Comic Book Questions With Xenojay – ISSUE 3

ISSUE 3! Or the one where gender politics continue and culture gets involved!

In this issue, Twitter user Tamari asks the following:

Can she have a Kamala Khan appearance in the ‘Captain Marvel’ movie?

YES. YES SHE CAN.

But first, who is Kamala Khan and who is Captain Marvel?

Well we’ll start with the latter and fall into the rabbit hole that is the Marvel Universe!

 

Captain Marvel started with the introduction of Mar-Vell, a Kree Warrior initially sent to Earth to spy on us and see if we were a threat to their Empire in Captain Marvel #1 (May 1968). If that ‘Kree’ description sounds familiar, it’s because the Marvel Movie Universe has introduced this race through one of their craziest characters Ronan The Accuser, who was introduced in the 2014 blockbuster ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’.

 

So yeah, he was spying on us but occasionally saving people he was observing because that was apparently a thing you do when you’re spying. He would do this while donning his Kree Uniform, and due to his ‘advanced Kree physiology’, he had more strength and durability than a normal human because ‘gravity’.

As this character was developed he got more and more powers because you can’t just be basic in comics.  You have to be sensationally over the top.

And so Captain Marvel got beams and flight and the whole shebang before eventually getting stuck in a place called the ‘Negative Zone’. When this happened, he ended up having something ready for such a thing called the ‘Nega-Bands’. While stuck in this zone, the Supreme Intelligence (who was actually previously attacked by Mar-Vell because Ronan is a douche and exploited a weakened Mar-Vell) decided to help him by connecting him telepathically to Rick Jones, who was instructed by Mar-Vell to find the Nega-Bands.

For those not in the know, Rick Jones is a pretty big character from the ‘Hulk’ universe and the original reason for Bruce Banner becoming the Hulk.

 

ANYWAY! Rick Jones finds these Nega-Bands and by wearing them and then striking them together, Jones and Mar-Vell would swap dimensions and therefore create a ‘superhero’, with a civilian identity hiding that of a being with immense power.

Rick/Mar-Vell went on their merry adventure doing intergalactic stuff and being awesome until Mar-Vell was killed by a nerve gas that gave him cancer.

Yup, it got pretty real from there.

So then other people took up the mantle, around 5 or so until we get to Carol Danvers.

The reason I now start at Carol Danvers is because I think a lot of what this character is to the mantle of Captain Marvel, is why Kamala Khan will be perceived as an ‘issue’ by the old-school big wigs that still call the shots in the war for the Box-Office.

Carol Danvers hasn’t been the only female Captain Marvel. Monica Rambeau beat her to that, along with Phylla-Vell. But Carol has been the most popular female Captain Marvel, and is also well known in the Marvel Universe for being interwoven with X-Man and mutant, Rogue.

Now the reason she’s been the most popular Captain, is because she was a side-character who eventually got her own run. Caught in the explosion of a Kree Device, Carol is saved by Mar-Vell, but is seriously injured. She eventually returns in her own series (Ms. Marvel #1; Jan. 1977) with super-strength and flight. This was because the explosion that caused her massive injury, released an energy that fused Mar-Vell’s genes with hers, essentially making her a human/Kree hybrid.

So she went off doing cool things as Ms. Marvel!

And you know, she did cool stuff as that character until a certain event occurred! (Okay, there was a lot of other crazy stuff before this event, but this one is a pretty huge pop-culture event for the character)

A CERTAIN EVENT YOU SAY?

Yes. In Avengers Annual #10 (1981), Danvers was attacked by the X-Man Rogue who ended up permanently absorbing her powers and memories. This is why the Rogue we know and love today isn’t grounded, but flying and punching walls in like it’s nobody’s business!

By now you’re probably going “WAIT…Carol Danvers is calling herself MS. Marvel…”. Up until 2012, Carol Danvers was Ms. Marvel. She took on the mantle of Captain Marvel in the new ongoing series of the same name, out of respect for the character who imbued her with the ability to protect mankind. The writer who booted this storyline, Kelly Sue DeConnick, described her original pitch for the series at WonderCon 2012 as saying it could be

pretty much summed up with ‘Carol Danvers as Chuck Yeager.’

As Carol set out to find what the Captain Marvel legend means to her, how she will wield it, and how the rest of the Marvel Universe reacts to it, has all led her to a point where in the comics universe has her setup perfectly for the Marvel Movie Universe.

BEFORE WE START THAT ARGUMENT THOUGH!

We need to knock out who Kamala Khan is and then do the ‘bunny rabbit’ and loop and tie it all together so we can then look at the movie side of things.

Kamala Khan is the current Ms. Marvel! (OHHHHHHHHH!)

Yes, it’s all starting to come together. With Danvers having taken over as the Captain, Kamala Khan, an ordinary Muslim American wakes up one day to discover she’s an Inhuman.
That should be another “OH” moment, because Inhumans have just been introduced in ‘Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D’ (The character Skye has been revealed as one) and will be heavily featured in the next Avengers film ‘Age Of Ultron’ as the characters Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have been revealed as Inhumans also.

I digress.

Anyway! Khan discovers she is a polymorph which means she can extend her arms and legs and change her shape, and she also has a healing factor of sorts. Once she discovers that she has powers, she takes on the mantle of Ms. Marvel due to her respect for Carol Danvers.
The writer and co-creator of Kamala, G. Willow Wilson, spoke of Khan’s relationship with Danvers as

She looks up to Carol because she’s saved worlds with her bare hands – literally. She really idolizes Carol, and is an ideal she looks up to. So when she gets powers of her own, it makes sense for her to take that younger Captain Marvel role up

So there we have it! The current Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel as they stand in the comics.

TO THE QUESTION!

Can a Kamala Khan appearance be in the ‘Captain Marvel’ movie?

This question for me poses more than “Can X character be in Y movie”.

With females still being perceived as ‘bad sells’ for the “Leading Actor” slot of a movie because of old thinking, it was already impossible to think that we would receive a Captain Marvel film led by Carol Danvers.
As said, Captain Marvel has existed as a male character and could still be seen as the one who should led the franchise.

Now whether or not this is due to the excellent planning of the Marvel Movie Universe, the stories have ended up with a universe set for the entry of Carol Danvers.

To look back at the mention of the ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ movie, I did this not only because of the Kree being portrayed in that film, but because Captain Marvel in the comics is now a PART of that team. This means the character could easily be introduced in the sequel for this film with a slightly tweaked origin that spins off into her franchise, both of which were confirmed at Marvel’s last event for their movies.

With that in mind, it means Marvel is looking to portray strong females on-screen, and ones that can lead their own film.

If we add Kamala Khan to the mix and whether she’ll make an appearance or not, we add one other factor.

Culture.

Kamala Khan is a Muslim American. With a country at war with an enemy associated with the culture, would there be enough voices to silence the misunderstood?

That, is a tough one. Requiring education and understanding which at times is often lacking in this day and age, it’s hard to say if this wonderful character would receive such a thing.

But like the comics, something such as the following could happen in the movies:

Captain Marvel writer Kelly Sue DeConnick revealed that Khan actually made a brief appearance in Captain Marvel #14 (August 2013) saying, “Kamala is in the background of a scene in Captain Marvel 14… She is very deliberately placed in a position where she sees Carol protecting civilians from Yon-Rogg.

Could Kamala Khan make an appearance in the ‘Captain Marvel’ film?

Yes. Yes she could.