Ms. Marvel's Kamala Khan Is Breaking More Than One Barrier for the MCU

There's a new superhero in town and her name is Kamala Khan, better known to Disney+ subscribers as the titular hero  in Ms. Marvel. When audiences meet the teenager in the series, she's anything but super. In fact, she's a lot like most of us, a super fan of The Avengers and specifically "Earth's mightiest hero" Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and occupied with trying to fit in at school and appeasing her overbearing parents. What's unique about Kamala, at least within the confines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is that she's a Pakistani-American and practicing Muslim. Both have never been seen before within the MCU. 

"It's so important to showcase children of immigrant parents who are proud of their culture and don't neglect it. The only Muslim teens that I was used to seeing in the media, they couldn't find themselves unless they separated themselves from their family and their religion and their culture,"

, who plays the titular superhero in the new series told TV Guide. "And I thought that was so wrong because do I have to do that in order to become a real individual? No, and neither does Kamala. It's just a part of our life. And we really just wanted to show that. The show really is just about a fanfic-writing Avengers-loving nerd not about a Muslim Pakistani teenager. She just so happens to be Muslim and Pakistani." 

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Since Kamala is only 16, Ms. Marvel as a whole feels targeted for the tween and teenage audience, which is another departure from the rest of the MCU which showcases much more mature content for older audiences. By making the MCU's first specifically young-adult series, series premiere directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are hoping to build a stronger connection between Ms. Marvel's audience and the larger cinematic universe. 

"The teenagers probably are living through it, the events of the characters as they see it and I think that that is why that's going to be a bigger, stronger connection because they will have somebody that's really relatable to them," El Arbi explained. "And the parents, they will watch it, they will see their version of the character into that family. But also for us, well we lived those events, we're 15, 16 being Moroccan Belgians searching for your identity, trying to find your place in the world, trying to be cool, but not knowing how all of that is something that we recognize ourselves in." 

Ms. Marvel is debuting in the fourteenth year of the MCU's existence, which means that a chunk of the show's key demographic were in diapers or not even born when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) first created his infamous suit in 2008's Iron Man. While it's impossible not to be aware of the global phenomenon that is the MCU at this point, the directors are aware of the opportunity they have to be the entry point into the universe for a younger generation. 

"It was great to get into that world and try also to target the kids that didn't necessarily grew up with MCU movies the same way that we did," Fallah elaborated. "When we were their age, we went to the cinema and saw those movies and now you have a new generation of people that we hopefully can introduce them to the Marvel world, to the MCU, and then through our TV show, connect them to the other movies. And it's great to have a family show, something that the kids can watch with their parents or grandparents and have that really broad appeal." 

That connection will be necessary because Kamala's next steps in the MCU are already confirmed. The teen will team up with her idol Captain Marvel in the hero's sequel film, The Marvels, due out in theaters next year. Ms. Marvel head writer Bisha K. Ali could not confirm whether Larson will touch down in the Disney+ series, but she could speak to how knowing what Kamala's next adventure would be — if only vaguely — helped shape the trajectory of the series' first season. 

"When I was brought on as the head writer, me and the writers knew at the end of this process, at the end of this show, The Marvels was going to happen. We don't know what happens in The Marvels. Maybe I have some guesses, but whatever happens in that movie we start our show with a Kamala who doesn't have powers," Ali explained. "So we have to get Kamala Khan, a teenage girl from Jersey City, ready for The Marvels, without knowing what's in it. That maturation, and the fact that we knew that, affected her character journey to make sure that we got her ready to do whatever she needs to do in the show." 

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Ms. Marvel is aiming to break the mold on several fronts. Whether it's bringing young women into the MCU, representing Brown girls and specifically Pakastani-Muslims in a bold and bright new light, or preparing a new hero for the next phase of the world's largest cinematic universe, Ali and her team are excited to be part of the new wave. 

"In terms of the Brown girl representation in the past few years, we are on the up and up," Ali said. "There are these creators [like Mindy Kaling] who we stand on their shoulders. We stand together with them and we are part of this wave of change... I'm proud to be part of that legacy and that movement forward. All of us, everyone in that wave couldn't have done it without the people who did it before us. In terms of the representation of Brown girls, I'm really proud of that legacy of trying to push the needle forward." 

Ms. Marvel premieres June 8 on Disney+, with new episodes premiering on Wednesdays. 

(Additional reporting by Kat Moon)