Scott Lang – AKA Ant-Man – is hosting his own podcast series, titled Big Me Little Me.

Marvel Zombies

When spitballing ideas for her AvengersCon costume to friend Bruno, Kamala brings up the idea of an undead Captain Marvel. That’s likely a pointed reference to Marvel Zombies, the 2005-2006 series by The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman.

Unbeknownst to Kamala, there is a universe taken over by undead Marvel heroes – as first glimpsed in Disney Plus’ What…If? series.

A tribute to Black Widow and Iron Man

AvengersCon is overflowing with merch for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – but also a reminder to those they’ve lost.

One mural at the heart of the convention centre features a drawing of Black Widow and Iron Man with the message ‘Thank you for your sacrifice.’ It also appears to be a place for those who lost loved ones to leave notes, which is a nice touch.

America’s Ass

I’m sure some were peachy keen – emphasis on the peachy – for another glimpse of Captain America’s derriere. AvengersCon answered the call, presenting a piece of merch with a caricature of Cap and his backside sticking out.

That is, of course, a reference to Avengers: Endgame’s Cap-on-Cap showdown, where Steve Rogers finally gets a good look at himself and quips, “That is America’s Ass.”

The convention also includes other references to Cap, including his famous “I can do this all day” catchphrase, which was spoofed in Rogers: The Musical. The poor guy can’t catch a break.

Asgardian Pride

One convention-goer holds up a t-shirt that says Asgardian Pride. The rainbow colors are a nice flourish, and could well be a reference to Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie – who is canonically LGTBQ+ and could very well be looking for a queen to rule alongside as ruler of New Asgard in Thor: Love and Thunder.

Ms. Marvel’s embiggen powers

There’s been some debate – rightly or wrongly – over the decision to remove Ms. Marvel’s stretchy ‘embiggen’ powers. Instead, Kamala now wears a bangle that grants her the ability to manipulate energy blasts. She even uses them in one scene to create a longer, stretchy arm for herself to save Zoe. Unfortunately for diehards, that’s probably as close as we’ll get to seeing Ms. Marvel’s traditional powers.

Damage Control

Damage Control has been seen a few times in the MCU, most notably to clean up Peter Parker’s secret identity mess at the onset of Spider-Man: No Way Home. One of their most prominent agents, Agent Cleary, is seen in the Ms. Marvel post-credits scene. Kamala Khan has been brought to his attention – and it looks like she’s set to come in for questioning. Gulp.

Discover what else is coming to the MCU with our guide to Marvel Phase 4. Waiting around for more Ms. Marvel? Here’s when episode 2 drops, courtesy of our Ms. Marvel release schedule.

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The eagle-eyed among us noticed the code during a scene involving Kamala (Iman Vellani) and her bestie Bruno (Matt Lintz), around 10 minutes and 15 seconds into ‘Generation Why’. The pair are chit-chatting away in a Jersey City store, as Bruno shows off the airbrushing he’s been doing on Kamala’s Captain Marvel costume. After he wheels it over to catch the light, the code can be seen in the background, on an ATM machine.

The comic it links to is ‘Ms. Marvel (2014) #1’, the titular character’s first issue of her solo series. In it, Kamala continues to get to grips with the fact that she’s an Inhuman – and subsequently has powers – after being exposed to Terrigen Mist. It was written by G. Willow Wilson, who also gets a subtle shout-out in the first episode.

Fellow Disney Plus series Moon Knight snuck in several QR codes in its six-episode run, starting with ‘Werewolf By Night’ which directly inspired the Oscar Isaac-led show. It seems safe to assume that there will be more QR codes to look out for in further episodes of Ms. Marvel, too.

Ms. Marvel episode 1 is available to stream on Disney Plus now. Episode 2 is set to release on Wednesday, June 15. In the meantime, why not check out our roundup of best Disney Plus shows if you’re in need of some viewing inspiration.

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Warning: spoilers for the first episode of Ms. Marvel ahead. Turn back now if you have not seen the new Disney Plus show.

In the original source material, Kamala’s latent Inhuman DNA is activated when Black Bolt, who showed up briefly in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, releases Terrigen Mist into the Earth’s atmosphere. After being exposed to the substance, the youngster discovers she has super strength and can “embiggen” her limbs at will. 

In the show, Kamala gets her powers – or at least channels them – through a bracelet once owned by her grandmother. We see her use a similar “embiggen” power, though it’s through some sort of cosmic force, rather than her being able to make her physical self bigger. There’s no sign of her being Inhuman, which makes this very different to the comics. However, there’s a chance that Kamala’s bracelet could be a Kree-style Nega-Band or a Quantum Band, which are both objects from the comics. You can about both in our deep-dive explainer on Ms. Marvel’s powers. 

The first episode of Ms. Marvel, titled ‘Generation Why’, centers on Kamala (Iman Vellani) trying to think up a way to get to AvengerCon with her bestie Bruno (Matt Lintz). Her parents aren’t keen on her attending the event, but the superhero-loving teen is determined to win its cosplay competition dressed up as her fave, Captain Marvel. When her mother and father tell her she can go if she wears a Hulk-inspired costume, Kamala takes matters into her own hands and sneaks out – but not before she grabs the mystical bangle from the attic.

On stage at the convention, she puts on the bracelet and it immediately latches on to her forearm, as it creates a pulsing, purplish glimmer around her whole body. Her eyes change color and she falls backward into what looks like another dimension, where shadowy figures with glowing eyes stare at her from all sides, then she’s snapped back to AvengerCon. As the crowd snaps photos of her look, Kamala seems to accidentally shoot out crystallized energy blasts from her left hand.

Kamala is set to team up with WandaVision’s Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) in the upcoming movie The Marvels, so her abilities being reframed as more cosmic and energy-based to match theirs makes sense. It might also mean that the series can explore Kamala’s culture and heritage a little more, too. In the premiere, there are a couple of nods to Djinn, Islamic mythological spirits that can supposedly influence mankind and tend to be either good or evil. Might they play a part in this Ms. Marvel’s origin story?

We’ll likely find out more in Ms. Marvel episode 2, which will be released Disney Plus on Wednesday, June 15. In the meantime, why not use our roundup of the best shows on Disney Plus for some viewing inspiration, or check out Total Film’s exclusive chat with Ms. Marvel directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

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