The Marvels star Iman Vellani is writing a new Ms. Marvel comic
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Reports of Kamala Khan's death have been greatly exaggerated.
The superhero known as Ms. Marvel valiantly sacrificed her life to save the universe earlier this year in Amazing Spider-Man #26, and was celebrated by her friends, family, and fellow superheroes in this week's special issue Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel. But as we all know, death is rarely permanent in superhero comics, and Kamala is no exception. She'll soon be back on stands, and that's not even the biggest news.
Iman Vellani, the actor who plays Kamala in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — starting with last year's Ms. Marvel series on Disney+, and continuing on the big screen with The Marvels later this year — will co-write the new comic alongside Ms. Marvel TV writer Sabir Pirzada. Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham will handle the art, and Sara Pichelli will provide the main covers.
"This was way scarier than joining the MCU for me," Vellani tells EW. "Those projects feel like they live in their own dimension, so I guess I can separate myself easier. But you can hold a comic book! I've never written anything before in my entire life, but I have read many comics, so I just wrote what I would want to read. I was given a very professional tool to write what is essentially my own fan fiction."
Artgerm; Disney+ The cover of Iman Vellani's new 'Ms. Marvel' comic, and how she appears on the 'Ms. Marvel' TV series
In a nod to that big revelation from the Ms. Marvel series finale, the new comic will be titled Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant. Like her onscreen counterpart, the comic version of Kamala is officially a mutant now. That's also the explanation for why she's coming back so soon, because modern Marvel readers know that the X-Men have mastered the art of bringing mutants back to life.
When Kamala was created a decade ago by writer G. Willow Wilson, editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, and artists Adrian Alphona and Jamie McKelvie, she was an Inhuman who gained her powers from the release of Terrigen Mists. Her newfound mutant status doesn't replace her Inhuman history, Vellani promises. Instead, it gives Marvel's first major Muslim superhero a whole new identity to reckon with. Given the historical animosity between mutants and Inhumans, it'll probably be a struggle.
"I want to make it very, very clear that we are not reconning her Inhuman origin. That's a part of Kamala's identity that Marvel editorial and myself would very much like to keep and protect," Vellani says. "Our book will absolutely reflect all those core themes of identity that the Ms. Marvel comics have consistently explored — only now there's a whole new label that Kamala has to learn to accept. It's going to be pretty crazy."
Vellani continues, "Hopefully those readers who are kind of getting into the comics after the Disney+ show are are going to have something fun to look forward to on shelves."
Artgerm A variant cover for 'Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant' #1
Jamie McKelvie Ms. Marvel's new costume design sheet
The new series also features a redesigned costume for Kamala, which highlights her newfound mutant identity with X-Men logos replacing the traditional Ms. Marvel lightning bolt that dates back to Carol Danvers. Like Kamala's original costume, this one was designed by McKelvie.
Vellani says she's "such a big fan" of McKelvie, who in addition to design work has done the art on Young Avengers, The Wicked & the Divine, and other big comics over the years. Her writing collaborator Pirzada tells EW he was impressed by Vellani's extensive knowledge not just of comics, but also the people who make them.
"It was actually a very humbling experience to work with Iman, because she knows her comics even better than I do, and that is saying something," Pirzada says. "She was throwing out references to specific comics that came out before either of us were born. She has a very great eye for what makes for a good sequence on the page as drawn by an artist. It was very impressive to me to see her throw out all these references to different artists that she's been following through the years."
Moving from TV to comics also let Pirzada and Vellani play with Kamala's comic book powers (which allow her to change the size of her body, either whole or in part) rather than her MCU powers (which are more energy-based).
"Oh my God, I love it. You can do anything with those stretchy powers," Vellani says. "I like to make it a little vague enough for the artist to surprise me when I get the sketches back, and they always do. It's honestly so liberating to be able to pitch ideas and everything gets accepted because they can just draw it. There's no need to worry about budgets or effects."
Echoing the dream of every nerd in the world, Vellani adds, "It's so awesome to be able to contribute to the official Marvel comics canon."
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