Big things are happening in the MCU right now. In the season finale of Marvel Studios’ Ms Marvel, Bruno tells Kamala that there is something different about her genes compared to her family. It’s “like a mutation”. That, plus the background music being the theme song from X-Men: The Animated Series.
That’s right. Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel is officially a mutant!
In the comics, Kamala Khan was written to be an Inhuman. In the MCU, Inhumans are genetically-altered human beings that were the result of Kree experiments. Humans with the genetic Kree DNA become Inhumans when they undergo Terrigenesis, which gives them superhuman abilities. These powers range from the ability to manipulate vibrations, control electricity, superhuman speed to teleportation.
The MCU already introduced Inhumans in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where four of the main characters – Daisy Johnson, Lincoln Campbell, Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez and Hive – amongst others, are Inhuman. Despite Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. being the first, longest-running and best (up till Ms Marvel) Marvel series, there was a short-lived Inhumans show that was a disaster.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness brought back Anson Mount as Black Bolt from said disastrous Inhumans series, albeit via the multiverse on Earth-838. With the decision to bring Inhumans back into the MCU via the multiverse, the reasoning behind Kamala being a mutant instead of an Inhuman is a mystery.
Iman Vellani, who portrays Kamala Khan / Ms Marvel in Ms Marvel and will reprise her role in the The Marvels, the sequel to the Captain Marvel film, declares herself happy with the change that the MCU has done to her character. In a Reddit AMA arranged and organized by Marvel officials, Iman declared (amongst other things):
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the Inhumans. Black Bolt is my father. But I do think the MCU is in a very different place than the comics were,” Vellani said. “And so we were actually able to go this way with Kamala, and to be fair, the original intent for the comic character WAS to make her a mutant, so I am over the moon that this is real and we could make it happen. [Executive producer and Ms. Marvel co-creator] Sana Amanat and I were freaking out, every single brain cell exploded when we found out we can do this. I was literally refreshing the ep 6 discussion thread on here until someone finallyyyy mentioned it.”
Kamala’s origins weren’t the only thing changed for the show. She is also connected to the Noor Dimension, something that temporarily opened in the fifth episode of the show and was also closed. That begs the question – does this mean that mutants are from the Noor Dimension? Is it another opening into the multiverse? Have there been mutants in the MCU’s regular Earth all along? Are the Inhumans introduced in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actually mutants?
After Bruno declares that Kamala has a mutation in her genes, Kamala proceeds to say “Whatever it is, it’s just gonna be another label”. This suggests that the MCU could reintroduce the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Inhumans as mutants, especially since many of the events of Season 3 had similarities to the Fox X-Men movies, with the very first Inhuman/mutant returning (Hive/Apocalpyse) and Daisy and Lincoln arguing about an Inhuman vaccine similar to the one introduced in X-Men: The Last Stand.
All in all, there are many questions that MCU fans want answered and hopefully we’ll get some as soon as next week in San Diego’s Comic Con! What do you want to happen with the mutants? Stay tuned for more MCU news and until then, check out our other articles about the next upcoming Marvel Studios show, She-Hulk!