Kevin Feige explains why Ms. Marvel’s powers are different from the comics

Moon Knight wrapped up over a week ago. It’s done, it’s over, it was. Disney is on to the next thing: a new series about a young hero named Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel.

Starring newcomer Iman Vellani, the trailer for Ms. Marvel makes the show look very charming. That said, some comic book fans have clocked that Kamala’s powers in the show aren’t the same as in the comics. On the page, Kamala can grow her limbs to any size, and stretch her body in all kinds of wacky ways. In the show, she seems to use some kind of glowy energy power to do things; that includes growing the size of her fists, but she can also create energy shields, walk on air, and who knows what else?

Speaking to Empire, Marvel uberboss Kevin Feige explained the changes…vaguely. “We adapt the comics; it’s not an exact translation,” he said. “[Kamala] came about in a very specific time within the comic-book continuity. She is now coming into a very specific time within the MCU continuity. And those two things didn’t match.”

"What we will learn about where those powers come from, and how they come about, is specific to the MCU. You will see great comic splash panels in some of our action sequences. If you want big, giant hands and arms, well they’re here in spirit, if not in stretchy, plastic-type ways."

In the comics, Kamala Khan is part of the superhero group the Inhumans, and first gets her powers after exposure to a mutagenic substance called a cloud of Terrigen Mist. In the MCU, things are different. It looks more like she gets her powers — which she describes as “cosmic” — from a mystical bracelet.

Do you buy Kevin Feige’s reasoning for why Ms. Marvel’s powers have been changed?

The show looks fun, but I think I’d be more interested if they went with the stretchy powers. Kamala’s purple energy abilities look a little too similar to Wanda Maximoff’s red energy abilities; I’d just like to see something more visually distinctive.

Then again, Marvel rarely does anything without a plan, so perhaps there’s a method to the madness. Maybe Kamala and Wanda’s powers are even related in the MCU, who knows?

Ms. Marvel premieres on June 8. And the title character will be back alongside Captain Marvel in The Marvels in July of 2023.

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